1 Samuel 2:1

Hannah Exalts the Lord in Prayer

2:1 Hannah prayed, ¹ 

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

my horn ²  is exalted high because of the Lord.

I loudly denounce ³  my enemies,

for I am happy that you delivered me. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 2:9

2:9 He watches over ⁵  his holy ones, ⁶ 

but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,

for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.

1 Samuel 2:19

2:19 His mother used to make him a small robe and bring it up to him at regular intervals when she would go up with her husband to make the annual sacrifice.

1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ⁷  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

1 Samuel 4:21

4:21 She named the boy Ichabod, ⁸  saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.

1 Samuel 6:2

6:2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”

1 Samuel 8:18

8:18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” ⁹ 

1 Samuel 8:22

8:22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say ¹⁰  and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”

1 Samuel 10:6

10:6 Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.

1 Samuel 10:9

Saul Becomes King

10:9 As Saul ¹¹  turned ¹²  to leave Samuel, God changed his inmost person. ¹³  All these signs happened on that very day.

1 Samuel 10:16

10:16 Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul ¹⁴  did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship.

1 Samuel 10:27

10:27 But some wicked men ¹⁵  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ¹⁶ 

1 Samuel 11:4

11:4 When the messengers went to Gibeah (where Saul lived) ¹⁷  and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly. ¹⁸ 

1 Samuel 12:18

12:18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel.

1 Samuel 14:1

14:1 Then one day Jonathan son of Saul said to his armor bearer, ¹⁹  “Come on, let’s go over to the Philistine garrison that is opposite us.” But he did not let his father know.

1 Samuel 14:37

14:37 So Saul asked God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.

1 Samuel 14:39

14:39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything. ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 16:20

16:20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a container of wine, and a young goat ²¹  and sent them to Saul with ²²  his son David.

1 Samuel 17:18

17:18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. ²³  Find out how your brothers are doing ²⁴  and bring back their pledge that they received the goods. ²⁵ 

1 Samuel 20:34

20:34 Jonathan got up from the table enraged. He did not eat any food on that second day of the new moon, for he was upset that his father had humiliated David. ²⁶ 

1 Samuel 22:3

22:3 Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay ²⁷  with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

1 Samuel 22:9

22:9 But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with the servants of Saul, replied, “I saw this son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.

1 Samuel 25:24

25:24 Falling at his feet, she said, “My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!

1 Samuel 25:28

25:28 Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the Lord will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. May no evil be found in you all your days!

1 Samuel 25:35

25:35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back ²⁸  to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you ²⁹  and responded favorably.” ³⁰ 

1 Samuel 25:37

25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ³¹  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ³² 

1 Samuel 29:9

29:9 Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliable ³³  as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “prayed and said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[2:1]  ² sn Horns of animals have always functioned as both offensive and defensive weapons for them. As a figure of speech the horn is therefore often used in the Bible as a symbol of human strength (see also in v. 10). The allusion in v. 1 to the horn being lifted high suggests a picture of an animal elevating its head in a display of strength or virility.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “my mouth opens wide against.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I rejoice in your deliverance.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “guards the feet of.” The expression means that God watches over and protects the godly in all of their activities and movements. The imperfect verbal forms in v. 9 are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

[2:9]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the plural (“his holy ones”) rather than the singular (“his holy one”) of the Kethib.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[4:21]  ⁸ sn The name Ichabod (אִי־כָבוֹד) may mean, “Where is the glory?”

[8:18]  ⁹ tc The LXX adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”

[8:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “listen to their voice.”

[10:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ¹² tn Heb “turned his shoulder.”

[10:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “God turned for him another heart”; NAB, NRSV “gave him another heart”; NIV, NCV “changed Saul’s heart”; TEV “gave Saul a new nature”; CEV “made Saul feel like a different person.”

[10:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

[10:27]  ¹⁶ tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

[11:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to Gibeah of Saul.”

[11:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lifted their voice and wept.”

[14:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the servant who was carrying his military equipment” (likewise in vv. 6, 7, 12, 13, 14).

[14:39]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and there was no one answering from all the army.”

[16:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “a kid of the goats.”

[16:20]  ²² tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[17:18]  ²³ tn Heb “officer of the thousand.”

[17:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and your brothers, observe with respect to welfare.”

[17:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and their pledge take.” This probably refers to some type of confirmation that the goods arrived safely. See R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 177. Cf. NIV “bring back some assurance”; NCV “some proof to show me they are all right”; NLT “bring me back a letter from them.”

[20:34]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for he was upset concerning David for his father had humiliated him.” The referent of the pronoun “him” is not entirely clear, but the phrase “concerning David” suggests that it refers to David, rather than Jonathan.

[22:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “go forth.”

[25:35]  ²⁸ tn Heb “up.”

[25:35]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your voice.”

[25:35]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face.”

[25:37]  ³¹ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

[25:37]  ³² tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.

[29:9]  ³³ tn Heb “I know that you are good in my eyes.”