1 Samuel 2:10

2:10 The Lord shatters ¹  his adversaries; ² 

he thunders against them from ³  the heavens.

The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.

He will strengthen ⁴  his king

and exalt the power ⁵  of his anointed one.” ⁶ 

1 Samuel 2:16

2:16 If the individual said to him, “First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,” he would say, “No! ⁷  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

1 Samuel 3:6

3:6 The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ⁸  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

1 Samuel 5:4

5:4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact. ⁹ 

1 Samuel 6:17-18

6:17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord – one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 6:18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel, ¹⁰  where they positioned the ark of the Lord until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.

1 Samuel 9:19

9:19 Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 10:3

10:3 “As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel ¹²  will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine.

1 Samuel 10:8

10:8 You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do.”

1 Samuel 10:21

10:21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

1 Samuel 10:25

10:25 Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. ¹³  He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes.

1 Samuel 13:3

13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost ¹⁴  that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted ¹⁵  all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!”

1 Samuel 13:6

13:6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, ¹⁶  and cisterns.

1 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Goliath ¹⁷  stood and called to Israel’s troops, ¹⁸  “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose ¹⁹  for yourselves a man so he may come down ²⁰  to me!

1 Samuel 18:27

18:27 when David, along with his men, went out ²¹  and struck down two hundred Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

1 Samuel 19:4

19:4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf ²²  to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial ²³  for you.

1 Samuel 19:20

19:20 So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Taking an oath, David again ²⁴  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ²⁵  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ²⁶  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ²⁷  I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 21:5

21:5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’ ²⁹  equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”

1 Samuel 22:7

22:7 Saul said to his servants who were stationed around him, “Listen up, you Benjaminites! Is Jesse’s son giving fields and vineyards to all of you? Or is he making all of you ³⁰  commanders and officers? ³¹ 

1 Samuel 22:13

22:13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave ³²  him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes ³³  me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!”

1 Samuel 22:15

22:15 Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse ³⁴  his servant or any of my father’s house. For your servant is not aware of all this – not in whole or in part!” ³⁵ 

1 Samuel 22:22

22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty ³⁶  of all the deaths in your father’s house!

1 Samuel 23:14

23:14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ³⁷  but God did not deliver David ³⁸  into his hand.

1 Samuel 25:8

25:8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ³⁹  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ⁴⁰  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ⁴¹ 

1 Samuel 25:29

25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag ⁴²  of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!

1 Samuel 25:36

25:36 When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time ⁴³  and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing ⁴⁴  until morning’s light.

1 Samuel 26:5

26:5 So David set out and went to the place where Saul was camped. David saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general in command of his army, were sleeping. Now Saul was lying in the entrenchment, and the army was camped all around him.

1 Samuel 26:16

26:16 This failure on your part isn’t good! ⁴⁵  As surely as the Lord lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the Lord’s chosen one, are as good as dead! ⁴⁶  Now look where the king’s spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!”

1 Samuel 27:5

27:5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?”

1 Samuel 28:1

The Witch of Endor

28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their troops ⁴⁷  for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.” ⁴⁸ 

1 Samuel 30:8

30:8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”

1 Samuel 31:4

31:4 Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and stab me with it! Otherwise these uncircumcised people will come, stab me, and torture me.” But his armor bearer refused to do it, because he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.

[2:10]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

[2:10]  ² tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.

[2:10]  ³ tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”

[2:10]  ⁶ tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.

[2:10]  sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

[2:16]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”

[3:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ⁹ tc Heb “only Dagon was left.” We should probably read the word גֵּו (gev, “back”) before Dagon, understanding it to have the sense of the similar word גְּוִיָּה (gÿviyyah, “body”). This variant is supported by the following evidence: The LXX has ἡ ῥάχις (Jh rJacis, “the back” or “trunk”); the Syriac Peshitta has wegusmeh (“and the body of”); the Targum has gupyeh (“the body of”); the Vulgate has truncus (“the trunk of,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). On the strength of this evidence the present translation employs the phrase “Dagon’s body.”

[6:18]  ¹⁰ tc A few Hebrew mss and the LXX read “villages; the large rock…[is witness] until this very day.”

[9:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”

[10:3]  ¹² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “the regulation of the kingship.” This probably refers to the regulations pertaining to kingship given to Moses (see Deut 17:14-20).

[13:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at 1 Sam 10:5. Cf. TEV “killed the Philistine commander.”

[13:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”

[13:6]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “vaults.” This rare term also occurs in Judg 9:46, 49. Cf. KJV “high places”; ASV “coverts”; NAB “caverns”; NASB “cellars”; NIV, NCV, TEV “pits”; NRSV, NLT “tombs.”

[17:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”

[17:8]  ¹⁹ tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.

[17:8]  ²⁰ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.

[18:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[19:4]  ²² tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.”

[19:4]  ²³ tn Heb “good.”

[20:3]  ²⁴ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

[20:3]  ²⁵ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.

[20:12]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew text has simply “the Lord God of Israel.” On the basis of the Syriac version, many reconstruct the text to read “[is] my witness,” which may have fallen out of the text by homoioarcton (an error which is entirely possible if עֵד, ’ed, “witness,” immediately followed ַָדוִד, “David,” in the original text).

[20:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[21:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “servants’.”

[22:7]  ³⁰ tc The MT has “to all of you.” If this reading is correct, we have here an example of a prepositional phrase functioning as the equivalent of a dative of advantage, which is not impossible from a grammatical point of view. However, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have “and.” A conjunction rather than a preposition should probably be read on the front of this phrase.

[22:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “officers of a thousand and officers of a hundred.”

[22:13]  ³² tn Heb “by giving.”

[22:13]  ³³ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[22:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “set a matter against.”

[22:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “small or great.”

[22:22]  ³⁶ tc The translation follows the LXX, which reads “I am guilty,” rather than the MT, which has “I have turned.”

[23:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “all the days.”

[23:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:8]  ³⁹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (ba’nu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).

[25:8]  ⁴⁰ tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.

[25:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”

[25:29]  ⁴² tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

[25:36]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and the heart of Nabal was good upon him”; NASB, NRSV “Nabal’s heart was merry within him”; NIV “he was in high spirits”; NCV, TEV “was in a good mood”; CEV “was very drunk and feeling good.”

[25:36]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and she did not tell him a thing, small or large.”

[26:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Not good [is] this thing which you have done.”

[26:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “you are sons of death.”

[28:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “their camps.”

[28:1]  ⁴⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX (εἰς πόλεμον, eis polemon) and a Qumran ms מלחמה במלחמה ([m]lkhmh) bammilkhamah (“in the battle”) rather than the MT’s בַמַּחֲנֶה (bammakhaneh, “in the camp”; cf. NASB). While the MT reading is not impossible here, and although admittedly it is the harder reading, the variant fits the context better. The MT can be explained as a scribal error caused in part by the earlier occurrence of “camp” in this verse.