1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even ¹  the barren woman gives birth to seven, ² 

but the one with many children withers away. ³ 

1 Samuel 10:23

10:23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he took his position among the people, he stood head and shoulders above them all.

1 Samuel 11:2

11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

1 Samuel 13:15

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ⁴  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ⁵  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 16:10

16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. ⁶  But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”

1 Samuel 17:33

17:33 But Saul replied to David, “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!”

1 Samuel 17:43

17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” ⁷  Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1 Samuel 29:9

29:9 Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliable ⁸  as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’

[2:5]  ¹ tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

[2:5]  ² sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

[2:5]  ³ tn Or “languishes.”

[13:15]  ⁴ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

[16:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.

[17:43]  ⁷ sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.

[29:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “I know that you are good in my eyes.”