1 Samuel 2:8

2:8 He lifts the weak ¹  from the dust;

he raises ²  the poor from the ash heap

to seat them with princes

and to bestow on them an honored position. ³ 

The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,

and he has placed the world on them.

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! ⁴  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

1 Samuel 4:19

4:19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her.

1 Samuel 16:1

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. ⁵  Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem, ⁶  for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.” ⁷ 

1 Samuel 17:26

17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? ⁸  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 19:17

19:17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!” Michal replied to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away or else I will kill you!’” ⁹ 

1 Samuel 23:23

23:23 Locate precisely all the places where he hides and return to me with dependable information. ¹⁰  Then I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will find him ¹¹  among all the thousands of Judah.”

1 Samuel 24:6

24:6 He said to his men, “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord, who is the Lord’s chosen one, ¹²  by extending my hand against him. After all, ¹³  he is the Lord’s chosen one.” ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 25:17

25:17 Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. ¹⁵  He is such a wicked person ¹⁶  that no one tells him anything!”

1 Samuel 26:21

26:21 Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you, for you treated my life with value ¹⁷  this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” ¹⁸ 

1 Samuel 30:1

David Defeats the Amalekites

30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. ¹⁹ 

1 Samuel 30:22

30:22 But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, ²⁰  we won’t give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!”

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.

[2:8]  ¹ tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”

[2:8]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form, which is parallel to the participle in the preceding line, is best understood here as indicating what typically happens.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “a seat of honor.”

[2:16]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”

[16:1]  ⁵ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

[16:1]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[16:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

[17:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”

[19:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “Send me away! Why should I kill you?” The question has the force of a threat in this context. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 325, 26.

[23:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “established.”

[23:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will search him out.”

[24:6]  ¹² tn Heb “anointed.”

[24:6]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[24:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “anointed.”

[25:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all his house” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “his whole family.”

[25:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he is a son of worthlessness.”

[26:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”

[26:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”

[30:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[30:22]  ²⁰ tc Heb “with me.” The singular is used rather than the plural because the group is being treated as a singular entity, in keeping with Hebrew idiom. It is not necessary to read “with us,” rather than the MT “with me,” although the plural can be found here in a few medieval Hebrew mss. See also the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate, although these versions may simply reflect an understanding of the idiom as found in the MT rather than a different textual reading.