1 Samuel 2:9

2:9 He watches over ¹  his holy ones, ² 

but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,

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

1 Samuel 20:6

20:6 If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ³  to his city Bethlehem, ⁴  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’

[2:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[20:6]  ³ tn Heb “to run.”

[20:6]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.