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 26:8

26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me drive the spear ¹  right through him into the ground with one swift jab! ²  A second jab won’t be necessary!”

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 ³  this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” ⁴ 

1 Samuel 28:7

28:7 So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, ⁵  so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

[26:8]  ¹ tn Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: TEV, CEV “his own spear”; NLT “that spear.” Cf. NIV, NCV “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.

[26:8]  ² tn Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”

[26:21]  ³ tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”

[26:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”

[28:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “an owner of a ritual pit.” See the note at v. 3.