1 Samuel 27:6

27:6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.)

1 Samuel 25:6

25:6 Then you will say to my brother, ¹  “Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours!

1 Samuel 25:21

25:21 Now David had been thinking, ²  “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil.

1 Samuel 2:8

2:8 He lifts the weak ³  from the dust;

he raises ⁴  the poor from the ash heap

to seat them with princes

and to bestow on them an honored position. ⁵ 

The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,

and he has placed the world on them.

1 Samuel 25:2

David Marries Abigail the Widow of Nabal

25:2 There was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. This man was very wealthy; ⁶  he owned three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. At that time he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

1 Samuel 15:3

15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ⁷  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

1 Samuel 14:47

14:47 After Saul had secured his royal position over Israel, he fought against all their ⁸  enemies on all sides – the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. In every direction that he turned he was victorious. ⁹ 

1 Samuel 30:14

30:14 We conducted a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, on the area of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb. We burned Ziklag.” ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 1:28

1:28 Now I dedicate him to the Lord. From this time on he is dedicated to the Lord.” Then they ¹¹  worshiped the Lord there.

1 Samuel 12:4

12:4 They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.”

1 Samuel 2:14

2:14 He would jab it into the basin, kettle, caldron, or pot, and everything that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they used to do to all the Israelites ¹²  when they came there to Shiloh.

1 Samuel 9:3

9:3 The donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, ¹³  so Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go ¹⁴  look for the donkeys.” ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 13:22

13:22 So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

1 Samuel 21:8

21:8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”

1 Samuel 28:18

28:18 Since you did not obey the Lord ¹⁶  and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today.

1 Samuel 30:20

30:20 David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, “This is David’s plunder!”

1 Samuel 26:19

26:19 So let my lord the king now listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may he take delight in ¹⁷  an offering. But if men have instigated this, ¹⁸  may they be cursed before the Lord! For they have driven me away this day from being united with the Lord’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go on, serve other gods!’

1 Samuel 9:20

9:20 Don’t be concerned ¹⁹  about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 10:1

Samuel Anoints Saul

10:1 Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s ²¹  head. Samuel ²²  kissed him and said, “The Lord has chosen you ²³  to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord’s people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen ²⁴  you as leader over his inheritance. ²⁵ 

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 ²⁶  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 1:11

1:11 She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion ²⁷  on the suffering of your female servant, ²⁸  remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child ²⁹  to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” ³⁰ 

[25:6]  ¹ tc The text is difficult here. The MT and most of the early versions support the reading לֶחָי (lekhai, “to life,” or “to the one who lives”). Some of the older English versions (KJV, ASV; cf. NKJV) took the expression to mean “to him who lives (in prosperity),” but this translation requires reading a good deal into the words. While the expression could have the sense of “Long life to you!” (cf. NIV, NJPS) or perhaps “Good luck to you!” this seems somewhat redundant in light of the salutation that follows in the context. The Latin Vulgate has fratribus meis (“to my brothers”), which suggests that Jerome understood the Hebrew word to have an alef that is absent in the MT (i.e., לֶאֱחָי, le’ekhay). Jerome’s plural, however, remains a problem, since in the context David is addressing a single individual, namely Nabal, and not a group. However, it is likely that the Vulgate witnesses to a consonantal Hebrew text that is to be preferred here, especially if the word were to be revocalized as a singular rather than a plural. While it is impossible to be certain about this reading, the present translation essentially follows the Vulgate in reading “my brother” (so also NJB; cf. NAB, RSV, NRSV).

[25:21]  ² tn Heb “said.”

[2:8]  ³ tn Or “lowly”; Heb “insignificant.”

[2:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “a seat of honor.”

[25:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “great.”

[15:3]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

[14:47]  ⁸ tn Heb “his,” which could refer to Israel or to Saul.

[14:47]  ⁹ tc The translation follows the LXX (“he was delivered”), rather than the MT, which reads, “he acted wickedly.”

[30:14]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[1:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he,” apparently referring to Samuel (but cf. CEV “Elkanah”). A few medieval manuscripts and some ancient versions take the verb as plural (cf. TEV, NLT).

[2:14]  ¹² tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[9:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “became lost.”

[9:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and arise, go.”

[9:3]  ¹⁵ tc The Syriac Peshitta includes the following words: “So Saul arose and went out. He took with him one of the boys and went out to look for his father’s donkeys.”

[28:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord.”

[26:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “may he smell.” The implication is that Saul should seek to appease God, for such divine instigation to evil would a sign of God’s disfavor. For a fuller discussion of this passage see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 19-21.

[26:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “but if the sons of men.”

[9:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do not fix your heart.”

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and all the house of your father.”

[10:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Is it not that the Lord has anointed you?” The question draws attention to the fact and is a rhetorical way of affirming the Lord’s choice of Saul. The translation reflects the rhetorical force of the question.

[10:1]  ²⁴ tn That is, “anointed.”

[10:1]  ²⁵ tc The MT reads simply “Is it not that the Lord has anointed you over his inheritance for a leader?” The translation follows the LXX. The MT apparently suffers from parablepsis, whereby a scribe’s eye jumped from the first occurrence of the expression “the Lord has anointed you” to the second occurrence of this expression at the end of v. 1. This mistake caused the accidental omission of the intervening material in the LXX, which appears to preserve the original Hebrew text here.

[25:29]  ²⁶ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

[1:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “if looking you look.” The expression can refer, as here, to looking favorably upon another, in this case with compassion.

[1:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “handmaid.” The use of this term (translated two more times in this verse and once each in vv. 16, 17 simply as “servant” for stylistic reasons) is an expression of humility.

[1:11]  ²⁹ tn Heb “seed of men.”

[1:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a razor will not go up upon his head.”