1 Samuel 3:13

3:13 You ¹  should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of ²  the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God, ³  and he did not rebuke them.

1 Samuel 10:27

10:27 But some wicked men ⁴  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ⁵ 

1 Samuel 15:35

15:35 Until the day he ⁶  died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Samuel 18:8

18:8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, ⁷  “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?”

1 Samuel 18:23

18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ⁸  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

1 Samuel 18:26

18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed ⁹  to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired ¹⁰ 

[3:13]  ¹ tc The MT has וְהִגַּדְתִּי לוֹ (vÿhiggadti lo). The verb is Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular, and apparently the conjunction should be understood as vav consecutive (“I will say to him”). But the future reference makes more sense if Samuel is the subject. This would require dropping the final י (yod) and reading the 2nd person masculine singular וְהִגַּדְתָּ (vÿhiggadta). Although there is no external evidence to support it, this reading has been adopted in the present translation. The alternative is to understand the MT to mean “I said to him,” but for this we would expect the preterite with vav consecutive.

[3:13]  ² tn The translation understands the preposition to have a causal sense. However, the preposition could also be understood as the beth pretii, indicating in a broad sense the price attached to this action. So GKC 380 §119.p.

[3:13]  ³ tc The translation follows the LXX θεόν (qeon, “God”) rather than the MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”). The MT seems to mean “they were bringing a curse on themselves” (cf. ASV, NASB). But this meaning is problematic in part because the verb qll means “to curse,” not “to bring a curse on,” and in part because it takes an accusative object rather than the equivalent of a dative. This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” Why would the ancient copyists alter the original statement about Eli’s sons cursing God to the less objectionable statement that they brought a curse on themselves? Some argue that the scribes were concerned that such a direct and blasphemous affront against God could occur without an immediate response of judgment from God. Therefore they changed the text by deleting two letters א and י (alef and yod) from the word for “God,” with the result that the text then read “to them.” If this ancient scribal claim is accepted as accurate, it implies that the MT here is secondary. The present translation follows the LXX (κακολογοῦντες θεόν, kakologounte" qeon) and a few mss of the Old Latin in reading “God” rather than the MT “to them.” Cf. also NAB, NRSV, NLT.

[10:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

[10:27]  ⁵ tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

[15:35]  ⁶ tn That is, Samuel.

[18:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “said.” So also in vv. 11, 17.

[18:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”

[18:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”