1 Samuel 3:9

3:9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

1 Samuel 14:28

14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ¹  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

1 Samuel 29:5

29:5 Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ² 

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 9:15

9:15 Now the day before Saul arrived, the Lord had told ³  Samuel:

1 Samuel 18:7

18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands!”

1 Samuel 14:44

14:44 Saul said, “God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn’t die!” ⁴ 

1 Samuel 20:7

20:7 If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ ⁵  then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 23:1

David Delivers the City of Keilah

23:1 They told David, “The Philistines are fighting in Keilah and are looting the threshing floors.”

1 Samuel 25:6

25:6 Then you will say to my brother, ⁷  “Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours!

1 Samuel 25:22

25:22 God will severely punish David, ⁸  if I leave alive until morning even one male ⁹  from all those who belong to him!”

1 Samuel 2:27

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

2:27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not plainly ¹⁰  reveal myself to your ancestor’s ¹¹  house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh?

1 Samuel 9:9

9:9 (Now it used to be in Israel that whenever someone went to inquire of God he would say, “Come on, let’s go to the seer.” For today’s prophet used to be called a seer.)

1 Samuel 10:18

10:18 He said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power ¹²  of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.

1 Samuel 11:7

11:7 He took a pair ¹³  of oxen and cut them up. Then he sent the pieces throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, who said, “Whoever does not go out after Saul and after Samuel should expect this to be done to his oxen!” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they went out as one army. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 11:9

11:9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Here’s what you should say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: ‘Tomorrow deliverance will come to you when the sun is fully up.’” When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh Gilead, they were happy.

1 Samuel 18:25

18:25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his ¹⁵  enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ¹⁶  I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? ¹⁷ 

1 Samuel 27:11

27:11 Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, “This way they can’t tell on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” Such was his practice the entire time ¹⁸  that he lived in the country of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 3:17

3:17 Eli ¹⁹  said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely ²⁰  if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

1 Samuel 11:1

Saul Comes to the Aid of Jabesh

11:1 ²¹ Nahash ²²  the Ammonite marched ²³  against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.”

1 Samuel 14:9-10

14:9 If they say to us, ‘Stay put until we approach you,’ we will stay ²⁴  right there and not go up to them. 14:10 But if they say, ‘Come up against us,’ we will go up. For in that case the Lord has given them into our hand – it will be a sign to us.”

1 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ²⁵  Israel along the way when Israel ²⁶  came up from Egypt.

1 Samuel 20:5

20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. ²⁷  You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now.

1 Samuel 20:22

20:22 But if I say to the boy, “Look, the arrows are on the other side of you,’ ²⁸  get away. For in that case the Lord has sent you away.

1 Samuel 28:18

28:18 Since you did not obey the Lord ²⁹  and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today.

1 Samuel 9:16

9:16 “At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate ³⁰  him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me!”

1 Samuel 2:30

2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say ³¹  that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve ³²  me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! ³³  For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

1 Samuel 8:11

8:11 He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot.

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!’” ³⁴ 

1 Samuel 20:13

20:13 But if my father intends to do you harm, may the Lord do all this and more to Jonathan, if I don’t let you know ³⁵  and send word to you so you can go safely on your way. ³⁶  May the Lord be with you, as he was with my father.

1 Samuel 20:21

20:21 When I send a boy after them, I will say, “Go and find the arrows.” If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; ³⁷  get them,’ then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

1 Samuel 21:11

21:11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,

‘Saul struck down his thousands,

But David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 10:2

10:2 When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! ³⁸  He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

[14:28]  ¹ tn Heb “your father surely put the army under an oath.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize the solemn nature of the oath.

[29:5]  ² tn Heb “in dances.”

[9:15]  ³ tn Heb “uncovered the ear of.”

[14:44]  ⁴ tn Heb “So God will do and so he will add, surely you will certainly die, Jonathan.”

[20:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “good.”

[20:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “know that the evil is completed from with him.”

[25:6]  ⁷ 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).

[25:22]  ⁸ tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David in behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.

[25:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.”

[2:27]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to your father’s” (also in vv. 28, 30).

[10:18]  ¹² tn Heb “hand” (also later in this verse).

[11:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “yoke.”

[11:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like one man.”

[18:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the king’s.”

[20:12]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has simply “the Lord God of Israel.” On the basis of the Syriac version, many reconstruct the text to read “[is] my witness,” which may have fallen out of the text by homoioarcton (an error which is entirely possible if עֵד, ’ed, “witness,” immediately followed ַָדוִד, “David,” in the original text).

[20:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[27:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all the days.”

[3:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “So God will do to you and thus he will add.” The verbal forms in this pronouncement are imperfects, not jussives, but the statement has the force of a curse or warning. One could translate, “May God do to you and thus may he add.”

[11:1]  ²¹ tc 4QSam^a and Josephus (Ant. 6.68-71) attest to a longer form of text at this point. The addition explains Nahash’s practice of enemy mutilation, and by so doing provides a smoother transition to the following paragraph than is found in the MT. The NRSV adopts this reading, with the following English translation: “Now Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites. He would gouge out the right eye of each of them and would not grant Israel a deliverer. No one was left of the Israelites across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But there were seven thousand men who had escaped from the Ammonites and had entered Jabesh-gilead.” This reading should not be lightly dismissed; it may in fact provide a text superior to that of the MT and the ancient versions. But the external evidence for it is so limited as to induce caution; the present translation instead follows the MT. However, for a reasonable case for including this reading in the text see the discussions in P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 199, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 103.

[11:1]  ²² sn The name “Nahash” means “serpent” in Hebrew.

[11:1]  ²³ tn Heb “went up and camped”; NIV, NRSV “went up and besieged.”

[14:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “stand.”

[15:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from you and onward.”

[28:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord.”

[9:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “anoint.”

[2:30]  ³¹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:30]  ³² tn Heb “walk about before.”

[2:30]  ³³ tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”

[19:17]  ³⁴ 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.

[20:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “uncover your ear.”

[20:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “in peace.”

[20:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from you and here.”

[10:2]  ³⁸ sn In the Hebrew text the pronoun you is plural, suggesting that Saul’s father was concerned about his son and the servant who accompanied him.