1 Samuel 8:20

8:20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us ¹  and fight our battles.”

1 Samuel 9:11

9:11 As they were going up the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water. They said to them, “Is this where the seer is?”

1 Samuel 13:17

13:17 Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual;

1 Samuel 9:14

9:14 So they went up to the town. As they were heading for the middle of the town, Samuel was coming in their direction ²  to go up to the high place.

1 Samuel 7:11

7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.

1 Samuel 17:4

17:4 Then a champion ³  came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 9:26

9:26 They got up at dawn and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, so I can send you on your way.” So Saul got up and the two of them – he and Samuel – went outside.

1 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ⁵  Israel along the way when Israel ⁶  came up from Egypt.

1 Samuel 23:13

23:13 So David and his men, who numbered about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another. ⁷  When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition.

1 Samuel 18:5

18:5 On every mission on which Saul sent him, David achieved success. So Saul appointed him over the men of war. This pleased not only all the army, but also Saul’s servants. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 28:1

The Witch of Endor

28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their troops ⁹  for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.” ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 20:11

20:11 Jonathan said to David, “Come on. Let’s go out to the field.”

When the two of them had gone out into the field,

1 Samuel 13:23

Jonathan Ignites a Battle

13:23 A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

1 Samuel 23:15

23:15 David realized ¹¹  that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the desert of Ziph.

1 Samuel 18:30

18:30 ¹²  Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.

1 Samuel 18:16

18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.

1 Samuel 20:35

20:35 The next morning Jonathan, along with a young servant, went out to the field to meet David.

1 Samuel 12:6

12:6 Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors ¹³  up from the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 13:10

13:10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 18:13

18:13 Saul removed David ¹⁵  from his presence and made him a commanding officer. ¹⁶  David led the army out to battle and back. ¹⁷ 

1 Samuel 14:11

14:11 When they ¹⁸  made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves.”

1 Samuel 2:3

2:3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly, ¹⁹ 

letting proud talk come out of your mouth!

For the Lord is a God who knows;

he ²⁰  evaluates what people do.

1 Samuel 11:7

11:7 He took a pair ²¹  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. ²² 

1 Samuel 12:8

12:8 When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

1 Samuel 24:8

24:8 Afterward David got up and went out of the cave. He called out after Saul, “My lord, O king!” When Saul looked behind him, David kneeled down and bowed with his face to the ground.

1 Samuel 26:20

26:20 Now don’t let my blood fall to the ground away from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has gone out to look for a flea the way one looks for a partridge ²³  in the hill country.”

1 Samuel 8:8

8:8 Just as they have done ²⁴  from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you.

1 Samuel 19:8

19:8 Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly ²⁵  and they ran away from him.

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 ²⁶  of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.

1 Samuel 19:3

19:3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is, ²⁷  I will let you know.”

1 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Goliath ²⁸  stood and called to Israel’s troops, ²⁹  “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose ³⁰  for yourselves a man so he may come down ³¹  to me!

1 Samuel 17:20

17:20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. ³²  After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp ³³  as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry.

1 Samuel 30:21

30:21 Then David approached the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him, ³⁴  those whom they had left at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and the people who were with him. When David approached the people, he asked how they were doing.

1 Samuel 17:55

17:55 ³⁵ Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.”

1 Samuel 15:6

15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away ³⁶  with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 29:6

29:6 So Achish summoned David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have you ³⁷  serving ³⁸  with me in the army. ³⁹  I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion ⁴⁰  of the leaders, you are not reliable. ⁴¹ 

1 Samuel 4:1

4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ⁴²  to all Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ⁴³  They camped at Ebenezer, ⁴⁴  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

1 Samuel 17:39

17:39 David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire and tried to walk around, but he was not used to them. ⁴⁵  David said to Saul, “I can’t walk in these things, for I’m not used to them.” So David removed them.

1 Samuel 24:7

24:7 David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down ⁴⁶  the road.

1 Samuel 21:5

21:5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’ ⁴⁷  equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”

1 Samuel 14:16

14:16 Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin ⁴⁸  looked on ⁴⁹  as the crowd of soldiers seemed to melt away first in one direction and then in another. ⁵⁰ 

1 Samuel 6:9

6:9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”

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 24:13

24:13 It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 11:10

11:10 The men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you ⁵¹  and you can do with us whatever you wish.” ⁵² 

1 Samuel 19:12

19:12 So Michal lowered David through the window, and he ran away and escaped.

1 Samuel 18:6

18:6 When the men ⁵³  arrived after David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women from all the cities of Israel came out singing and dancing to meet King Saul. They were happy as they played their tambourines and three-stringed instruments. ⁵⁴ 

1 Samuel 1:18

1:18 She said, “May I, your servant, find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and got something to eat. ⁵⁵  Her face no longer looked sad.

1 Samuel 17:23

17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, ⁵⁶  and David heard it.

1 Samuel 11:3

11:3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you.”

1 Samuel 24:14

24:14 Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?

1 Samuel 28:13

28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god ⁵⁷  coming up from the ground!”

1 Samuel 20:41

20:41 When the servant had left, David got up from beside the mound, ⁵⁸  knelt ⁵⁹  with his face to the ground, and bowed three times. Then they kissed each other and they both wept, especially David.

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 ⁶⁰  when they came there to Shiloh.

1 Samuel 4:2

4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight ⁶¹  Israel. As the battle spread out, ⁶²  Israel was defeated by ⁶³  the Philistines, who ⁶⁴  killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

1 Samuel 8:18

8:18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” ⁶⁵ 

1 Samuel 10:23

10:23 So they ran and brought him from there. When he took his position among the people, he stood head and shoulders above them all.

1 Samuel 17:35

17:35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it.

1 Samuel 17:49

17:49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground.

1 Samuel 19:10

19:10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall. ⁶⁶  David escaped quickly ⁶⁷  that night.

1 Samuel 21:1

21:1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met ⁶⁸  David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?”

1 Samuel 23:25

23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. ⁶⁹  But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

1 Samuel 31:8

31:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead ⁷⁰  on Mount Gilboa.

1 Samuel 19:11

19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save yourself ⁷¹  tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

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; ⁷²  get them,’ then come back. For as surely as the Lord lives, you will be safe and there will no problem.

1 Samuel 26:12

26:12 So David took the spear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, and they got out of there. No one saw them or was aware of their presence or woke up. All of them were asleep, for the Lord had caused a deep sleep to fall on them.

[8:20]  ¹ tn Heb “and go out before us.”

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “to meet them.” This may indicate purpose on Samuel’s part. The next sentence indicates that the meeting was by design, not just an accident.

[17:4]  ³ tn Heb “the man of the space between the two [armies].” See v. 23.

[17:4]  ⁴ tc Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 286, 291.

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “they went where they went.”

[18:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of the servants of Saul.”

[28:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “their camps.”

[28:1]  ¹⁰ tc The translation follows the LXX (εἰς πόλεμον, eis polemon) and a Qumran ms מלחמה במלחמה ([m]lkhmh) bammilkhamah (“in the battle”) rather than the MT’s בַמַּחֲנֶה (bammakhaneh, “in the camp”; cf. NASB). While the MT reading is not impossible here, and although admittedly it is the harder reading, the variant fits the context better. The MT can be explained as a scribal error caused in part by the earlier occurrence of “camp” in this verse.

[23:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[18:30]  ¹² tc Verse 30 is absent in most LXX mss.

[12:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 8).

[13:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to bless him.”

[18:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “an officer of a thousand.”

[18:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he went out and came in before the people.” See v. 16.

[14:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the two of them.”

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.

[2:3]  ²⁰ tc The MT (Qere) reads “and by him actions are weighed.” The translation assumes that reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[11:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “yoke.”

[11:7]  ²² tn Heb “like one man.”

[26:20]  ²³ tn Heb “the calling [one],” which apparently refers to a partridge.

[8:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to all the deeds which they have done.”

[19:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he struck them down with a great blow.”

[10:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hand” (also later in this verse).

[19:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “when I see.”

[17:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”

[17:8]  ³⁰ tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.

[17:8]  ³¹ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.

[17:20]  ³² tn Heb “to a guard”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “with a keeper”; NIV “with a shepherd.” Since in contemporary English “guard” sounds like someone at a military installation or a prison, the present translation uses “to someone else who would watch over it.”

[17:20]  ³³ tn Or “entrenchment.”

[30:21]  ³⁴ tn Heb “David.” The pronoun (“him”) has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:55]  ³⁵ tc Most LXX mss lack 17:55–18:5.

[15:6]  ³⁶ tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).

[29:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.

[29:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your going forth and your coming in.” The expression is a merism.

[29:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “camp.”

[29:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “eyes.”

[29:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “good.”

[4:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “and the word of Samuel was.” The present translation understands Samuel to be the speaker of the divine word (“Samuel” is a subjective genitive in this case), although the statement could mean that he was the recipient of the divine word (“Samuel” is an objective genitive in this case) who in turn reported it to Israel.

[4:1]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Contrast the expression used in 5:1 and 7:12, where the first word lacks the definite article, unlike 4:1.

[17:39]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “he had not tested.”

[24:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “went on.”

[21:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “servants’.”

[14:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “saw, and look!”

[14:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “the crowd melted and went, even here.”

[11:10]  ⁵¹ tn The second masculine plural forms in this quotation indicate that Nahash and his army are addressed.

[11:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “according to all that is good in your eyes.”

[18:6]  ⁵³ tn Heb “them.” The masculine plural pronoun apparently refers to the returning soldiers.

[18:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.”

[1:18]  ⁵⁵ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss and the Syriac Peshitta lack the words “and got something to eat.”

[17:23]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “according to these words.”

[28:13]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.

[20:41]  ⁵⁸ tc The translation follows the LXX in reading “the mound,” rather than the MT’s “the south.” It is hard to see what meaning the MT reading “from beside the south” would have as it stands, since such a location lacks specificity. The NIV treats it as an elliptical expression, rendering the phrase as “from the south side of the stone (rock NCV).” This is perhaps possible, but it seems better to follow the LXX rather than the MT here.

[20:41]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “fell.”

[2:14]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “to all Israel.”

[4:2]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “to meet.”

[4:2]  ⁶² tn The MT has וַתִּטֹּשׁ (vattittosh), from the root נטשׁ (ntsh). This verb normally means “to leave,” “to forsake,” or “to permit,” but such an idea does not fit this context very well. Many scholars have suspected that the text originally read either וַתֵּט (vattet, “and it spread out”), from the root נטה (nth), or וַתִּקֶשׁ (vattiqesh, “and it grew fierce”), from the root קשׂה (qsh). The former suggestion is apparently supported by the LXX ἔκλινεν (eklinen, “it inclined”) and is adopted in the translation.

[4:2]  ⁶³ tn Heb “before.”

[4:2]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “the Philistines, and they killed.” The pronoun “they” has been translated as a relative pronoun (“who”) to make it clear to the English reader that the Philistines were the ones who did the killing.

[8:18]  ⁶⁵ tc The LXX adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”

[19:10]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and he drove the spear into the wall.”

[19:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “fled and escaped.”

[21:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “trembled to meet.”

[23:25]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “to search.”

[31:8]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “fallen.”

[19:11]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “your life.”

[20:21]  ⁷² tn Heb “from you and here.”