1 Samuel 17:25-26

17:25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so ¹  to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.”

17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? ²  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:36

17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ³  For he has defied the armies of the living God!”

1 Samuel 17:45

17:45 But David replied to the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied!

Bilangan 23:7-8

23:7 Then Balaam ⁴  uttered ⁵  his oracle, saying,

“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me ⁶  from Aram,

out of the mountains of the east, saying,

‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;

come, denounce Israel.’ ⁷ 

23:8 How ⁸  can I curse ⁹  one whom God has not cursed,

or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?

Bilangan 23:2

23:2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each ¹⁰  altar a bull and a ram.

1 Samuel 21:1

21:1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met ¹¹  David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?”

1 Samuel 23:9

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ¹²  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

Nehemia 2:19

2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard all this, ¹³  they derided us and expressed contempt toward us. They said, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

[17:25]  ¹ tn Heb “he is coming up.”

[17:26]  ² tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”

[17:36]  ³ tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”

[23:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Balaam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “took up.”

[23:7]  ⁶ tn The passage calls for a past tense translation; since the verb form is a prefixed conjugation, this tense should be classified as a preterite without the vav (ו). Such forms do occur, especially in the ancient poetic passages.

[23:7]  ⁷ sn The opening lines seem to be a formula for the seer to identify himself and the occasion for the oracle. The tension is laid out early; Balaam knows that God has intended to bless Israel, but he has been paid to curse them.

[23:8]  ⁸ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

[23:8]  ⁹ tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.

[23:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has “on the altar,” but since there were seven of each animal and seven altars, the implication is that this means on each altar.

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “trembled to meet.”

[23:9]  ¹² tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”

[2:19]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text does not include the words “all this,” but they have been added in the translation for clarity.