1 Samuel 22:7-8

22:7 Saul said to his servants who were stationed around him, “Listen up, you Benjaminites! Is Jesse’s son giving fields and vineyards to all of you? Or is he making all of you ¹  commanders and officers? ²  22:8 For all of you have conspired against me! No one informs me ³  when my own son makes an agreement with this son of Jesse! Not one of you feels sorry for me or informs me that my own son has commissioned my own servant to hide in ambush against me, as is the case today!”

1 Samuel 26:1

David Spares Saul’s Life Again

26:1 The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding on the hill of Hakilah near ⁴  Jeshimon?”

Mazmur 54:1

Psalm 54 ⁵ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ⁶  by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” ⁷ 

54:1 O God, deliver me by your name! ⁸ 

Vindicate me ⁹  by your power!

Mazmur 54:3-4

54:3 For foreigners ¹⁰  attack me; ¹¹ 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ¹²  (Selah)

54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! ¹³ 

The Lord is among those who support me. ¹⁴ 

Amsal 29:12

29:12 If a ruler listens to ¹⁵  lies, ¹⁶ 

all his ministers ¹⁷  will be wicked. ¹⁸ 

[22:7]  ¹ tc The MT has “to all of you.” If this reading is correct, we have here an example of a prepositional phrase functioning as the equivalent of a dative of advantage, which is not impossible from a grammatical point of view. However, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have “and.” A conjunction rather than a preposition should probably be read on the front of this phrase.

[22:7]  ² tn Heb “officers of a thousand and officers of a hundred.”

[22:8]  ³ tn Heb “uncovers my ear.”

[26:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[54:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.

[54:1]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[54:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”

[54:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion the Ziphites informed Saul that David was hiding in their territory (see 1 Sam 23:19-20).

[54:1]  ⁸ tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).

[54:1]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[54:3]  ¹⁰ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[54:4]  ¹³ tn Or “my helper.”

[54:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “sustain my life.”

[29:12]  ¹⁵ tn The Hiphil participle מַקְשִׁיב (maqshiv) means “to give attention to; to regard; to heed.” Cf. NASB, NCV, TEV “pays attention to.”

[29:12]  sn Such a ruler would become known as one who could be lied to, because he paid attention to lies.

[29:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “word of falsehood” or “lying word.” Cf. TEV “false information.”

[29:12]  ¹⁷ tn The verb שָׁרַת (sharat) means “to minister; to serve.” The Piel plural participle here refers to servants of the king who attend to him – courtiers and ministers (cf. NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV “officials”; NLT “advisers”). This, his entourage, will have to resort to evil practices to gain his favor if he is swayed by such lies.

[29:12]  ¹⁸ sn The servants of the monarch adjust to their ruler; when they see that court flattery and deception are effective, they will begin to practice it and in the end become wicked (e.g., Prov 16:10; 20:8; 25:2).