1 Samuel 2:16

2:16 If the individual said to him, “First let the fat be burned away, and then take for yourself whatever you wish,” he would say, “No! ¹  Hand it over right now! If you don’t, I will take it forcibly!”

1 Samuel 3:6

3:6 The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ²  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

1 Samuel 6:4

6:4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”

They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders.

1 Samuel 6:12

6:12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along, mooing as they went; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.

1 Samuel 7:6-7

7:6 After they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted on that day, and they confessed ³  there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” So Samuel led ⁴  the people of Israel at Mizpah.

7:7 When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the leaders of the Philistines went up against Israel. When the Israelites heard about this, they were afraid of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 11:11

11:11 The next day Saul placed the people in three groups. They went to the Ammonite camp during the morning watch and struck them ⁵  down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.

1 Samuel 12:2

12:2 Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, though my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day.

1 Samuel 13:3

13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost ⁶  that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted ⁷  all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!”

1 Samuel 13:5

13:5 For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 ⁸  chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.

1 Samuel 13:14

13:14 But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out ⁹  for himself a man who is loyal to him ¹⁰  and the Lord has appointed ¹¹  him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”

1 Samuel 16:13

16:13 So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

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 ¹²  tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

1 Samuel 20:12

20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. ¹³  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? ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 21:2

21:2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’ ¹⁵  I have told my soldiers ¹⁶  to wait at a certain place. ¹⁷ 

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’ ¹⁸  equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”

1 Samuel 21:9

David Goes to Gath

21:9 The priest replied, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the valley of Elah, is wrapped in a garment behind the ephod. If you wish, take it for yourself. Other than that, there’s nothing here.” David said, “There’s nothing like it! Give it to me!”

1 Samuel 24:10

24:10 Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you – this very day – into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity ¹⁹  on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 25:8

25:8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ²¹  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ²²  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ²³ 

1 Samuel 25:14

25:14 But one of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet ²⁴  our lord, but he screamed at them.

1 Samuel 25:18

25:18 So Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread, two containers ²⁵  of wine, five prepared sheep, five seahs ²⁶  of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred lumps of pressed figs. She loaded them on donkeys

1 Samuel 25:29

25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag ²⁷  of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!

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 ²⁸  serving ²⁹  with me in the army. ³⁰  I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion ³¹  of the leaders, you are not reliable. ³² 

1 Samuel 30:8

30:8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”

[2:16]  ¹ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss (“no”) rather than the Kethib and MT, which read “to him.”

[3:6]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:6]  ³ tn Heb “said.”

[7:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “Ammon.” By metonymy the name “Ammon” is used collectively for the soldiers in the Ammonite army.

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at 1 Sam 10:5. Cf. TEV “killed the Philistine commander.”

[13:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”

[13:5]  ⁸ tn Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV) read “30,000” here.

[13:14]  ⁹ tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.

[13:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.

[13:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[19:11]  ¹² tn Heb “your life.”

[20:12]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”

[21:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “servants.”

[21:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.

[21:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “servants’.”

[24:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “it had pity,” apparently with the understood subject being “my eye,” in accordance with a common expression.

[24:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “anointed.”

[25:8]  ²¹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (ba’nu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).

[25:8]  ²² tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.

[25:8]  ²³ tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”

[25:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “bless.”

[25:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “skins.”

[25:18]  ²⁶ sn The seah was a dry measure equal to one-third of an ephah, or not quite eleven quarts.

[25:29]  ²⁷ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

[29:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.

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

[29:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “camp.”

[29:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “eyes.”

[29:6]  ³² tn Heb “good.”