1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even ¹  the barren woman gives birth to seven, ² 

but the one with many children withers away. ³ 

1 Samuel 2:20

2:20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord raise up for you descendants ⁴  from this woman to replace the one that she ⁵  dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would go to their ⁶  home.

1 Samuel 5:7

5:7 When the people ⁷  of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked ⁸  both us and our god Dagon!”

1 Samuel 6:20

6:20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark ⁹  go up from here?”

1 Samuel 7:1

7:1 Then the people ¹⁰  of Kiriath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord; they brought it to the house of Abinadab located on the hill. They consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.

1 Samuel 9:5

9:5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!”

1 Samuel 10:19

10:19 But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, “No! ¹¹  Appoint a king over us.” Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.’”

1 Samuel 12:23

12:23 As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright.

1 Samuel 13:21

13:21 They charged ¹²  two-thirds of a shekel ¹³  to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and a third of a shekel ¹⁴  to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads.

1 Samuel 14:17

14:17 So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops, ¹⁵  Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

1 Samuel 20:5-6

20:5 David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. ¹⁶  You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. 20:6 If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ¹⁷  to his city Bethlehem, ¹⁸  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’

1 Samuel 23:10

23:10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ¹⁹  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

1 Samuel 31:9

31:9 They cut off Saul’s ²⁰  head and stripped him of his armor. They sent messengers to announce the news in the temple of their idols and among their people throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines.

[2:5]  ¹ tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

[2:5]  ² sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

[2:5]  ³ tn Or “languishes.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “seed.”

[2:20]  ⁵ tn The MT has a masculine verb here, but in light of the context the reference must be to Hannah. It is possible that the text of the MT is incorrect here (cf. the ancient versions), in which case the text should be changed to read either a passive participle or better, the third feminine singular of the verb. If the MT is correct here, perhaps the masculine is to be understood in a nonspecific and impersonal way, allowing for a feminine antecedent. In any case, the syntax of the MT is unusual here.

[2:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “his.”

[5:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “men.”

[5:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “for his hand is severe upon.”

[6:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the Lord himself.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “men.”

[10:19]  ¹¹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading לֹא (lo’, “not”) rather than the MT לוֹ (lo; “to him”). Some witnesses combine the variants, resulting in a conflated text. For example, a few medieval Hebrew mss have לֹא לוֹ (lo lo’; “to him, ‘No.’”). A few others have לֹא לִי (li lo’; “to me, ‘No.’”).

[13:21]  ¹² tn Heb “the price was.” The meaning of the Hebrew word פְּצִירָה (pÿtsirah) is uncertain. This is the only place it occurs in the OT. Some propose the meaning “sharpening,” but “price” is a more likely meaning if the following term refers to a weight (see the following note on the word “shekel”). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238.

[13:21]  ¹³ tn This word, which appears only here in the OT, probably refers to a stone weight. Stones marked פִּים (pim) have been found in excavations of Palestinian sites. The average weight of such stones is 0.268 ounces, which is equivalent to about two-thirds of a shekel. This probably refers to the price charged by the Philistines for the services listed. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238; DNWSI 2:910; and G. I. Davies, Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, 259.

[13:21]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “and for a third, a pick.” The Hebrew text suffers from haplography at this point. The translation follows the textual reconstruction offered by P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 235.

[14:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”

[20:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to run.”

[20:6]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[23:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “seeking.”

[31:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).