1 Samuel 3:12

3:12 On that day I will carry out ¹  against Eli everything that I spoke about his house – from start to finish!

1 Samuel 20:15-16

20:15 Don’t ever cut off your loyalty to my family, not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth 20:16 and called David’s enemies to account.” So Jonathan made a covenant ²  with the house of David. ³ 

1 Samuel 25:6

25:6 Then you will say to my brother, ⁴  “Peace to you and your house! Peace to all that is yours!

1 Samuel 31:10

31:10 They placed Saul’s armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths ⁵  and hung his corpse on the city wall of Beth Shan.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Or “fulfill.”

[20:16]  ² tn Heb “cut.” The object of the verb (“covenant”) must be supplied.

[20:16]  ³ tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text, which reads “and Jonathan cut with the house of David, and the Lord will seek from the hand of the enemies of David.” The translation assumes that the main clauses of the verse have been accidentally transposed in the course of transmission. The first part of the verse (as it stands in MT) belongs with v. 17, while the second part of the verse actually continues v. 15.

[25:6]  ⁴ tc The text is difficult here. The MT and most of the early versions support the reading לֶחָי (lekhai, “to life,” or “to the one who lives”). Some of the older English versions (KJV, ASV; cf. NKJV) took the expression to mean “to him who lives (in prosperity),” but this translation requires reading a good deal into the words. While the expression could have the sense of “Long life to you!” (cf. NIV, NJPS) or perhaps “Good luck to you!” this seems somewhat redundant in light of the salutation that follows in the context. The Latin Vulgate has fratribus meis (“to my brothers”), which suggests that Jerome understood the Hebrew word to have an alef that is absent in the MT (i.e., לֶאֱחָי, le’ekhay). Jerome’s plural, however, remains a problem, since in the context David is addressing a single individual, namely Nabal, and not a group. However, it is likely that the Vulgate witnesses to a consonantal Hebrew text that is to be preferred here, especially if the word were to be revocalized as a singular rather than a plural. While it is impossible to be certain about this reading, the present translation essentially follows the Vulgate in reading “my brother” (so also NJB; cf. NAB, RSV, NRSV).

[31:10]  ⁵ sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. See the note on the same term in 7:3.