1 Samuel 1:28

1:28 Now I dedicate him to the Lord. From this time on he is dedicated to the Lord.” Then they ¹  worshiped the Lord there.

1 Samuel 9:2

9:2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

1 Samuel 9:10

9:10 So Saul said to his servant, “That’s a good idea! ²  Come on. Let’s go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was.

1 Samuel 9:17-18

9:17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, ³  “Here is the man that I told you about! He will rule over my people.” 9:18 As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

1 Samuel 9:22

9:22 Then Samuel brought ⁴  Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present.

1 Samuel 10:12

10:12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 10:14

10:14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ⁵  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ⁶  we went to Samuel.”

1 Samuel 10:21

10:21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

1 Samuel 11:4

11:4 When the messengers went to Gibeah (where Saul lived) ⁷  and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 11:13

11:13 But Saul said, “No one will be killed on this day. For today the Lord has given Israel a victory!”

1 Samuel 13:15

13:15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal ⁹  to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. ¹⁰  Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 14:17-18

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, ¹¹  Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. 14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ¹²  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ¹³ 

1 Samuel 14:20

14:20 Saul and all the army that was with him assembled and marched into battle, where they found ¹⁴  the Philistines in total panic killing one another with their swords. ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 14:37-38

14:37 So Saul asked God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.

14:38 Then Saul said, “All you leaders of the army come here. Find out ¹⁶  how this sin occurred today.

1 Samuel 14:41

14:41 Then Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, O Lord God of Israel, respond with Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, respond with Thummim.” ¹⁷  Then Jonathan and Saul were indicated by lot, while the army was exonerated. ¹⁸ 

1 Samuel 14:49

Members of Saul’s Family

14:49 The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. ¹⁹  He had two daughters; the older one was named Merab and the younger Michal.

1 Samuel 15:1

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 15:4

15:4 So Saul assembled ²¹  the army ²²  and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

1 Samuel 15:15-16

15:15 Saul said, “They were brought ²³  from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord our God. But everything else we slaughtered.”

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ²⁴  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ²⁵  said to him, “Tell me.”

1 Samuel 15:24

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ²⁶  and what you said as well. ²⁷  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 15:26

15:26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel!”

1 Samuel 16:2

16:2 Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you ²⁹  and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

1 Samuel 16:19-20

16:19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is out with the sheep. 16:20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a container of wine, and a young goat ³⁰  and sent them to Saul with ³¹  his son David.

1 Samuel 16:22

16:22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse saying, “Let David be my servant, for I really like him.” ³² 

1 Samuel 17:32

17:32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. ³³  Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”

1 Samuel 17:34

17:34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:38

17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him.

1 Samuel 17:57--18:1

17:57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 17:58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.” ³⁴ 

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ³⁵  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ³⁶  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ³⁷ 

1 Samuel 18:18-19

18:18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father ³⁸  in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 18:19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.

1 Samuel 18:23

18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ³⁹  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

1 Samuel 18:30

18:30 ⁴⁰  Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.

1 Samuel 19:2

19:2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying ⁴¹  to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find ⁴²  a hiding place and stay in seclusion. ⁴³ 

1 Samuel 19:9

19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon ⁴⁴  Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. ⁴⁵ 

1 Samuel 19:15

19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.”

1 Samuel 19:21

19:21 When it was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they prophesied too. So Saul sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied.

1 Samuel 20:25-26

20:25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ⁴⁶  and Abner at his side. ⁴⁷  But David’s place was vacant. 20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ⁴⁸  that day, for he thought, ⁴⁹  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

1 Samuel 20:33

20:33 Then Saul threw his spear at Jonathan ⁵⁰  in order to strike him down. So Jonathan was convinced ⁵¹  that his father had decided to kill David.

1 Samuel 21:7

21:7 (One of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord. His name was Doeg the Edomite, who was in charge of Saul’s shepherds.)

1 Samuel 21:10

21:10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath.

1 Samuel 23:7-12

23:7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered ⁵²  him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” ⁵³  23:8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁵⁴ 

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ⁵⁵  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!” 23:10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ⁵⁶  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. 23:11 Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, please inform your servant!”

Then the Lord said, “He will come down.” 23:12 David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand?” The Lord said, “They will deliver you over.”

1 Samuel 23:14

23:14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the desert of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, ⁵⁷  but God did not deliver David ⁵⁸  into his hand.

1 Samuel 23:19

23:19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon?

1 Samuel 23:24

23:24 So they left and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.

1 Samuel 23:28

23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. ⁵⁹ 

1 Samuel 24:1-2

David Spares Saul’s Life

24:1 (24:2) When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, they told him, “Look, David is in the desert of En Gedi.” 24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find ⁶⁰  David and his men in the region of ⁶¹  the rocks of the mountain goats. ⁶² 

1 Samuel 24:7

24:7 David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down ⁶³  the road.

1 Samuel 24:22

24:22 David promised Saul this on oath. ⁶⁴  Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 26:1-2

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 ⁶⁵  Jeshimon?” 26:2 So Saul arose and

went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.

1 Samuel 26:17

26:17 When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.”

1 Samuel 28:13

28:13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god ⁶⁶  coming up from the ground!”

1 Samuel 29:5

29:5 Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ⁶⁷ 

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 31:5

31:5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him.

1 Samuel 31:8

31:8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip loot from the corpses, they discovered Saul and his three sons lying dead ⁶⁸  on Mount Gilboa.

[1:28]  ¹ tn Heb “he,” apparently referring to Samuel (but cf. CEV “Elkanah”). A few medieval manuscripts and some ancient versions take the verb as plural (cf. TEV, NLT).

[9:10]  ² tn Heb “your word is good.”

[9:17]  ³ tn Heb “responded.”

[9:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “took and brought.”

[10:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “And we saw that they were not.”

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Gibeah of Saul.”

[11:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “lifted their voice and wept.”

[13:15]  ⁹ tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss include the following words here: “on his way. And the rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the warring army. When they arrived from Gilgal….”

[13:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).

[14:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”

[14:18]  ¹² tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

[14:18]  ¹³ tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.

[14:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and look, there was”

[14:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the sword of a man against his companion, a very great panic.”

[14:38]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “know and see.”

[14:41]  ¹⁷ tc Heb “to the Lord God of Israel: ‘Give what is perfect.’” The Hebrew textual tradition has accidentally omitted several words here. The present translation follows the LXX (as do several English versions, cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 247-48, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 132.

[14:41]  sn The Urim and Thummim were used for lot casting in ancient Israel. Their exact identity is uncertain; they may have been specially marked stones drawn from a bag. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8, and Deut 33:8, as well as the discussion in R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 140.

[14:41]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “went out.”

[14:49]  ¹⁹ sn The list differs from others. In 1 Sam 31:2 (= 1 Chr 10:2), Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua are listed as Saul’s sons, while 1 Chr 8:33 and 9:39 list Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

[15:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[15:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

[15:4]  ²² tn Heb “people.”

[15:15]  ²³ tn Heb “they brought them.”

[15:16]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ²⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

[15:16]  tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[16:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in your hand.”

[16:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a kid of the goats.”

[16:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[16:22]  ³² tn Heb “Let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my eyes.”

[17:32]  ³³ tn Heb “Let not the heart of a man fall upon him.” The LXX reads “my lord,” instead of “a man.”

[17:58]  ³⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[18:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:1]  sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.

[18:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.

[18:23]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:30]  ⁴⁰ tc Verse 30 is absent in most LXX mss.

[19:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “seeking.”

[19:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “stay in.”

[19:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and hide yourself.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “[was] to.”

[19:9]  ⁴⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

[20:25]  ⁴⁶ tc Heb “and Jonathan arose.” Instead of MT’s וַיָּקָם (vayyaqam, “and he arose”; from the hollow verbal root קוּם, qum), the translation assumes a reading וַיִּקַדֵּם (vayyiqaddem, “and he was in front of”; from the verbal root קדם, qdm). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.

[20:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”

[20:26]  ⁴⁸ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.

[20:33]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:33]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “knew.”

[23:7]  ⁵² tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מַכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.

[23:7]  ⁵³ tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”

[23:8]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”

[23:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”

[23:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “seeking.”

[23:14]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “all the days.”

[23:14]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:28]  ⁵⁹ sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (Sela Hammakhleqoth) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חלק (khlq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”

[24:2]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “to search [for].”

[24:2]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[24:2]  ⁶² tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

[24:7]  ⁶³ tn Heb “went on.”

[24:22]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”

[26:1]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[28:13]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.

[29:5]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “in dances.”

[31:8]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “fallen.”