1 Samuel 1:7-9

1:7 Peninnah ¹  would behave this way year after year. Whenever Hannah ²  went up to the Lord’s house, Peninnah ³  would upset her so that she would weep and refuse to eat. 1:8 Finally her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and not eat? Why are you so sad? ⁴  Am I not better to you than ten ⁵  sons?”

1:9 On one occasion in Shiloh, after they had finished eating and drinking, Hannah got up. ⁶  (Now at the time Eli the priest was sitting in his chair ⁷  by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple.)

1 Samuel 3:14

3:14 Therefore I swore an oath to the house of Eli, ‘The sin of the house of Eli can never be forgiven by sacrifice or by grain offering.’”

1 Samuel 4:12

Eli Dies

4:12 On that day ⁸  a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head.

1 Samuel 5:7

5:7 When the people ⁹  of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, for he has attacked ¹⁰  both us and our god Dagon!”

1 Samuel 7:17

7:17 Then he would return to Ramah, because his home was there. He also judged ¹¹  Israel there and built an altar to the Lord there.

1 Samuel 8:7

8:7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything the people request of you. ¹²  For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king.

1 Samuel 9:1

Samuel Meets with Saul

9:1 There was a Benjaminite man named Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. He was a prominent person.

1 Samuel 9:22

9:22 Then Samuel brought ¹³  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 10:27

10:27 But some wicked men ¹⁴  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 11:2

11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”

1 Samuel 11:12

Saul Is Established as King

11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!”

1 Samuel 12:15

12:15 But if you don’t obey ¹⁶  the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. ¹⁷ 

1 Samuel 13:13

13:13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed ¹⁸  the commandment that the Lord your God gave ¹⁹  you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!

1 Samuel 13:16

13:16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash. ²⁰ 

1 Samuel 13:19

13:19 A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.”

1 Samuel 14:4

14:4 Now there was a steep cliff on each side of the pass through which Jonathan intended to go to reach the Philistine garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, the other Seneh.

1 Samuel 14:22

14:22 When all the Israelites who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, they too pursued them in battle.

1 Samuel 14:28

14:28 Then someone from the army informed him, “Your father put the army under a strict oath ²¹  saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food today!’ That is why the army is tired.”

1 Samuel 14:39

14:39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything. ²² 

1 Samuel 15:18

15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ²³  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ²⁴  have destroyed them.’

1 Samuel 15:21

15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

1 Samuel 17:1

David Kills Goliath

17:1 ²⁵ The Philistines gathered their troops ²⁶  for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.

1 Samuel 17:3

17:3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites ²⁷  on another hill, with the valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:13

17:13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the ²⁸  three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest.

1 Samuel 17:17

17:17 Jesse said to his son David, “Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly ²⁹  to the camp to your brothers.

1 Samuel 17:23

17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, ³⁰  and David heard it.

1 Samuel 19:13

19:13 Then Michal took a household idol ³¹  and put it on the bed. She put a quilt ³²  made of goat’s hair over its head ³³  and then covered the idol with a garment.

1 Samuel 20:6

20:6 If your father happens to miss me, you should say, ‘David urgently requested me to let him go ³⁴  to his city Bethlehem, ³⁵  for there is an annual sacrifice there for his entire family.’

1 Samuel 20:26

20:26 However, Saul said nothing about it ³⁶  that day, for he thought, ³⁷  “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.”

1 Samuel 20:34

20:34 Jonathan got up from the table enraged. He did not eat any food on that second day of the new moon, for he was upset that his father had humiliated David. ³⁸ 

1 Samuel 21:4

21:4 The priest replied to David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread at my disposal. Only holy bread is available, and then only if your soldiers ³⁹  have abstained from sexual relations with women.” ⁴⁰ 

1 Samuel 21:8

21:8 David said to Ahimelech, “Is there no sword or spear here at your disposal? I don’t have my own sword or equipment in hand due to the urgency of the king’s instructions.”

1 Samuel 21:13

21:13 He altered his behavior in their presence. ⁴¹  Since he was in their power, ⁴²  he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard.

1 Samuel 22:9

22:9 But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with the servants of Saul, replied, “I saw this son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob.

1 Samuel 22:23

22:23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever ⁴³  seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”

1 Samuel 23:22

23:22 Go and make further arrangements. Determine precisely ⁴⁴  where he is ⁴⁵  and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning.

1 Samuel 24:1

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.”

1 Samuel 24:21

24:21 So now swear to me in the Lord’s name ⁴⁶  that you will not kill ⁴⁷  my descendants after me or destroy my name from the house of my father.”

1 Samuel 25:10

25:10 But Nabal responded to David’s servants, “Who is David, and who is this son of Jesse? This is a time when many servants are breaking away from their masters!

1 Samuel 25:15

25:15 These men were very good to us. They did not insult us, nor did we sustain any loss during the entire time we were together ⁴⁸  in the field.

1 Samuel 25:24

25:24 Falling at his feet, she said, “My lord, I accept all the guilt! But please let your female servant speak with my lord! Please listen to the words of your servant!

1 Samuel 25:35

25:35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back ⁴⁹  to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you ⁵⁰  and responded favorably.” ⁵¹ 

1 Samuel 28:17

28:17 The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied! ⁵²  The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David!

1 Samuel 28:22

28:22 Now it’s your turn to listen to your servant! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat. When you regain your strength, you can go on your way.”

1 Samuel 29:9

29:9 Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliable ⁵³  as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’

1 Samuel 30:11-12

30:11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. 30:12 They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat. This greatly refreshed him, ⁵⁴  for he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.

1 Samuel 30:19

30:19 There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken. ⁵⁵  David brought everything back.

1 Samuel 30:23

30:23 But David said, “No! You shouldn’t do this, my brothers. Look at what the Lord has given us! ⁵⁶  He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.

1 Samuel 31:1

The Death of Saul

31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa.

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 ⁵⁷  on Mount Gilboa.

[1:7]  ¹ tn The MT has a masculine form of the verb here יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “he used to do”); the subject in that case would presumably be Elkanah. But this leads to an abrupt change of subject in the following part of the verse, where the subject is the rival wife who caused Hannah anxiety. In light of v. 6 one expects the statement of v. 7 to refer to the ongoing actions of the rival wife: “she used to behave in this way year after year.” Some scholars have proposed retaining the masculine form but changing the vocalization of the verb so as to read a Niphal rather than a Qal (i.e., יֵעֲשֶׂה, ye’aseh, “so it used to be done”). But the problem here is lack of precedent for such a use of the Niphal of this verb. It seems best in light of the context to understand the reference to be to Hannah’s rival Peninnah and to read here, with the Syriac Peshitta, a feminine form of the verb (“she used to do”). In the translation the referent (Peninnah) has been specified for clarity.

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “she”; the referent (Hannah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Peninnah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “why is your heart displeased?”

[1:8]  ⁵ sn Like the number seven, the number ten is sometimes used in the OT as an ideal number (see, for example, Dan 1:20, Zech 8:23).

[1:9]  ⁶ tc The LXX adds “and stood before the Lord,” but this is probably a textual expansion due to the terseness of the statement in the Hebrew text.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “on his throne.” See Joüon 2:506-7 §137.f.

[4:12]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps, “the same day.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.f.

[5:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “men.”

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for his hand is severe upon.”

[7:17]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).

[8:7]  ¹² tn Heb “Listen to the voice of the people, to all which they say to you.”

[9:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “took and brought.”

[10:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

[10:27]  ¹⁵ tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

[12:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

[12:15]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX reads “your king” rather than the MT’s “your fathers.” The latter makes little sense here. Some follow MT, but translate “as it was against your fathers.” See P. K. McCarter, 1 Samuel (AB), 212.

[13:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “kept.”

[13:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “commanded.”

[13:16]  ²⁰ tn The juxtaposition of disjunctive clauses in v.16 indicates synchronic action.

[14:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “your father surely put the army under an oath.” The infinitive absolute is used before the finite verb to emphasize the solemn nature of the oath.

[14:39]  ²² tn Heb “and there was no one answering from all the army.”

[15:18]  ²³ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18]  ²⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

[17:1]  ²⁵ tc The content of 1 Sam 17–18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. 17–18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in 1 Sam 17–18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages.

[17:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “camps.”

[17:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Israel.”

[17:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “his.”

[17:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “run.”

[17:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “according to these words.”

[19:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “teraphim” (also a second time in this verse and once in v. 16). These were statues that represented various deities. According to 2 Kgs 23:24 they were prohibited during the time of Josiah’s reform movement in the seventh century. The idol Michal placed under the covers was of sufficient size to give the mistaken impression that David lay in the bed, thus facilitating his escape.

[19:13]  ³² tn The exact meaning of the Hebrew word כָּבִיר (kavir) is uncertain; it is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in v. 16. It probably refers to a quilt made of goat’s hair, perhaps used as a fly net while one slept. See HALOT 458 s.v. *כָּבִיר. Cf. KJV, TEV “pillow”; NLT “cushion”; NAB, NRSV “net.”

[19:13]  ³³ tn Heb “at the place of its head.”

[20:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to run.”

[20:6]  ³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[20:26]  ³⁶ tn The words “about it” are not present in the Hebrew text, although they are implied.

[20:26]  ³⁷ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself.

[20:34]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for he was upset concerning David for his father had humiliated him.” The referent of the pronoun “him” is not entirely clear, but the phrase “concerning David” suggests that it refers to David, rather than Jonathan.

[21:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “servants.”

[21:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “have kept themselves from women” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “haven’t had sexual relations recently”; NLT “have not slept with any women recently.”

[21:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[21:13]  ⁴² tn Heb “in their hand.”

[22:23]  ⁴³ tn Or “the one who.” This may refer specifically to Saul, in which case David acknowledges that Abiathar’s life is endangered because of his allegiance to David. The translation assumes that the statement is more generalized, meaning that any enemy of Abiathar is an enemy of David. In other words, David promises that he will protect Abiathar with his very own life.

[23:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “know and see.” The expression is a hendiadys. See also v. 23.

[23:22]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “his place where his foot is.”

[24:21]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “by the Lord.”

[24:21]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “cut off.”

[25:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “all the days we walked about with them when we were.”

[25:35]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “up.”

[25:35]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “your voice.”

[25:35]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face.”

[28:17]  ⁵² tn Heb “just as he said by my hand.”

[29:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “I know that you are good in my eyes.”

[30:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “his spirit returned to him.”

[30:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “there was nothing missing to them, from the small even unto the great, and unto sons and daughters, and from loot even unto all which they had taken for themselves.”

[30:23]  ⁵⁶ tc This clause is difficult in the MT. The present translation accepts the text as found in the MT and understands this clause to be elliptical, with an understood verb such as “look” or “consider.” On the other hand, the LXX seems to reflect a slightly different Hebrew text, reading “after” where the MT has “my brothers.” The Greek translation yields the following translation: “You should not do this after the Lord has delivered us.” Although the Greek reading should be taken seriously, it seems better to follow the MT here.

[31:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “fallen.”