1 Samuel 14:31

14:31 On that day the army struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, and they became very tired.

1 Samuel 14:48

14:48 He fought bravely, striking down the Amalekites and delivering Israel from the hand of its enemies. ¹ 

1 Samuel 15:7

15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to ²  Shur, which is next to Egypt.

1 Samuel 7:11

7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.

1 Samuel 17:35

17:35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it.

1 Samuel 4:2

4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight ³  Israel. As the battle spread out, ⁴  Israel was defeated by ⁵  the Philistines, who ⁶  killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

1 Samuel 13:4

13:4 All Israel heard this message, ⁷  “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive ⁸  to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join ⁹  Saul at Gilgal.

1 Samuel 19:8

19:8 Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly ¹⁰  and they ran away from him.

1 Samuel 13:3

13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost ¹¹  that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted ¹²  all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!”

1 Samuel 18:6

18:6 When the men ¹³  arrived after David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women from all the cities of Israel came out singing and dancing to meet King Saul. They were happy as they played their tambourines and three-stringed instruments. ¹⁴ 

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 ¹⁵  down until the hottest part of the day. The survivors scattered; no two of them remained together.

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 6:19

6:19 But the Lord ¹⁶  struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 ¹⁷  of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow.

1 Samuel 18:7

18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands!”

1 Samuel 29:5

29:5 Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ¹⁸ 

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 5:12

5:12 The people ¹⁹  who did not die were struck with sores; the city’s cry for help went all the way up to heaven.

1 Samuel 14:14

14:14 In this initial skirmish Jonathan and his armor bearer struck down about twenty men in an area that measured half an acre.

1 Samuel 17:9

17:9 If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.”

1 Samuel 21:11

21:11 The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying,

‘Saul struck down his thousands,

But David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 23:2

23:2 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

1 Samuel 5:6

5:6 The Lord attacked ²⁰  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ²¹  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ²² 

1 Samuel 17:27

17:27 The soldiers ²³  told him what had been promised, saying, ²⁴  “This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down.”

1 Samuel 22:19

22:19 As for Nob, the city of the priests, he struck down with the sword men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep – all with the sword.

1 Samuel 31:2

31:2 The Philistines stayed right on the heels ²⁵  of Saul and his sons. They ²⁶  struck down Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua.

1 Samuel 4:8

4:8 Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert!

1 Samuel 17:57

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.

1 Samuel 27:9

27:9 When David would attack a district, ²⁷  he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish.

1 Samuel 30:1

David Defeats the Amalekites

30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it. ²⁸ 

1 Samuel 30:17

30:17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels. ²⁹ 

1 Samuel 5:9

5:9 But after it had been moved the Lord attacked ³⁰  that city as well, causing a great deal of panic. He struck all the people of that city ³¹  with sores. ³² 

1 Samuel 15:3

15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare ³³  them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”

1 Samuel 17:25-26

17:25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so ³⁴  to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.”

17:26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? ³⁵  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?”

1 Samuel 17:36

17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ³⁶  For he has defied the armies of the living God!”

1 Samuel 23:5

23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took away their cattle and thoroughly defeated them. ³⁷  David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah.

1 Samuel 25:38

25:38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.

1 Samuel 17:46

17:46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand! I will strike you down and cut off your head. This day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land. Then all the land will realize that Israel has a God

1 Samuel 18:27

18:27 when David, along with his men, went out ³⁸  and struck down two hundred Philistine men. David brought their foreskins and presented all of them to the king so he could become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

1 Samuel 19:5

19:5 He risked his life ³⁹  when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”

1 Samuel 24:13

24:13 It’s like the old proverb says: ‘From evil people evil proceeds.’ But my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 18:17

18:17 ⁴⁰ Then Saul said to David, “Here’s my oldest daughter, Merab. I want to give her to you in marriage. Only be a brave warrior ⁴¹  for me and fight the battles of the Lord.” For Saul thought, “There’s no need for me to raise my hand against him. Let it be the hand of the Philistines!”

1 Samuel 4:10

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. ⁴²  The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle.

1 Samuel 14:13

14:13 Jonathan crawled up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer following behind him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines, ⁴³  while his armor bearer came along behind him and killed them. ⁴⁴ 

1 Samuel 24:12

24:12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 25:37

25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ⁴⁵  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ⁴⁶ 

1 Samuel 26:10

26:10 David went on to say, “As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.

1 Samuel 4:3

4:3 When the army ⁴⁷  came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by ⁴⁸  the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us ⁴⁹  from the hand of our enemies.

1 Samuel 7:10

7:10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. ⁵⁰  But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by ⁵¹  Israel.

1 Samuel 18:21

18:21 Saul said, “I will give her to him so that she may become a snare to him and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Today is the second time for you to become my son-in-law.” ⁵² 

[14:48]  ¹ tn Heb “plunderers.”

[15:7]  ² tn Heb “[as] you enter.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “to meet.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn The MT has וַתִּטֹּשׁ (vattittosh), from the root נטשׁ (ntsh). This verb normally means “to leave,” “to forsake,” or “to permit,” but such an idea does not fit this context very well. Many scholars have suspected that the text originally read either וַתֵּט (vattet, “and it spread out”), from the root נטה (nth), or וַתִּקֶשׁ (vattiqesh, “and it grew fierce”), from the root קשׂה (qsh). The former suggestion is apparently supported by the LXX ἔκλινεν (eklinen, “it inclined”) and is adopted in the translation.

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “before.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Philistines, and they killed.” The pronoun “they” has been translated as a relative pronoun (“who”) to make it clear to the English reader that the Philistines were the ones who did the killing.

[13:4]  ⁷ tn The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “stinks.” The figurative language indicates that Israel had become repulsive to the Philistines.

[13:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “were summoned after.”

[19:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he struck them down with a great blow.”

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at 1 Sam 10:5. Cf. TEV “killed the Philistine commander.”

[13:3]  ¹² tn Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”

[18:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “them.” The masculine plural pronoun apparently refers to the returning soldiers.

[18:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.”

[11:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Ammon.” By metonymy the name “Ammon” is used collectively for the soldiers in the Ammonite army.

[6:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:19]  ¹⁷ tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew mss lack “50,000,” reading simply “70” instead. However, there does not seem to be sufficient external evidence to warrant reading 70 rather than 50,070, although that is done by a number of recent translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The present translation (reluctantly) follows the MT and the ancient versions here.

[29:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in dances.”

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “men.”

[5:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was heavy upon.”

[5:6]  ²¹ tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:6]  ²² tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”

[5:6]  tn Or “tumors” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “growths on their skin”; KJV “emerods”; NAB “hemorrhoids.”

[17:27]  ²³ tn Heb “people.”

[17:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “according to this word, saying.”

[31:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “stuck close after.”

[31:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the Philistines.”

[27:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the land.”

[30:1]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[30:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “who rode on camels and fled.”

[5:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was against the city.”

[5:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “and he struck the men of the city from small and to great.”

[5:9]  ³² tn See the note on this term in v. 6. Cf. KJV “and they had emerods in their secret parts.”

[15:3]  ³³ tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).

[17:25]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he is coming up.”

[17:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”

[17:36]  ³⁶ tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”

[23:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and struck them down with a great blow.”

[18:27]  ³⁸ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[19:5]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.”

[18:17]  ⁴⁰ tc Much of the ms evidence for the LXX lacks vv. 17-19.

[18:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “son of valor.”

[4:10]  ⁴² tn Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”

[14:13]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and they fell before Jonathan.”

[14:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and the one carrying his equipment was killing after him.”

[25:37]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

[25:37]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.

[4:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “people.”

[4:3]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “before.”

[4:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal forms with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose or result. The translation understands the ark to be the subject of the third masculine singular verbs, although it is possible to understand the Lord as the subject. In the latter case, one should translate, “when he is with us, he will save us.”

[7:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”

[7:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “before.”

[18:21]  ⁵² tc The final sentence of v. 21 is absent in most LXX mss.