1 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Goliath ¹  stood and called to Israel’s troops, ²  “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose ³  for yourselves a man so he may come down ⁴  to me!

1 Samuel 25:8

25:8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ⁵  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ⁶  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ⁷ 

[17:8]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ² tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”

[17:8]  ³ tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.

[17:8]  ⁴ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.

[25:8]  ⁵ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (ba’nu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).

[25:8]  ⁶ tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.

[25:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”