1 Samuel 2:10

2:10 The Lord shatters ¹  his adversaries; ² 

he thunders against them from ³  the heavens.

The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.

He will strengthen ⁴  his king

and exalt the power ⁵  of his anointed one.” ⁶ 

1 Samuel 2:2

2:2 No one is holy ⁷  like the Lord!

There is no one other than you!

There is no rock ⁸  like our God!

1 Samuel 22:3

22:3 Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay ⁹  with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

Yehezkiel 34:21

34:21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad, ¹⁰ 

[2:10]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

[2:10]  ² tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.

[2:10]  ³ tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”

[2:10]  ⁶ tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.

[2:10]  sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

[2:2]  ⁷ sn In this context God’s holiness refers primarily to his sovereignty and incomparability. He is unique and distinct from all other so-called gods.

[2:2]  ⁸ tn The LXX has “and there is none righteous like our God.” The Hebrew term translated “rock” refers to a rocky cliff where one can seek refuge from enemies. Here the metaphor depicts God as a protector of his people. Cf. TEV “no protector like our God”; CEV “We’re safer with you than on a high mountain.”

[22:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “go forth.”

[34:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “outside.”