1 Samuel 2:3

2:3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly, ¹ 

letting proud talk come out of your mouth!

For the Lord is a God who knows;

he ²  evaluates what people do.

1 Samuel 8:3

8:3 But his sons did not follow ³  his ways. Instead, they made money dishonestly, accepted bribes, and perverted justice. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 8:20

8:20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us ⁵  and fight our battles.”

1 Samuel 12:4

12:4 They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.”

1 Samuel 13:10

13:10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 15:19

15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed ⁷  the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.” ⁸ 

1 Samuel 23:9

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ⁹  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

1 Samuel 25:19

25:19 and said to her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:22

25:22 God will severely punish David, ¹⁰  if I leave alive until morning even one male ¹¹  from all those who belong to him!”

1 Samuel 28:6

28:6 So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him – not by dreams nor by Urim ¹²  nor by the prophets.

1 Samuel 28:10

28:10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”

1 Samuel 30:25

30:25 From that time onward it was a binding ordinance ¹³  for Israel, right up to the present time.

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.

[2:3]  ² tc The MT (Qere) reads “and by him actions are weighed.” The translation assumes that reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

[8:3]  ³ tn Heb “walk in” (also in v. 5).

[8:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they turned aside after unjust gain and took bribes and perverted justice.”

[8:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and go out before us.”

[13:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “to bless him.”

[15:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

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

[25:22]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David in behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.

[25:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.”

[28:6]  ¹² sn See the note at 1 Sam 14:41.

[30:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.