1 Samuel 3:11-21

3:11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Look! I am about to do something in Israel; ¹  when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle. 3:12 On that day I will carry out ²  against Eli everything that I spoke about his house – from start to finish! 3:13 You ³  should tell him that I am about to judge his house forever because of ⁴  the sin that he knew about. For his sons were cursing God, ⁵  and he did not rebuke them. 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.’”

3:15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. 3:16 However, Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son!” He replied, “Here I am.” 3:17 Eli ⁶  said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely ⁷  if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli ⁸  said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.” ⁹  3:19 Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled. ¹⁰  3:20 All Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba realized that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 3:21 Then the Lord again appeared in Shiloh, for it was in Shiloh that the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel ¹¹  through the word of the Lord. ¹² 

1 Samuel 3:1-12

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ¹³  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

3:2 Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place, 3:3 and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there. 3:4 The Lord called to Samuel, and he replied, “Here I am!” 3:5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ¹⁴  said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went back and lay down. 3:6 The Lord again called, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ¹⁵  said, “I didn’t call you, my son. Go back and lie down.”

3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 3:8 Then the Lord called Samuel a third time. So he got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me!” Eli then realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. 3:9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go back and lie down. When he calls you, say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” So Samuel went back and lay down in his place.

3:10 Then the Lord came and stood nearby, calling as he had previously done, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening!” 3:11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Look! I am about to do something in Israel; ¹⁶  when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle. 3:12 On that day I will carry out ¹⁷  against Eli everything that I spoke about his house – from start to finish!

1 Samuel 18:1-30

Saul Comes to Fear David

18:1 When David ¹⁸  had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship. ¹⁹  Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life. ²⁰  18:2 Saul retained David ²¹  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house. 18:3 Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life. ²²  18:4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.

18:5 On every mission on which Saul sent him, David achieved success. So Saul appointed him over the men of war. This pleased not only all the army, but also Saul’s servants. ²³ 

18:6 When the men ²⁴  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. ²⁵  18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands!”

18:8 This made Saul very angry. The statement displeased him and he thought, ²⁶  “They have attributed to David tens of thousands, but to me they have attributed only thousands. What does he lack, except the kingdom?” 18:9 So Saul was keeping an eye on David from that day onward.

18:10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house. Now David was playing the lyre ²⁷  that day. There was a spear in Saul’s hand, 18:11 and Saul threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll nail David to the wall!” But David escaped from him on two different occasions.

18:12 So Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 18:13 Saul removed David ²⁸  from his presence and made him a commanding officer. ²⁹  David led the army out to battle and back. ³⁰  18:14 Now David achieved success in all he did, ³¹  for the Lord was with him. 18:15 When Saul saw how very successful he was, he was afraid of him. 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he was the one leading them out to battle and back.

18:17 ³² 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 ³³  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!”

18:18 David said to Saul, “Who am I? Who are my relatives or the clan of my father ³⁴  in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” 18:19 When the time came for Merab, Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she instead was given in marriage to Adriel, who was from Meholah.

18:20 Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about this, it ³⁵  pleased him. 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.” ³⁶ 

18:22 Then Saul instructed his servants, “Tell David secretly, ‘The king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you. So now become the king’s son-in-law.” 18:23 So Saul’s servants spoke these words privately ³⁷  to David. David replied, “Is becoming the king’s son-in-law something insignificant to you? I’m just a poor and lightly-esteemed man!”

18:24 When Saul’s servants reported what David had said, 18:25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his ³⁸  enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed ³⁹  to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired ⁴⁰  18:27 when David, along with his men, went out ⁴¹  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.

18:28 When Saul realized ⁴²  that the Lord was with David and that his ⁴³  daughter Michal loved David, ⁴⁴  18:29 Saul became even more afraid of him. ⁴⁵  Saul continued to be at odds with David from then on. ⁴⁶  18:30 ⁴⁷  Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul’s servants. His name was held in high esteem.

[3:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “so that” here, formally connecting this clause with the next.

[3:12]  ² tn Or “fulfill.”

[3:13]  ³ tc The MT has וְהִגַּדְתִּי לוֹ (vÿhiggadti lo). The verb is Hiphil perfect 1st person common singular, and apparently the conjunction should be understood as vav consecutive (“I will say to him”). But the future reference makes more sense if Samuel is the subject. This would require dropping the final י (yod) and reading the 2nd person masculine singular וְהִגַּדְתָּ (vÿhiggadta). Although there is no external evidence to support it, this reading has been adopted in the present translation. The alternative is to understand the MT to mean “I said to him,” but for this we would expect the preterite with vav consecutive.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn The translation understands the preposition to have a causal sense. However, the preposition could also be understood as the beth pretii, indicating in a broad sense the price attached to this action. So GKC 380 §119.p.

[3:13]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the LXX θεόν (qeon, “God”) rather than the MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”). The MT seems to mean “they were bringing a curse on themselves” (cf. ASV, NASB). But this meaning is problematic in part because the verb qll means “to curse,” not “to bring a curse on,” and in part because it takes an accusative object rather than the equivalent of a dative. This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” Why would the ancient copyists alter the original statement about Eli’s sons cursing God to the less objectionable statement that they brought a curse on themselves? Some argue that the scribes were concerned that such a direct and blasphemous affront against God could occur without an immediate response of judgment from God. Therefore they changed the text by deleting two letters א and י (alef and yod) from the word for “God,” with the result that the text then read “to them.” If this ancient scribal claim is accepted as accurate, it implies that the MT here is secondary. The present translation follows the LXX (κακολογοῦντες θεόν, kakologounte" qeon) and a few mss of the Old Latin in reading “God” rather than the MT “to them.” Cf. also NAB, NRSV, NLT.

[3:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “So God will do to you and thus he will add.” The verbal forms in this pronouncement are imperfects, not jussives, but the statement has the force of a curse or warning. One could translate, “May God do to you and thus may he add.”

[3:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

[3:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he did not cause to fall from all his words to the ground.”

[3:21]  ¹¹ tc The LXX has a lengthy addition here: “And Samuel was acknowledged to be a prophet of the Lord in all Israel, from one end to the other. Eli was very old and, as for his sons, their way kept getting worse and worse before the Lord.” The Hebraic nature of the Greek syntax used here suggests that the LXX translator was accurately rendering a Hebrew variant and not simply expanding the text on his own initiative.

[3:21]  ¹² tn The chapter division at this point is inappropriate. 1 Sam 4:1a is best understood as the conclusion to chap. 3 rather than the beginning of chap. 4.

[3:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[3:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds “so that” here, formally connecting this clause with the next.

[3:12]  ¹⁷ tn Or “fulfill.”

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the soul of Jonathan was bound with the soul of David.”

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:1]  sn On the nature of Jonathan’s love for David, see J. A. Thompson, “The Significance of the Verb Love in the David-Jonathan Narratives in 1 Samuel,” VT 24 (1974): 334-38.

[18:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:3]  ²² tn Heb “like his [own] soul.”

[18:5]  ²³ tn Heb “it was good in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of the servants of Saul.”

[18:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “them.” The masculine plural pronoun apparently refers to the returning soldiers.

[18:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “with tambourines, with joy, and with three-stringed instruments.”

[18:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “said.” So also in vv. 11, 17.

[18:10]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

[18:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “an officer of a thousand.”

[18:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and he went out and came in before the people.” See v. 16.

[18:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “in all his ways.”

[18:17]  ³² tc Much of the ms evidence for the LXX lacks vv. 17-19.

[18:17]  ³³ tn Heb “son of valor.”

[18:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.

[18:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the matter.”

[18:21]  ³⁶ tc The final sentence of v. 21 is absent in most LXX mss.

[18:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

[18:25]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the king’s.”

[18:26]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”

[18:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”

[18:27]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “arose and went.”

[18:28]  ⁴² tn Heb “saw and knew.”

[18:28]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Saul’s.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[18:28]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “of David.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[18:29]  ⁴⁶ tc The final sentence of v. 29 is absent in most LXX mss.

[18:29]  tn Heb “all the days.”

[18:30]  ⁴⁷ tc Verse 30 is absent in most LXX mss.