Ulangan 1:42

1:42 But the Lord told me: “Tell them this: ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you and you will be defeated by your enemies.’”

Ulangan 20:4

20:4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.” ¹ 

Yosua 7:12

7:12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation. ²  I will no longer be with you, ³  unless you destroy what has contaminated you. ⁴ 

Yosua 10:42

10:42 Joshua captured in one campaign ⁵  all these kings and their lands, for the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.

Yosua 10:1

Israel Defeats an Amorite Coalition

10:1 Adoni-Zedek, king of Jerusalem, ⁶  heard how Joshua captured Ai and annihilated it and its king as he did Jericho ⁷  and its king. ⁸  He also heard how ⁹  the people of Gibeon made peace with Israel and lived among them.

1 Samuel 4:6-7

4:6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp. 4:7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. ¹⁰  They said, “Too bad for ¹¹  us! We’ve never seen anything like this!

1 Samuel 4:10-11

4:10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. ¹²  The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 4:11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed.

1 Samuel 4:1

4:1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord ¹³  to all Israel.

The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines

Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. ¹⁴  They camped at Ebenezer, ¹⁵  and the Philistines camped at Aphek.

1 Samuel 10:1-14

Samuel Anoints Saul

10:1 Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s ¹⁶  head. Samuel ¹⁷  kissed him and said, “The Lord has chosen you ¹⁸  to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord’s people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen ¹⁹  you as leader over his inheritance. ²⁰  10:2 When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! ²¹  He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

10:3 “As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel ²²  will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine. 10:4 They will ask you how you’re doing and will give you two loaves of bread. You will accept them. 10:5 Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. ²³  When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 10:6 Then the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person.

10:7 “When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. ²⁴  10:8 You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do.”

Saul Becomes King

10:9 As Saul ²⁵  turned ²⁶  to leave Samuel, God changed his inmost person. ²⁷  All these signs happened on that very day. 10:10 When Saul and his servant ²⁸  arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the spirit of God rushed upon Saul ²⁹  and he prophesied among them. 10:11 When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?”

10:12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?” 10:13 When Saul ³⁰  had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.

10:14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul ³¹  replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, ³²  we went to Samuel.”

[20:4]  ¹ tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”

[7:12]  ² tn Heb “they turn [the] back before their enemies because they are set apart [to destruction by the Lord].”

[7:12]  ³ tn The second person pronoun is plural in Hebrew, indicating these words are addressed to the entire nation.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is set apart [to destruction by the Lord] from your midst.”

[10:42]  ⁵ tn Heb “at one time.”

[10:1]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[10:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “as he had done to Jericho and to its king, so he did to Ai and to its king.”

[10:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “and how.”

[4:7]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has a direct quote, “because they said, ‘Gods have come to the camp.’” Even though the verb translated “have come” is singular, the following subject should be taken as plural (“gods”), as v. 8 indicates. Some emend the verb to a plural form.

[4:7]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “woe to.” They thought disaster was imminent.

[4:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and they fled, each to his tents.”

[4:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the word of Samuel was.” The present translation understands Samuel to be the speaker of the divine word (“Samuel” is a subjective genitive in this case), although the statement could mean that he was the recipient of the divine word (“Samuel” is an objective genitive in this case) who in turn reported it to Israel.

[4:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle.”

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Contrast the expression used in 5:1 and 7:12, where the first word lacks the definite article, unlike 4:1.

[10:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is it not that the Lord has anointed you?” The question draws attention to the fact and is a rhetorical way of affirming the Lord’s choice of Saul. The translation reflects the rhetorical force of the question.

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn That is, “anointed.”

[10:1]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads simply “Is it not that the Lord has anointed you over his inheritance for a leader?” The translation follows the LXX. The MT apparently suffers from parablepsis, whereby a scribe’s eye jumped from the first occurrence of the expression “the Lord has anointed you” to the second occurrence of this expression at the end of v. 1. This mistake caused the accidental omission of the intervening material in the LXX, which appears to preserve the original Hebrew text here.

[10:2]  ²¹ sn In the Hebrew text the pronoun you is plural, suggesting that Saul’s father was concerned about his son and the servant who accompanied him.

[10:3]  ²² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:5]  ²³ tn Or “sentries.” Some translate “outpost” (NIV) or “garrison” (NAB, NRSV, NLT) here (see 1 Sam 13:3). The noun is plural in the Hebrew text, but the LXX and other ancient witnesses read a singular noun here.

[10:7]  ²⁴ sn In light of Saul’s commission to be Israel’s deliverer (see v. 1), it is likely that some type of military action against the Philistines (see v.5) is implied.

[10:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “turned his shoulder.”

[10:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “God turned for him another heart”; NAB, NRSV “gave him another heart”; NIV, NCV “changed Saul’s heart”; TEV “gave Saul a new nature”; CEV “made Saul feel like a different person.”

[10:10]  ²⁸ tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “he” (in which case the referent would be Saul alone).

[10:10]  tn Heb “they”; the referents (Saul and his servant) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:14]  ³² tn Heb “And we saw that they were not.”