1 Samuel 1:14

1:14 So he¹ said to her, “How often do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!”

1 Samuel 8:10

8:10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.

1 Samuel 12:16

12:16 “So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight.

1 Samuel 13:9

13:9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering.

1 Samuel 14:18

14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,”² for he was at that time wearing the ephod.³

1 Samuel 16:17

16:17 So Saul said to his servants, “Find⁴ me a man who plays well and bring him to me.”

1 Samuel 16:19

16:19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is out with the sheep.

1 Samuel 20:16

20:16 and called David’s enemies to account.” So Jonathan made a covenant⁵ with the house of David.⁶

1 Samuel 20:24

20:24 So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal.

1 Samuel 21:10

21:10 So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath.

1 Samuel 23:8

23:8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men.⁷

1 Samuel 23:28

23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth.⁸

1 Samuel 27:2

27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men.

1 Samuel 29:7

29:7 So turn and leave⁹ in peace. You must not do anything that the leaders of the Philistines consider improper!”¹⁰

¹tn Heb “Eli.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

²tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

³tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.

⁴tn Heb “see.”

⁵tn Heb “cut.” The object of the verb (“covenant”) must be supplied.

⁶tn The word order is different in the Hebrew text, which reads “and Jonathan cut with the house of David, and the Lord will seek from the hand of the enemies of David.” The translation assumes that the main clauses of the verse have been accidentally transposed in the course of transmission. The first part of the verse (as it stands in MT) belongs with v. 17, while the second part of the verse actually continues v. 15.

⁷tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”

⁸sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (Sela Hammakhleqoth) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חלק (khlq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”

⁹tn Heb “go.”

¹⁰tn Heb “and you must not do evil in the eyes of the leaders of the Philistines.”