2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of 2 Eli the priest.
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!”
3:15 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.
11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!”
13:3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost 6 that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted 7 all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!”
15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. 9
15:14 Samuel replied, “If that is the case, 10 then what is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?”
15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! 11 Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul 12 said to him, “Tell me.”
15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, 13 thinking to himself, 14 “Surely death is bitter!” 15
17:4 Then a champion 17 came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. 18
17:38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a bronze helmet on his head. He also put body armor on him.
19:1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. 23
19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.”
24:16 When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” Then Saul wept loudly. 31
24:22 David promised Saul this on oath. 32 Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.
25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. 33
25:9 So David’s servants went and spoke all these words to Nabal in David’s name. Then they paused.
25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised 34 be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me!
26:13 Then David crossed to the other side and stood on the top of the hill some distance away; there was a considerable distance between them.
30:7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
30:11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink.
1 tn Heb “he,” apparently referring to Samuel (but cf. CEV “Elkanah”). A few medieval manuscripts and some ancient versions take the verb as plural (cf. TEV, NLT).
2 tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”
3 tc The LXX has a lengthy addition here: “And Samuel was acknowledged to be a prophet of the
4 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.
5 tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).
6 tn Or perhaps “struck down the Philistine official.” See the note at 1 Sam 10:5. Cf. TEV “killed the Philistine commander.”
7 tn Heb “blew the ram’s horn in.”
8 tc The LXX reads “saw.” See v. 27.
9 tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the
10 tn The words “if that is the case” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
11 tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”
12 tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew
tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).
14 tn Heb “and Agag said.”
15 tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin
16 tn Heb “say”; KJV, NRSV “name”; NIV “indicate.”
17 tn Heb “the man of the space between the two [armies].” See v. 23.
18 tc Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 286, 291.
19 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here.
20 tn Heb “and spoke according to this word.”
21 tn Heb “the people.”
22 sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.
23 tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.”
24 tn Heb “and he was before him as before.”
25 tn Heb “[was] to.”
26 tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”
27 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “knew.”
29 tn Heb “seeking.”
30 tn Heb “went on.”
31 tn Heb “lifted his voice and wept.”
32 tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”
33 tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.
34 tn Heb “blessed” (also in vv. 33, 39).
35 tn Heb “going at her feet.”