1 Samuel 16:8

16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. ¹  But Samuel ²  said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.”

1 Samuel 20:16

20:16 and called David’s enemies to account.” So Jonathan made a covenant ³  with the house of David. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 23:28

23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”

² tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “cut.” The object of the verb (“covenant”) must be supplied.

⁴ tn 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.

⁵ sn 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.”