1 Samuel 2:11

2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of¹ Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 3:18

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli² said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.”³

1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One⁴ of Israel does not go back on his word⁵ or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.”⁶

1 Samuel 17:18

17:18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer.⁷ Find out how your brothers are doing⁸ and bring back their pledge that they received the goods.⁹

1 Samuel 18:13

18:13 Saul removed David¹⁰ from his presence and made him a commanding officer.¹¹ David led the army out to battle and back.¹²

1 Samuel 19:15

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.”

1 Samuel 20:38

20:38 Jonathan called out to the servant, “Hurry! Go faster! Don’t delay!” Jonathan’s servant retrieved the arrow and came back to his master.

1 Samuel 20:40

20:40 Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the servant who was with him. He said to him, “Go, take these things back to the city.”

1 Samuel 25:40

25:40 So the servants of David went to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, “David has sent us to you to bring you back to be his wife.”

1 Samuel 30:19

30:19 There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken.¹³ David brought everything back.

¹tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”

²tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

⁴tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

⁵tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

⁶sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

⁷tn Heb “officer of the thousand.”

⁸tn Heb “and your brothers, observe with respect to welfare.”

⁹tn Heb “and their pledge take.” This probably refers to some type of confirmation that the goods arrived safely. See R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 177. Cf. NIV “bring back some assurance”; NCV “some proof to show me they are all right”; NLT “bring me back a letter from them.”

¹⁰tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹tn Heb “an officer of a thousand.”

¹²tn Heb “and he went out and came in before the people.” See v. 16.

¹³tn Heb “there was nothing missing to them, from the small even unto the great, and unto sons and daughters, and from loot even unto all which they had taken for themselves.”