1 Samuel 2:28

2:28 I chose your ancestor ¹  from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer sacrifice on my altar, to burn incense, and to bear the ephod before me. I gave to your ancestor’s house all the fire offerings made by the Israelites.

1 Samuel 2:30

2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I really did say ²  that your house and your ancestor’s house would serve ³  me forever.’ But now the Lord says, ‘May it never be! ⁴  For I will honor those who honor me, but those who despise me will be cursed!

1 Samuel 7:3

7:3 Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really turning to the Lord with all your hearts, remove from among you the foreign gods and the images of Ashtoreth. ⁵  Give your hearts to the Lord and serve only him. Then he will deliver you ⁶  from the hand of the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 24:4

24:4 David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’” ⁷  So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe.

1 Samuel 24:11

24:11 Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning ⁸  evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life.

1 Samuel 25:26

25:26 “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal.

1 Samuel 26:16

26:16 This failure on your part isn’t good! ⁹  As surely as the Lord lives, you people who have not protected your lord, the Lord’s chosen one, are as good as dead! ¹⁰  Now look where the king’s spear and the jug of water that was by his head are!”

1 Samuel 29:8

29:8 But David said to Achish, “What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?”

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¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Eli’s ancestor, i.e., Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

³ tn Heb “walk about before.”

⁴ tn Heb “may it be far removed from me.”

⁵ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.

sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. The presence of Ashtarot in Israel is a sign of pervasive pagan and idolatrous influences; hence Samuel calls for their removal. See 1 Sam 31:10, where the Philistines deposit the armor of the deceased Saul in the temple of the Ashtarot, and 1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13, where Solomon is faulted for worshiping the Ashtarot.

⁶ tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

⁷ tn Heb “is good in your eyes.”

⁸ tn Heb “there is not in my hand.”

⁹ tn Heb “Not good [is] this thing which you have done.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “you are sons of death.”