1 Samuel 2:33

2:33 Any one of you that I do not cut off from my altar, I will cause your ¹  eyes to fail ²  and will cause you grief. ³  All of those born to your family ⁴  will die in the prime of life. ⁵ 

1 Samuel 20:1

Jonathan Seeks to Protect David

20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, ⁶  “What have I done? What is my offense? ⁷  How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!”

1 Samuel 26:21

26:21 Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you, for you treated my life with value ⁸  this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” ⁹ 

1 Samuel 28:21

28:21 When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked. ¹⁰  I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me. ¹¹ 

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¹ tc The LXX, a Qumran ms, and a few old Latin mss have the third person pronominal suffix “his” here.

² tn Heb “to cause your eyes to fail.” Elsewhere this verb, when used of eyes, refers to bloodshot eyes resulting from weeping, prolonged staring, or illness (see Lev 26:16; Pss 69:3; 119:82; Lam 2:11; 4:17).

³ tn Heb “and to cause your soul grief.”

⁴ tn Heb “and all the increase of your house.”

⁵ tc The text is difficult. The MT literally says “they will die [as] men.” Apparently the meaning is that they will be cut off in the prime of their life without reaching old age. The LXX and a Qumran ms, however, have the additional word “sword” (“they will die by the sword of men”). This is an easier reading (cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT), but that fact is not in favor of its originality.

⁶ tn Heb “and he came and said before Jonathan.”

⁷ tn Heb “What is my guilt?”

⁸ tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”

⁹ tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “listened to your voice.”

¹¹ tn Heb “listened to your words that you spoke to me.”