1 Samuel 2:5

2:5 Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,

but the hungry no longer lack.

Even ¹  the barren woman gives birth to seven, ² 

but the one with many children withers away. ³ 

1 Samuel 14:17

14:17 So Saul said to the army that was with him, “Muster the troops and see who is no longer with us.” When they mustered the troops, ⁴  Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

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¹ tc Against BHS but with the MT, the preposition (עַד, ’ad) should be taken with what follows rather than with what precedes. For this sense of the preposition see Job 25:5.

² sn The number seven is used here in an ideal sense. Elsewhere in the OT having seven children is evidence of fertility as a result of God’s blessing on the family. See, for example, Jer 15:9, Ruth 4:15.

³ tn Or “languishes.”

⁴ tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”