1 Samuel 20:12
20:12 Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel is my witness. 1 I will feel out my father about this time the day after tomorrow. If he is favorably inclined toward David, will I not then send word to you and let you know? 2
1 Samuel 21:2
21:2 David replied to Ahimelech the priest, “The king instructed me to do something, but he said to me, ‘Don’t let anyone know the reason I am sending you or the instructions I have given you.’ 3 I have told my soldiers 4 to wait at a certain place. 5
1 Samuel 25:25
25:25 My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means ‘fool,’ and he is indeed foolish! 6 But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent. 7
1 tc The Hebrew text has simply “the Lord God of Israel.” On the basis of the Syriac version, many reconstruct the text to read “[is] my witness,” which may have fallen out of the text by homoioarcton (an error which is entirely possible if עֵד, ’ed, “witness,” immediately followed ַָדוִד, “David,” in the original text).
2 tn Heb “and uncover your ear.”
3 tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”
4 tn Heb “servants.”
5 tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.
6 tn Heb “and foolishness is with him.”
7 tn Heb “my lord’s servants, whom you sent.”