1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ¹  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

1 Samuel 11:12

Saul Is Established as King

11:12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who were the ones asking, ‘Will Saul reign over us?’ Hand over those men so we may execute them!”

1 Samuel 15:18

15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ²  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ³  have destroyed them.’

1 Samuel 17:30

17:30 Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question, ⁴  but they ⁵  gave him the same answer as before.

1 Samuel 25:22

25:22 God will severely punish David, ⁶  if I leave alive until morning even one male ⁷  from all those who belong to him!”

1 Samuel 30:9

30:9 So David went, accompanied by his six hundred men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there. ⁸ 

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¹ tn Heb “before Eli.”

² tn Heb “journey.”

³ tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

⁴ tn Heb “and spoke according to this word.”

⁵ tn Heb “the people.”

⁶ tc Heb “Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add.” Most of the Old Greek ms tradition has simply “David,” with no reference to his enemies. In OT imprecations such as the one found in v. 22 it is common for the speaker to direct malediction toward himself as an indication of the seriousness with which he regards the matter at hand. In other words, the speaker invites on himself dire consequences if he fails to fulfill the matter expressed in the oath. However, in the situation alluded to in v. 22 the threat actually does not come to fruition due to the effectiveness of Abigail’s appeal to David in behalf of her husband Nabal. Instead, David is placated through Abigail’s intervention. It therefore seems likely that the reference to “the enemies of David” in the MT of v. 22 is the result of a scribal attempt to deliver David from the implied consequences of this oath. The present translation follows the LXX rather than the MT here.

⁷ tn Heb “one who urinates against a wall” (also in v. 34); KJV “any that pisseth against the wall.”

⁸ tn Heb “stood.” So also in v. 10.