3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli 1 said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.” 2
9:17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, 3 “Here is the man that I told you about! He will rule over my people.”
18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed 6 to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired 7
19:1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. 8 19:2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying 9 to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find 10 a hiding place and stay in seclusion. 11
25:12 So David’s servants went on their way. When they had returned, they came and told David 15 all these things.
25:14 But one of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail, “David sent messengers from the desert to greet 16 our lord, but he screamed at them.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”
3 tn Heb “responded.”
4 tn Heb “people.”
5 tn Heb “according to this word, saying.”
6 tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”
7 tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”
8 tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.”
9 tn Heb “seeking.”
10 tn Heb “stay in.”
11 tn Heb “and hide yourself.”
12 tn Heb “and he was before him as before.”
13 tn Heb “know and see.” The expression is a hendiadys. See also v. 23.
14 tn Heb “his place where his foot is.”
15 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “bless.”
17 tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”
18 tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.