3:2 Eli’s eyes had begun to fail, so that he was unable to see well. At that time he was lying down in his place,
3:15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.
17:57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand.
25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. 13
went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands’?”
1 tc The translation follows the LXX (“their sickle”) here, rather than the MT “plowshares,” which is due to dittography from the word earlier in the verse.
2 tn Heb “people.”
3 tn Heb “according to this word, saying.”
4 tc Heb “you will do [something] a third time.” The translation assumes an emendation of the verb from שִׁלַּשְׁתָּ (shillashta, “to do a third time”) to שִׁלִּישִׁית (shillishit, “[on the] third [day]”).
5 tn Heb “you must go down greatly.” See Judg 19:11 for the same idiom.
6 tn Heb “on the day of the deed.” This probably refers to the incident recorded in 19:2.
7 tc Heb “and Jonathan arose.” Instead of MT’s וַיָּקָם (vayyaqam, “and he arose”; from the hollow verbal root קוּם, qum), the translation assumes a reading וַיִּקַדֵּם (vayyiqaddem, “and he was in front of”; from the verbal root קדם, qdm). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.
8 tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”
9 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “knew.”
11 tn Heb “to all the desire of your soul.”
12 tn Heb “went on.”
13 tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.
14 tn Heb “in dances.”
15 tn Heb “who rode on camels and fled.”
16 tn Heb “stuck close after.”
17 tn Heb “the Philistines.”