7:5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.”
10:20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
13:9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering.
14:38 Then Saul said, “All you leaders of the army come here. Find out 1 how this sin occurred today.
15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to 3 Shur, which is next to Egypt.
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. 4 But Samuel 5 said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.”
23:16 Then Jonathan son of Saul left and went to David at Horesh. He encouraged him 9 through God.
1 tn Heb “know and see.”
2 tc The LXX includes the following words: “Whomever the Lord will indicate by the lot, let him die! And the people said to Saul, ‘It is not this word.’ But Saul prevailed over the people, and they cast lots between him and between Jonathan his son.”
3 tn Heb “[as] you enter.”
4 tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”
5 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “Let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my eyes.”
7 tn Heb “of David.” In the translation the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
8 tc The final sentence of v. 29 is absent in most LXX
tn Heb “all the days.”
9 tn Heb “strengthened his hand.”
10 tc The text is difficult here. The MT and most of the early versions support the reading לֶחָי (lekhai, “to life,” or “to the one who lives”). Some of the older English versions (KJV, ASV; cf. NKJV) took the expression to mean “to him who lives (in prosperity),” but this translation requires reading a good deal into the words. While the expression could have the sense of “Long life to you!” (cf. NIV, NJPS) or perhaps “Good luck to you!” this seems somewhat redundant in light of the salutation that follows in the context. The Latin Vulgate has fratribus meis (“to my brothers”), which suggests that Jerome understood the Hebrew word to have an alef that is absent in the MT (i.e., לֶאֱחָי, le’ekhay). Jerome’s plural, however, remains a problem, since in the context David is addressing a single individual, namely Nabal, and not a group. However, it is likely that the Vulgate witnesses to a consonantal Hebrew text that is to be preferred here, especially if the word were to be revocalized as a singular rather than a plural. While it is impossible to be certain about this reading, the present translation essentially follows the Vulgate in reading “my brother” (so also NJB; cf. NAB, RSV, NRSV).
11 tn Heb “people.”
12 tn Heb “lifted up their voice and wept.”
13 tn Heb “until there was no longer in them strength to weep.”