1 Samuel 8:6

8:6 But this request displeased Samuel, for ¹  they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord.

1 Samuel 8:9

8:9 So now do as they say. ²  But seriously warn ³  them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.” ⁴ 

1 Samuel 8:18-19

8:18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.” ⁵ 

8:19 But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. ⁶  Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us!

1 Samuel 15:1

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 15:32

Samuel Puts Agag to Death

15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ⁸  thinking to himself, ⁹  “Surely death is bitter!” ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 18:26

18:26 So his servants told David these things and David agreed ¹¹  to become the king’s son-in-law. Now the specified time had not yet expired ¹² 

1 Samuel 20:25

20:25 The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ¹³  and Abner at his side. ¹⁴  But David’s place was vacant.

1 Samuel 22:4

22:4 So he had them stay with the king of Moab; they stayed with him the whole time ¹⁵  that David was in the stronghold.

1 Samuel 24:14

24:14 Who has the king of Israel come out after? Who is it that you are pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?

1 Samuel 24:20

24:20 Now look, I realize that you will in fact be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.

1 Samuel 26:17

26:17 When Saul recognized David’s voice, he said, “Is that your voice, my son David?” David replied, “Yes, it’s my voice, my lord the king.”

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¹ tn Heb “when.”

² tn Heb “and now, listen to their voice.”

³ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the imperative for emphasis.

⁴ tn Heb “and tell them the manner of the king who will rule over them.”

⁵ tc The LXX adds “because you have chosen for yourselves a king.”

⁶ tn Heb “and the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel.”

⁷ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

⁸ tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).

⁹ tn Heb “and Agag said.”

¹⁰ tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete סָר (sar, “is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word מַר (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “Surely the bitterness of death is past,” along with NLT, CEV). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”). Cf. NAB “So it is bitter death!”; NRSV “Surely this is the bitterness of death”; TEV “What a bitter thing it is to die!”

¹¹ tn Heb “and it was acceptable in the eyes of David.”

¹² tn Heb “the days were not fulfilled.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and Abner sat at the side of Saul.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “all the days.”