1 Samuel 9:18

9:18 As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

1 Samuel 9:23

9:23 Samuel said to the cook, “Give me the portion of meat that I gave to you – the one I asked you to keep with you.”

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, ¹  thinking to himself, ²  “Surely death is bitter!” ³ 

1 Samuel 16:3

16:3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out ⁴  to you.”

1 Samuel 17:10

17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight ⁵  each other!”

1 Samuel 17:43-44

17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” ⁶  Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 17:44 The Philistine said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!” ⁷ 

1 Samuel 19:15

19:15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.”

1 Samuel 23:10

23:10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ⁸  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

1 Samuel 23:12

23:12 David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand?” The Lord said, “They will deliver you over.”

1 Samuel 24:12

24:12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 24:15

24:15 May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands!”

1 Samuel 24:17

24:17 He said to David, “You are more innocent ⁹  than I, for you have treated me well, even though I have tried to harm you!

1 Samuel 25:19

25:19 and said to her servants, “Go on ahead of me. I will come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:32-33

25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised ¹⁰  be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me! 25:33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded ¹¹  for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands!

1 Samuel 26:24

26:24 In the same way that I valued your life this day, ¹²  may the Lord value my life ¹³  and deliver me from all danger.”

1 Samuel 28:12

28:12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly. ¹⁴  The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”

1 Samuel 28:16

28:16 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy?

1 Samuel 30:7

30:7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

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¹ 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”).

² tn Heb “and Agag said.”

³ 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!”

⁴ tn Heb “say”; KJV, NRSV “name”; NIV “indicate.”

⁵ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here.

⁶ sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.

⁷ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss have “the earth” here, instead of the MT’s “the field.”

⁸ tn Heb “seeking.”

⁹ tn Or “righteous” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “you are in the right”; NLT “are a better man than I am.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “blessed” (also in vv. 33, 39).

¹¹ tn Heb “blessed.”

¹² tn Heb “your life was great this day in my eyes.”

¹³ tn Heb “may my life be great in the eyes of the Lord.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “in a great voice.”