16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had turned away from Saul, and an evil spirit 1 from the Lord tormented him. 16:15 Then Saul’s servants said to him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you!” 16:16 Let our lord instruct his servants who are here before you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then whenever the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he can play the lyre 2 and you will feel better.” 3 16:17 So Saul said to his servants, “Find 4 me a man who plays well and bring him to me.” 16:18 One of his attendants replied, 5 “I have seen a son of Jesse in Bethlehem 6 who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave warrior 7 and is articulate 8 and handsome, 9 for the Lord is with him.”
16:19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is out with the sheep.
1 tn Or “an injurious spirit”; cf. NLT “a tormenting spirit.” The phrase need not refer to an evil, demonic spirit. The Hebrew word translated “evil” may refer to the character of the spirit or to its effect upon Saul. If the latter, another translation option might be “a mischief-making spirit.”
2 tn Heb “and he will play with his hand.”
3 tn Heb “and it will be better for you.”
4 tn Heb “see.”
5 tn Heb “answered and said.”
6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
7 tn Heb “mighty man of valor and a man of war.”
8 tn Heb “discerning of word.”
9 tn Heb “a man of form.”