¹ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading “he will not do,” rather than the Kethib of the MT (“do to him”).

⁴ tn Heb “without uncovering my ear.”

⁵ tn Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: TEV, CEV “his own spear”; NLT “that spear.” Cf. NIV, NCV “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.

⁶ tn Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”

⁷ tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”

⁸ tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”

⁹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading וַיִּפְצְרוּ (vayyiftseru, “and they pressed”; from the root פצר, psr) rather than the MT’s וַיִּפְרְצוּ (vayyifretsu, “and they broke forth”; from the root פרצ, prs).

¹⁰ tn Heb “he listened to their voice.”