Discovery Box1 Samuel 15:4-7 
Context15:4 So Saul assembled 1 the army 2 and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 15:5 Saul proceeded to the city 3 of Amalek, where he set an ambush 4 in the wadi. 5 15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away 6 with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.
15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to 7 Shur, which is next to Egypt.
1 tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”
2 tn Heb “people.”
3 tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”
4 tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate which assume a reading וַיָּאָרֶב (vayya’arev, “and he set an ambush,” from the root ארב [’rv] with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has וַיָּרֶב (vayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ריב [ryv]).
5 tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”
6 tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate which assume a reading אֶסִפְךָ (’esfÿka, “I sweep you away,” from the root ספה [sfh]) rather than the MT אֹסִפְךָ (’osifÿka, “I am gathering you,” from the root אסף[’sf]).
7 tn Heb “[as] you enter.”
