¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this line and in the next two lines are understood as indicating what is typically true. Another option is to translate them with the future tense. See v. 10b.

² tc The present translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Vulgate in reading the plural (“his adversaries,” similarly many other English versions) rather than the singular (“his adversary”) of the Kethib.

³ tn The Hebrew preposition here has the sense of “from within.”

⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in this and the next line are understood as indicating what is anticipated and translated with the future tense, because at the time of Hannah’s prayer Israel did not yet have a king.

⁵ tn Heb “the horn,” here a metaphor for power or strength. Cf. NCV “make his appointed king strong”; NLT “increases the might of his anointed one.”

⁶ tc The LXX greatly expands v. 10 with an addition that seems to be taken from Jer 9:23-24.

sn The anointed one is the anticipated king of Israel, as the preceding line makes clear.

⁷ tn Heb “judge” (also in v. 6).

⁸ tn Heb “Listen to the voice of the people, to all which they say to you.”

⁹ tn Heb “listen to their voice.”

¹⁰ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading לֹא (lo’, “not”) rather than the MT לוֹ (lo; “to him”). Some witnesses combine the variants, resulting in a conflated text. For example, a few medieval Hebrew mss have לֹא לוֹ (lo lo’; “to him, ‘No.’”). A few others have לֹא לִי (li lo’; “to me, ‘No.’”).

¹¹ tn Heb “and there in Gilgal.”

¹² tn Heb “anointed [one].”

¹³ tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and you listen to his voice.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.” So also in v. 15.

¹⁶ tn The words “all will be well” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁷ tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”

¹⁸ tc The LXX reads “your king” rather than the MT’s “your fathers.” The latter makes little sense here. Some follow MT, but translate “as it was against your fathers.” See P. K. McCarter, 1 Samuel (AB), 212.

¹⁹ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”

²⁰ tn Heb “anointed.”

²¹ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

²² tn Heb “journey.”

²³ tn Or “from [being].”

²⁴ tn That is, Samuel.

²⁵ tn Heb “Who are my relatives, the clan of my father?” The term חַי (khay), traditionally understood as “my life,” is here a rare word meaning “family, kinfolk” (see HALOT 309 s.v. III חַי). The phrase “clan of my father” may be a scribal gloss explaining the referent of this rare word.

²⁶ tn Heb “in the ears of.”

²⁷ tn Heb “and I must surely sit with the king to eat.” The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

²⁸ tn Heb “go forth.”

²⁹ tc The number is confused in the Greek ms tradition. The LXX, with the exception of the Lucianic recension, has the number 305. The Lucianic recension, along with a couple of Old Latin mss, has the number 350.

³⁰ tn Heb “and the heart of Nabal was good upon him”; NASB, NRSV “Nabal’s heart was merry within him”; NIV “he was in high spirits”; NCV, TEV “was in a good mood”; CEV “was very drunk and feeling good.”

³¹ tn Heb “and she did not tell him a thing, small or large.”

³² tn Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.