¹ tn Heb “living.”

² tc Heb “only Dagon was left.” We should probably read the word גֵּו (gev, “back”) before Dagon, understanding it to have the sense of the similar word גְּוִיָּה (gÿviyyah, “body”). This variant is supported by the following evidence: The LXX has ἡ ῥάχις (Jh rJacis, “the back” or “trunk”); the Syriac Peshitta has wegusmeh (“and the body of”); the Targum has gupyeh (“the body of”); the Vulgate has truncus (“the trunk of,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). On the strength of this evidence the present translation employs the phrase “Dagon’s body.”

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tc The number 50,070 is surprisingly large, although it finds almost unanimous textual support in the MT and in the ancient versions. Only a few medieval Hebrew mss lack “50,000,” reading simply “70” instead. However, there does not seem to be sufficient external evidence to warrant reading 70 rather than 50,070, although that is done by a number of recent translations (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The present translation (reluctantly) follows the MT and the ancient versions here.

⁵ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the verb for emphasis.

⁶ tn Heb “our way on which we have gone.”

⁷ tn Heb “look.”

⁸ sn In the Hebrew text the pronoun you is plural, suggesting that Saul’s father was concerned about his son and the servant who accompanied him.

⁹ tn Heb “sold” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “he allowed them to fall into the clutches of Sisera”; NLT “he let them be conquered by Sisera.”

¹⁰ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

¹¹ tn Heb “captain of the host of Hazor.”

¹² tn This verb form, as well as the one that follows (“appointed”), indicates completed action from the standpoint of the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that the Lord had already conducted his search and made his choice, however. The forms may be used for rhetorical effect to emphasize the certainty of the action. The divine search for a new king is as good as done, emphasizing that the days of Saul’s dynasty are numbered.

¹³ tn Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.

¹⁴ tn Heb “commanded.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and all the army brought near, each his ox by his hand, and they slaughtered there.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “plunder.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and there will not be left among them a man.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “all that is good in your eyes.” So also in v. 40.

²⁰ tc Heb “to the Lord God of Israel: ‘Give what is perfect.’” The Hebrew textual tradition has accidentally omitted several words here. The present translation follows the LXX (as do several English versions, cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 247-48, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 132.

sn The Urim and Thummim were used for lot casting in ancient Israel. Their exact identity is uncertain; they may have been specially marked stones drawn from a bag. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8, and Deut 33:8, as well as the discussion in R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 140.

²¹ tn Heb “went out.”

²² tn Heb “and he did not die.”

²³ tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. We should probably read וְהַמַּשְׂמַנִּים (vÿhammasmannim, “the fat ones”) rather than the MT וְהַמִּשְׂנִים (vÿhammisnim, “the second ones”). However, if the MT is retained, the sense may be as the Jewish commentator Kimchi supposed: the second-born young, thought to be better than the firstlings. (For discussion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 123-24.)

²⁴ tn Heb “good.”

²⁵ tc The MT has here the very odd form נְמִבְזָה (nÿmivzah), but this is apparently due to a scribal error. The translation follows instead the Niphal participle נִבְזָה (nivzah).

²⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jesse) has been specified in the translation both here and in v. 12 for clarity.

²⁷ tn Heb “he is coming up.”

²⁸ tn Heb “he had not tested.”

²⁹ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

³⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

³¹ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.

³² tn Heb “uncover your ear.”

³³ tn Heb “in peace.”

³⁴ tn Heb “let not a man know anything about the matter [for] which I am sending you and [about] which I commanded you.”

³⁵ tn Heb “servants.”

³⁶ tn The Hebrew expression here refers to a particular, but unnamed, place. It occurs in the OT only here, in 2 Kgs 6:8, and in Ruth 4:1, where Boaz uses it to refer to Naomi’s unnamed kinsman-redeemer. A contracted form of the expression appears in Dan 8:13.

³⁷ tn Heb “and Saul heard that David and the men who were with him were known.”

³⁸ tn Heb “it had pity,” apparently with the understood subject being “my eye,” in accordance with a common expression.

³⁹ tn Heb “anointed.”

⁴⁰ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

⁴¹ tn Heb “and the leaders of the Philistines said.”

⁴² tn Heb “so that he might not become.”

⁴³ tn Or perhaps, “our men.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see Joüon 2:532 §143.e.

⁴⁴ tn Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “your going forth and your coming in.” The expression is a merism.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “camp.”

⁴⁷ tn Heb “eyes.”

⁴⁸ tn Heb “good.”

⁴⁹ tc Heb “with me.” The singular is used rather than the plural because the group is being treated as a singular entity, in keeping with Hebrew idiom. It is not necessary to read “with us,” rather than the MT “with me,” although the plural can be found here in a few medieval Hebrew mss. See also the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate, although these versions may simply reflect an understanding of the idiom as found in the MT rather than a different textual reading.