Discovery Box1 Samuel 4:3 
Context4:3 When the army 1 came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by 2 the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us 3 from the hand of our enemies.
1 Samuel 17:20
Context17:20 So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. 4 After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp 5 as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry.
1 tn Or “people.”
2 tn Heb “before.”
3 tn Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal forms with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose or result. The translation understands the ark to be the subject of the third masculine singular verbs, although it is possible to understand the Lord as the subject. In the latter case, one should translate, “when he is with us, he will save us.”
4 tn Heb “to a guard”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “with a keeper”; NIV “with a shepherd.” Since in contemporary English “guard” sounds like someone at a military installation or a prison, the present translation uses “to someone else who would watch over it.”
5 tn Or “entrenchment.”
