¹ tn Or “consulted.”

² tn Heb “and consult together against.”

³ tn Heb “Let us consult together.”

² tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”

¹ tn Heb “and David again consulted with God.”

¹ tn Heb “those who watch for my life consult together.”

¹ tn The Hebrew verb translated “asked” (שָׁאַל, shaʾal) refers here to consulting the Lord through a prophetic oracle; cf. NAB “consulted.”

¹ tn Heb “but without me”; cf. NCV “without asking my permission,” and CEV “without consulting me.”

¹ tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”

¹ tn Heb “seeking,” perhaps in the sense of “consulting [an oracle from].”

¹ tn Heb “and David consulted with the officers of thousands and hundreds, to every ruler.”

³ tn The Niphal of יָעַץ (yaʿats, “to advise; to counsel”) means “to consult together; to take counsel.” It means being well-advised, receiving advice or consultation (cf. NCV “those who take advice are wise”).

³ tn Or “I did not consult with.” For the translation “I did not go to ask advice from” see L&N 33.175.

¹ tn For the translation of this term in this context see the parallel context in 23:6 and consult the translator’s note there.

¹ tn Heb “Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders which they advised and he consulted the young men with whom he had grown up, who stood before him.”

² sn Aramaic documents from a slightly later period help us understand the nature of such deeds. The document consisted of a single papyrus sheet divided in half. One half contained all the particulars and was tightly rolled up, bound with strips of cloth or thread, sealed with wax upon which the parties affixed their seal, and signed by witnesses. The other copy consisted of an abstract and was left loosely rolled and unsealed (i.e., open to be consulted at will). If questions were raised about legality of the contract, then the sealed copy could be unsealed and consulted.

¹ tn Heb “bearing.” Many English versions understand this verb to mean “wearing” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). The ephod could be used for consulting the Lord’s will (1 Sam 23:9-10; 30:7-8) and is not always worn (1 Sam 23:6). The significance in this context is probably not that Ahijah was dressed for sacrificial duties or to appear before God at the tabernacle, but rather that the ephod was available for consulting God, given the people’s ignorance about Jonathan’s activities. (Cf. the note at 1 Sam 2:28.)

² sn This refers to the group mentioned in Jer 40:7 and 41:10. The two groups together constituted all the people who were at Mizpah when Gedaliah was murdered, had been taken captive by Ishmael, had been rescued by Johanan and the other army officers, and had consulted Jeremiah at Geruth Chimham.

¹ tn Heb “Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth will speak with your mouth.” For this same idiom in reverse order, see 32:4 and consult the translator’s note there for the obligatory nuance given to the verbs.

² sn The idiom translated sought the Lord’s advice quite commonly refers to seeking the Lord’s guidance through a prophet. See for example Exod 18:15; 1 Sam 9:9; 1 Kgs 22:8. It would not exclude consulting the law.