1 Chronicles 10:13

10:13 So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. ¹ 

1 Chronicles 14:10

14:10 David asked God, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to him, “March up! I will hand them over to you!”

1 Chronicles 14:14

14:14 So David again asked God what he should do. ²  This time ³  God told him, “Don’t march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “and Saul died because of his unfaithfulness by which he acted unfaithfully against the Lord, concerning the word of the Lord which he did not keep, also to Saul, a ritual pit to seek.” The text alludes to the incident recorded in 1 Sam 28. The Hebrew term אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. A. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew áo‚b,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.

² tn Heb “and David again asked God.”

³ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

⁴ tn The Hebrew word translated “trees” is defined by HALOT 129 s.v. בָּכָא as “shrubs.” Some translate “balsam trees” (see BDB 113 s.v. בָּכָא), cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT.