1 Samuel 1:7

1:7 Peninnah ¹  would behave this way year after year. Whenever Hannah ²  went up to the Lord’s house, Peninnah ³  would upset her so that she would weep and refuse to eat.

1 Samuel 5:5

5:5 (For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon’s priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon’s temple step on Dagon’s threshold in Ashdod.)

1 Samuel 6:10

6:10 So the men did as instructed. ⁴  They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls.

1 Samuel 10:12

10:12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?”

1 Samuel 15:33

15:33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.

1 Samuel 23:28

23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. ⁵ 

1 Samuel 24:5

24:5 Afterward David’s conscience bothered him ⁶  because he had cut off an edge of Saul’s robe.

1 Samuel 26:24

26:24 In the same way that I valued your life this day, ⁷  may the Lord value my life ⁸  and deliver me from all danger.”

¹ tn The MT has a masculine form of the verb here יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “he used to do”); the subject in that case would presumably be Elkanah. But this leads to an abrupt change of subject in the following part of the verse, where the subject is the rival wife who caused Hannah anxiety. In light of v. 6 one expects the statement of v. 7 to refer to the ongoing actions of the rival wife: “she used to behave in this way year after year.” Some scholars have proposed retaining the masculine form but changing the vocalization of the verb so as to read a Niphal rather than a Qal (i.e., יֵעֲשֶׂה, ye’aseh, “so it used to be done”). But the problem here is lack of precedent for such a use of the Niphal of this verb. It seems best in light of the context to understand the reference to be to Hannah’s rival Peninnah and to read here, with the Syriac Peshitta, a feminine form of the verb (“she used to do”). In the translation the referent (Peninnah) has been specified for clarity.

² tn Heb “she”; the referent (Hannah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

⁴ tn Heb “and the men did so.”

⁷ sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (Sela Hammakhleqoth) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חלק (khlq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the heart of David struck him.”

¹³ tn Heb “your life was great this day in my eyes.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “may my life be great in the eyes of the Lord.”