1 Samuel 14:24

Jonathan Violates Saul’s Oath

14:24 Now the men of Israel were hard pressed that day, for Saul had made the army agree to this oath: “Cursed be the man who eats food before evening! I will get my vengeance on my enemies!” So no one in the army ate anything.

1 Samuel 14:44

14:44 Saul said, “God will punish me severely if Jonathan doesn’t die!” ¹ 

1 Samuel 19:6

19:6 Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice ²  and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.”

1 Samuel 20:31

20:31 For as long as ³  this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send some men ⁴  and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!” ⁵ 

1 Samuel 22:16

22:16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!

1 Samuel 28:10

28:10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”

1 Samuel 28:2

28:2 David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard ⁶  from now on.” ⁷ 

1 Samuel 12:5

12:5 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king ⁸  is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” ⁹  They said, “He is witness!”

Ecclesiastes 9:2

9:2 Everyone shares the same fate ¹⁰  –

the righteous and the wicked,

the good and the bad, ¹¹ 

the ceremonially clean and unclean,

those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; ¹² 

what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

¹ tn Heb “So God will do and so he will add, surely you will certainly die, Jonathan.”

² tn Heb “and Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan.”

³ tn Heb “all the days that.”

⁴ tn The words “some men” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Heb “a son of death.”

⁶ tn Heb “the guardian for my head.”

⁷ tn Heb “all the days.”

⁸ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

⁹ tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “all things just as to everyone, one fate.”

¹¹ tc The MT reads simply “the good,” but the Greek versions read “the good and the bad.” In contrast to the other four pairs in v. 2 (“the righteous and the wicked,” “those who sacrifice, and those who do not sacrifice,” “the good man…the sinner,” and “those who make vows…those who are afraid to make vows”), the MT has a triad in the second line: לַטּוֹב וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא (lattov vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good, and the clean, and the unclean”). This reading in the Leningrad Codex (ca. a.d. 1008) – the basis of the BHS and BHK publications of the MT – is also supported by the Ben Asher text of the First Rabbinic Bible (“the Soncino Bible”) published in a.d. 1488-94. On the other hand, the Greek version in B (Aquila) has two pairs: τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ, καὶ τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ (“the good and the bad, and the clean and the unclean”). Either Aquila inserted καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to fill out a pair and to create six parallel pairs in v. 2, or Aquila reflects an early Hebrew textual tradition tradition of לַטּוֹב וְלַרָע (lattov vÿlara’, “the good and the bad”). Since Aquila is well known for his commitment to a literal – at times even a mechanically wooden – translation of the Hebrew, with no room for improvisation, it is more than likely that Aquila is reflecting an authentic Hebrew textual tradition. Aquila dates to a.d. 130, while the Leningrad Codex dates to a.d. 1008; therefore, the Vorlage of Aquila might have been the original Hebrew textual tradition, being much earlier than the MT of the Leningrad Codex. The alternate textual tradition of Aquila is also seen in the Syriac and Latin versions (but these are dependent upon the Greek = Aquila). On the other hand, the editors of BHK and BHS suggest that the presence of the anomalous לַטּוֹב was an addition to the Hebrew text, and should be deleted. They also suggest that the Greek pair τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ (tw agaqw kai tw kakw, “the good and the bad”) does not reflect an alternate textual tradition, but that their Vorlage contained only לַטּוֹב: the Greek version intentionally added καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to create a pair. The English versions are divided. Several follow the Greek: “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean” (NEB, NAB, RSV, NRSV, NIV, Moffatt, NLT). Others follow the Hebrew: “the good and the clean and the unclean” (KJV, ASV, MLB, NJPS). None, however, delete “the good” (לַטּוֹב) as suggested by the BHK and BHS editors. If the shorter text were original, the addition of καὶ τῷ κακῷ would be intentional. If the longer text were original, the omission of וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) could have caused by unintentional homoioarcton (“similar beginning”) in the three-fold repetition of לט in וְלַרָע וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא לַטּוֹב (lattov vÿlara’ vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean”). The term וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) was accidentally omitted when a scribe skipped from the first occurrence of לט in לַטּוֹב to its second occurrence in the word וְלַטָּהוֹר (“the clean”).

¹² tn Heb “As is the good (man), so is the sinner.”