1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One ¹  of Israel does not go back on his word ²  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ³ 

1 Samuel 14:7

14:7 His armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is on your mind. ⁴  Do as you’re inclined. I’m with you all the way!” ⁵ 

1 Samuel 2:35

2:35 Then I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what is in my heart and soul. I will build for him a secure dynasty ⁶  and he will serve my chosen one for all time. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 9:19-20

9:19 Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. ⁸  9:20 Don’t be concerned ⁹  about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 12:24

12:24 However, fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Just look at the great things he has done for you!

1 Samuel 20:4

20:4 Jonathan replied to David, “Tell me what I can do for you.” ¹¹ 

1 Samuel 18:25

18:25 Saul replied, “Here is what you should say to David: ‘There is nothing that the king wants as a price for the bride except a hundred Philistine foreskins, so that he can be avenged of his ¹²  enemies.’” (Now Saul was thinking that he could kill David by the hand of the Philistines.)

1 Samuel 14:19

14:19 While ¹³  Saul spoke to the priest, the panic in the Philistines’ camp was becoming greater and greater. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”

1 Samuel 20:7

20:7 If he should then say, ‘That’s fine,’ ¹⁴  then your servant is safe. But if he becomes very angry, be assured that he has decided to harm me. ¹⁵ 

1 Samuel 1:19

1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with ¹⁶  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ¹⁷  her.

1 Samuel 1:11

1:11 She made a vow saying, “O Lord of hosts, if you will look with compassion ¹⁸  on the suffering of your female servant, ¹⁹  remembering me and not forgetting your servant, and give a male child ²⁰  to your servant, then I will dedicate him to the Lord all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.” ²¹ 

¹ tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

² tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

³ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

⁴ tn Heb “in your heart.”

⁵ tn Heb “Look, I am with you, according to your heart.” See the note at 13:14.

⁷ tn Heb “house.”

⁸ tn Heb “and he will walk about before my anointed one all the days.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “all that is in your heart.”

¹³ tn Heb “do not fix your heart.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and all the house of your father.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “whatever your soul says, I will do for you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “the king’s.”

²² tn Or perhaps “until.”

²⁵ tn Heb “good.”

²⁶ tn Heb “know that the evil is completed from with him.”

²⁸ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

²⁹ sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.

³¹ tn Heb “if looking you look.” The expression can refer, as here, to looking favorably upon another, in this case with compassion.

³² tn Heb “handmaid.” The use of this term (translated two more times in this verse and once each in vv. 16, 17 simply as “servant” for stylistic reasons) is an expression of humility.

³³ tn Heb “seed of men.”

³⁴ tn Heb “a razor will not go up upon his head.”