13:13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed 5 the commandment that the Lord your God gave 6 you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever!
1 tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on” (cf. CEV).
2 tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. We should probably read וְהַמַּשְׂמַנִּים (vÿhammasmannim, “the fat ones”) rather than the MT וְהַמִּשְׂנִים (vÿhammisnim, “the second ones”). However, if the MT is retained, the sense may be as the Jewish commentator Kimchi supposed: the second-born young, thought to be better than the firstlings. (For discussion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 123-24.)
3 tn Heb “good.”
4 tc The MT has here the very odd form נְמִבְזָה (nÿmivzah), but this is apparently due to a scribal error. The translation follows instead the Niphal participle נִבְזָה (nivzah).
5 tn Or “kept.”
6 tn Heb “commanded.”