15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. 2
29:1 The Philistines assembled all their troops 3 at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel.
24:21 Fear the Lord, my child, 4 as well as the king,
and do not associate 5 with rebels, 6
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the
3 tn Heb “camps.”
4 tn Heb “my son,” but there is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to male children.
5 tn Heb “do not get mixed up with”; cf. TEV “Have nothing to do with”; NIV “do not join with.” The verb עָרַב (’arav) is used elsewhere meaning “to exchange; to take on pledge.” In the Hitpael stem it means “to have fellowship; to share; to associate with.” Some English versions (e.g., KJV) interpret as “to meddle” in this context, because “to have fellowship” is certainly not what is meant.
6 tn The form rendered “rebellious” is difficult; it appears to be the Qal active participle, plural, from שָׁנָה (shanah), “to change” – “those who change.” The RV might have thought of the idea of “change” when they rendered it “political agitators.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 24:21 have “fools,” the Latin has “detractors,” and the LXX reads, “do not disobey either of them,” referring to God and the king in the first line. Accordingly the ruin predicted in the next line would be the ruin that God and the king can inflict. If the idea of “changers” is retained, it would have to mean people who at one time feared God and the king but no longer do.