1 Samuel 16:12

16:12 So Jesse had him brought in. ¹  Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!”

1 Samuel 17:23

17:23 As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, ²  and David heard it.

1 Samuel 19:9

19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon ³  Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 20:36

20:36 He said to his servant, “Run, find the arrows that I am about to shoot.” As the servant ran, Jonathan ⁵  shot the arrow beyond him.

1 Samuel 25:3

25:3 The man’s name was Nabal, ⁶  and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was both wise ⁷  and beautiful, but the man was harsh and his deeds were evil. He was a Calebite.

1 Samuel 25:17

25:17 Now be aware of this, and see what you can do. For disaster has been planned for our lord and his entire household. ⁸  He is such a wicked person ⁹  that no one tells him anything!”

1 Samuel 25:37

25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ¹⁰  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “and he sent and brought him.”

² tn Heb “according to these words.”

³ tn Heb “[was] to.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn The name נָבָל (Nabal) means “foolish” or “senseless” in Hebrew, and as an adjective the word is used especially of persons who have no perception of ethical or religious claims. It is an apt name for this character, who certainly typifies such behavior.

⁶ tn Heb “good of insight”; KJV “of good understanding”; NAB, NIV, TEV “intelligent”; NRSV “clever.”

⁶ tn Heb “all his house” (so ASV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “his whole family.”

⁷ tn Heb “he is a son of worthlessness.”

⁷ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

⁸ tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.