1 Samuel 16:14-15

David Appears before Saul

16:14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had turned away from Saul, and an evil spirit ¹  from the Lord tormented him. 16:15 Then Saul’s servants said to him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you!”

1 Samuel 17:34

17:34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock,

1 Samuel 19:9

19:9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon ²  Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. ³ 

1 Samuel 26:18

26:18 He went on to say, “Why is my lord chasing his servant? What have I done? What wrong have I done? ⁴ 

1 Samuel 12:19

12:19 All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us – your servants – so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” ⁵ 

1 Samuel 16:11

16:11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse ⁶  replied, “There is still the youngest one, but he’s taking care of the flock.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we cannot turn our attention to other things until he comes here.”

1 Samuel 16:16

16:16 Let our lord instruct his servants who are here before you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then whenever the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he can play the lyre ⁷  and you will feel better.” ⁸ 

1 Samuel 18:10

18:10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied within his house. Now David was playing the lyre ⁹  that day. There was a spear in Saul’s hand,

1 Samuel 25:21

25:21 Now David had been thinking, ¹⁰  “In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn’t take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil.

1 Samuel 25:26

25:26 “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal.

1 Samuel 24:11

24:11 Look, my father, and see the edge of your robe in my hand! When I cut off the edge of your robe, I didn’t kill you. So realize and understand that I am not planning ¹¹  evil or rebellion. Even though I have not sinned against you, you are waiting in ambush to take my life.

1 Samuel 29:6

29:6 So Achish summoned David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have you ¹²  serving ¹³  with me in the army. ¹⁴  I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion ¹⁵  of the leaders, you are not reliable. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Or “an injurious spirit”; cf. NLT “a tormenting spirit.” The phrase need not refer to an evil, demonic spirit. The Hebrew word translated “evil” may refer to the character of the spirit or to its effect upon Saul. If the latter, another translation option might be “a mischief-making spirit.”

² tn Heb “[was] to.”

³ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

³ tn Heb “What in my hand [is] evil?”

⁴ tn Heb “for we have added to all our sins an evil [thing] by asking for ourselves a king.”

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jesse) has been specified in the translation both here and in v. 12 for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “and he will play with his hand.”

⁷ tn Heb “and it will be better for you.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.”

⁸ tn Heb “said.”

⁹ tn Heb “there is not in my hand.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.

¹¹ tn Heb “your going forth and your coming in.” The expression is a merism.

¹² tn Heb “camp.”

¹³ tn Heb “eyes.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “good.”