1 Samuel 16:21

16:21 David came to Saul and stood before him. Saul liked him a great deal,¹ and he became his armor bearer.

1 Samuel 16:1

Samuel Anoints David as King

16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long do you intend to mourn for Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel.² Fill your horn with olive oil and go! I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem,³ for I have selected a king for myself from among his sons.”⁴

1 Samuel 12:6

12:6 Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors⁵ up from the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 12:8

12:8 When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

Proverbs 22:29

22:29 Do you see a person skilled⁶ in his work?

He will take his position before kings;

he will not take his position⁷ before obscure people.⁸

Daniel 1:19

1:19 When the king spoke with them, he did not find among the entire group⁹ anyone like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.¹⁰

Luke 21:36

21:36 But stay alert at all times,¹¹ praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must¹² happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Jude 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling,¹³ and to cause you to stand, rejoicing,¹⁴ without blemish¹⁵ before his glorious presence,¹⁶

¹tn Heb “he loved him.”

²tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And the Lord said to Samuel.”

³map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

⁴tn Heb “for I have seen among his sons for me a king.”

³tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 7, 8).

⁴sn The word translated “skilled” is general enough to apply to any crafts; but it may refer to a scribe or an official (R. N. Whybray, Proverbs [CBC], 134).

⁵tn The verb form used twice here is יִתְיַצֵּב (yityatsev), the Hitpael imperfect of יָצַב (yatsav), which means “to set or station oneself; to take one’s stand” in this stem. With the form לִפְנֵי (life) it means “to present oneself before” someone; so here it has the idea of serving as a courtier in the presence of a king.

⁶sn The fifth saying affirms that true skill earns recognition and advancement (cf. Instruction of Amenemope, chap. 30, 27:16-17 [ANET 424]).

⁵tn Heb “from all of them.”

⁶tn Heb “stood before the king.”

⁶sn The call to be alert at all times is a call to remain faithful in looking for the Lord’s return.

⁷tn For the translation of μέλλω (mellw) as “must,” see L&N 71.36.

⁷tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

⁸tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

⁹tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

¹⁰tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”