1 Samuel 2:11

2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of ¹  Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 3:5

3:5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli ²  said, “I didn’t call you. Go back and lie down.” So he went back and lay down.

1 Samuel 15:32

Samuel Puts Agag to Death

15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, ³  thinking to himself, ⁴  “Surely death is bitter!” ⁵ 

1 Samuel 17:48

17:48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 22:1

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family ⁷  learned about it, they went down there to him.

1 Samuel 22:5

22:5 Then Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

1 Samuel 23:25

23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. ⁸  But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

1 Samuel 23:28

23:28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. ⁹ 

1 Samuel 24:2

24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find ¹⁰  David and his men in the region of ¹¹  the rocks of the mountain goats. ¹² 

1 Samuel 24:7

24:7 David restrained his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and started down ¹³  the road.

1 Samuel 24:22

24:22 David promised Saul this on oath. ¹⁴  Then Saul went to his house, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.

1 Samuel 30:9

30:9 So David went, accompanied by his six hundred men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there. ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The MT reading מַעֲדַנֹּת (ma’adannot, literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root ענד (’nd, “to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root עדן (’dn) with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root מעד (m’d, “to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle τρέμον (tremon, “trembling”).

⁴ tn Heb “and Agag said.”

⁵ tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete סָר (sar, “is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word מַר (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV “Surely the bitterness of death is past,” along with NLT, CEV). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”). Cf. NAB “So it is bitter death!”; NRSV “Surely this is the bitterness of death”; TEV “What a bitter thing it is to die!”

⁴ tc Most LXX mss lack the second half of v. 48.

⁵ tn Heb “house.”

⁶ tn Heb “to search.”

⁷ sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (Sela Hammakhleqoth) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חלק (khlq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”

⁸ tn Heb “to search [for].”

⁹ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

¹⁰ tn Or “the region of the Rocks of the Mountain Goats,” if this expression is understood as a place name (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, CEV).

⁹ tn Heb “went on.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and David swore an oath to Saul.”

¹¹ tn Heb “stood.” So also in v. 10.