1 Samuel 2:3

2:3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly, ¹ 

letting proud talk come out of your mouth!

For the Lord is a God who knows;

he ²  evaluates what people do.

1 Samuel 4:7

4:7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. ³  They said, “Too bad for ⁴  us! We’ve never seen anything like this!

1 Samuel 6:20

6:20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark ⁵  go up from here?”

1 Samuel 7:8

7:8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep ⁶  crying out to the Lord our ⁷  God so that he may save us ⁸  from the hand of the Philistines!”

1 Samuel 9:10

9:10 So Saul said to his servant, “That’s a good idea! ⁹  Come on. Let’s go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was.

1 Samuel 10:10

10:10 When Saul and his servant ¹⁰  arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the spirit of God rushed upon Saul ¹¹  and he prophesied among them.

1 Samuel 17:36

17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ¹²  For he has defied the armies of the living God!”

1 Samuel 17:43

17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?” ¹³  Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1 Samuel 19:23

19:23 So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 23:10

23:10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning ¹⁴  to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me.

¹ tn Heb “proudly, proudly.” If MT is original, the repetition of the word is for emphasis, stressing the arrogance of those addressed. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts and some other textual witnesses do not reflect the repetition, suggesting that the Hebrew text may be dittographic.

² tc The MT (Qere) reads “and by him actions are weighed.” The translation assumes that reading of the Qere וְלוֹ (vÿlo, “and by him”), which is supported by many medieval Hebrew mss, is correct, rather than the reading of the Kethib וְלוֹא (vÿlo’, “and not”).

³ tn The Hebrew text has a direct quote, “because they said, ‘Gods have come to the camp.’” Even though the verb translated “have come” is singular, the following subject should be taken as plural (“gods”), as v. 8 indicates. Some emend the verb to a plural form.

⁴ tn Traditionally “woe to.” They thought disaster was imminent.

⁵ tn Heb “he” or “it”; the referent here (the ark) has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. also NIV, CEV, NLT). Others, however, take the referent to be the Lord himself.

⁷ tn Heb “don’t stop.”

⁸ tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”

⁹ tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

⁹ tn Heb “your word is good.”

¹¹ tc Two medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac Peshitta have the singular “he” (in which case the referent would be Saul alone).

¹² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”

¹⁵ sn Sticks is a pejorative reference to David’s staff (v. 40); the same Hebrew word (מַקֵּל, maqqel) is used for both.

¹⁷ tn Heb “seeking.”