22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped and fled to David. His name was Abiathar. 22:21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty 1 of all the deaths in your father’s house! 22:23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever 2 seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”
23:6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod. 3 23:7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered 4 him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” 5 23:8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 6
23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, 7 he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”
15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded 8 and what you said as well. 9 For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. 10
15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. 14
15:12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where 15 he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left 16 and went down to Gilgal.” 17
1 tc The translation follows the LXX, which reads “I am guilty,” rather than the MT, which has “I have turned.”
2 tn Or “the one who.” This may refer specifically to Saul, in which case David acknowledges that Abiathar’s life is endangered because of his allegiance to David. The translation assumes that the statement is more generalized, meaning that any enemy of Abiathar is an enemy of David. In other words, David promises that he will protect Abiathar with his very own life.
3 tn Heb “an ephod went down in his hand.”
4 tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מַכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.
5 tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”
6 tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”
7 tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”
8 tn Heb “the mouth of the
9 tn Heb “and your words.”
10 tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”
11 tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the
12 tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”
13 sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.
14 tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the
15 tn Heb “and look.”
16 tn Heb “and he turned and crossed over.”
17 tc At the end of v. 12 the LXX and one Old Latin