13:1 Saul was [thirty] 2 years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for [forty] 3 years.
7:2 It was quite a long time – some twenty years in all – that the ark stayed at Kiriath Jearim. All the people 7 of Israel longed for 8 the Lord.
4:18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli 10 fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he 11 was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years.
1 tn Heb “were set” or “were fixed,” i.e., without vision.
2 tc The MT does not have “thirty.” A number appears to have dropped out of the Hebrew text here, since as it stands the MT (literally, “a son of a year”) must mean that Saul was only one year old when he began to reign! The KJV, attempting to resolve this, reads “Saul reigned one year,” but that is not the normal meaning of the Hebrew text represented by the MT. Although most LXX
3 tc The MT has “two years” here. If this number is to be accepted as correct, the meaning apparently would be that after a lapse of two years at the beginning of Saul’s reign, he then went about the task of consolidating an army as described in what follows (cf. KJV, ASV, CEV). But if the statement in v. 1 is intended to be a comprehensive report on the length of Saul’s reign, the number is too small. According to Acts 13:21 Saul reigned for forty years. Some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT), taking this forty to be a round number, add it to the “two years” of the MT and translate the number in 2 Sam 13:1 as “forty-two years.” While this is an acceptable option, the present translation instead replaces the MT’s “two” with the figure “forty.” Admittedly the textual evidence for this decision is weak, but the same can be said of any attempt to restore sense to this difficult text (note the ellipsis marks at this point in NAB, NRSV). The Syriac Peshitta lacks this part of v. 1.
3 tn The MT has a masculine form of the verb here יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “he used to do”); the subject in that case would presumably be Elkanah. But this leads to an abrupt change of subject in the following part of the verse, where the subject is the rival wife who caused Hannah anxiety. In light of v. 6 one expects the statement of v. 7 to refer to the ongoing actions of the rival wife: “she used to behave in this way year after year.” Some scholars have proposed retaining the masculine form but changing the vocalization of the verb so as to read a Niphal rather than a Qal (i.e., יֵעֲשֶׂה, ye’aseh, “so it used to be done”). But the problem here is lack of precedent for such a use of the Niphal of this verb. It seems best in light of the context to understand the reference to be to Hannah’s rival Peninnah and to read here, with the Syriac Peshitta, a feminine form of the verb (“she used to do”). In the translation the referent (Peninnah) has been specified for clarity.
4 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Hannah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Peninnah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).
5 tn Heb “mourned after”; NIV “mourned and sought after”; KJV, NRSV “lamented after”; NAB “turned to”; NCV “began to follow…again.”
5 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “the man.”