8:4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah.
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.
2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of 2 Eli the priest.
15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
19:18 Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth.
25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. 4
1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with 5 his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered 6 her.
20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, 7 “What have I done? What is my offense? 8 How have I sinned before your father? For he is seeking my life!”
28:3 Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown. 9 In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums 10 and magicians 11 from the land.
22:6 But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. 12 Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at an elevated location with his spear in hand and all his servants stationed around him.
1:1 There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim, 15 from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
1 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 23). the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”
1 tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).
1 tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.
1 tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.
2 sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.
1 tn Heb “and he came and said before Jonathan.”
2 tn Heb “What is my guilt?”
1 tn Heb “in Ramah, even in his city.”
2 tn The Hebrew term translated “mediums” actually refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits (see 2 Kgs 21:6). In v. 7 the witch of Endor is called the owner of a ritual pit. See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401. Here the term refers by metonymy to the owner of such a pit (see H. A. Hoffner, TDOT 1:133).
3 sn See Isa 8:19 for another reference to magicians who attempted to conjure up underworld spirits.
1 tn Heb “and Saul heard that David and the men who were with him were known.”
1 tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
2 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
1 tc The translation follows the MT. The LXX reads “a man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite”; this is followed by a number of recent English translations. It is possible the MT reading צוֹפִים (tsofim) arose from dittography of the mem (מ) at the beginning of the following word.