2 Samuel 1:6

1:6 The young man who was telling him this ¹  said, “I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa and came across Saul leaning on his spear for support. The chariots and leaders of the horsemen were in hot pursuit of him.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ²  I observed this on the earth: ³ 

the race is not always ⁴  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ⁵  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ⁶  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ⁷  them all.

Luke 10:31

10:31 Now by chance ⁸  a priest was going down that road, but ⁹  when he saw the injured man ¹⁰  he passed by ¹¹  on the other side. ¹² 

¹ tc The Syriac Peshitta and one ms of the LXX lack the words “who was telling him this” of the MT.

² tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁴ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “bread.”

⁶ tn Heb “favor.”

⁷ tn Heb “happen to.”

³ sn The phrase by chance adds an initial note of hope and fortune to the expectation in the story.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the priest’s expected action (helping the victim) and what he really did.

⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ sn It is not said why the priest passed by and refused to help. It is not relevant to the point of the parable that no help was given in the emergency situation.

⁷ sn The text suggests that the priest went out of his way (on the other side) not to get too close to the scene.