1 Samuel 1:23

1:23 So her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what you think best. ¹  Stay until you have weaned him. May the Lord fulfill his promise.” ² 

So the woman stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

1 Samuel 12:3

12:3 Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. ³  Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, ⁴  and I will return it to you!”

1 Samuel 12:17

12:17 Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves.”

1 Samuel 14:27

14:27 But Jonathan had not heard about the oath his father had made the army take. He extended the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb. When he ate it, ⁵  his eyes gleamed. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 14:36

14:36 Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines at night; we will rout ⁷  them until the break of day. ⁸  We won’t leave any of them alive!” ⁹  They replied, “Do whatever seems best to you.” ¹⁰  But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.”

1 Samuel 14:40

14:40 Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The army replied to Saul, “Do whatever you think is best.”

1 Samuel 16:7

16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by ¹¹  his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. ¹²  People look on the outward appearance, ¹³  but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Taking an oath, David again ¹⁴  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ¹⁵  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ¹⁶  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

1 Samuel 20:29

20:29 He said, ‘Permit me to go, ¹⁷  for we are having a family sacrifice in the city, and my brother urged ¹⁸  me to be there. So now, if I have found favor with you, let me go ¹⁹  to see my brothers.’ For that reason he has not come to the king’s table.”

1 Samuel 24:10

24:10 Today your own eyes see how the Lord delivered you – this very day – into my hands in the cave. Some told me to kill you, but I had pity ²⁰  on you and said, ‘I will not extend my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s chosen one.’ ²¹ 

1 Samuel 25:8

25:8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ²²  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ²³  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ²⁴ 

1 Samuel 26:21

26:21 Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, my son David. I won’t harm you, for you treated my life with value ²⁵  this day. I have behaved foolishly and have made a very terrible mistake!” ²⁶ 

1 Samuel 27:5

27:5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?”

1 Samuel 29:9

29:9 Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliable ²⁷  as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’

[1:23]  ¹ tn Heb “what is good in your eyes.”

[1:23]  ² tn Heb “establish his word.” This apparently refers to the promise inherent in Eli’s priestly blessing (see v. 17).

[12:3]  ³ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:3]  ⁴ tn The words “tell me” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he returned his hand to his mouth.”

[14:27]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the Qere and several medieval Hebrew mss in reading “gleamed,” rather than the Kethib, “saw.”

[14:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “plunder.”

[14:36]  ⁸ tn Heb “until the light of the morning.”

[14:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there will not be left among them a man.”

[14:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all that is good in your eyes.” So also in v. 40.

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “don’t look toward.”

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.

[16:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[20:3]  ¹¹ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

[20:3]  ¹² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.

[20:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “send me.”

[20:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “commanded.”

[20:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “be released [from duty].”

[24:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “it had pity,” apparently with the understood subject being “my eye,” in accordance with a common expression.

[24:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “anointed.”

[25:8]  ¹⁷ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (ba’nu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).

[25:8]  ¹⁸ tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.

[25:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”

[26:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my life was valuable in your eyes.”

[26:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I have erred very greatly.”

[29:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “I know that you are good in my eyes.”