1 Samuel 1:28

1:28 Now I dedicate him to the Lord. From this time on he is dedicated to the Lord.” Then they ¹  worshiped the Lord there.

1 Samuel 2:11

2:11 Then Elkanah went back home to Ramah. But the boy was serving the Lord under the supervision of ²  Eli the priest.

1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ³  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

1 Samuel 4:16

4:16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli ⁴  asked, “How did things go, my son?”

1 Samuel 9:2

9:2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.

1 Samuel 14:18

14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ⁵  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ⁶ 

1 Samuel 17:34

17:34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:42

17:42 When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.

1 Samuel 25:37

25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, ⁷  his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. ⁸ 

[1:28]  ¹ tn Heb “he,” apparently referring to Samuel (but cf. CEV “Elkanah”). A few medieval manuscripts and some ancient versions take the verb as plural (cf. TEV, NLT).

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “with [or “before”] the face of.”

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[4:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:18]  ⁵ tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

[14:18]  ⁶ tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.

[25:37]  ⁶ tn Heb “when the wine had gone out from Nabal.”

[25:37]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his heart died within him and he became a stone.” Cf. TEV, NLT “stroke”; CEV “heart attack.” For an alternative interpretation than that presented above, see Marjorie O’Rourke Boyle, “The Law of the Heart: The Death of a Fool (1 Samuel 25),” JBL 120 (2001): 401-27, who argues that a medical diagnosis is not necessary here. Instead, the passage makes a connection between the heart and the law; Nabal dies for his lawlessness.