1 Samuel 14:42

14:42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan!” ¹  Jonathan was indicated by lot.

1 Samuel 20:23

20:23 With regard to the matter that you and I discussed, the Lord is the witness between us forever!” ² 

1 Samuel 24:12

24:12 May the Lord judge between the two of us, and may the Lord vindicate me over you, but my hand will not be against you.

1 Samuel 20:42

20:42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn together in the name of the Lord saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you and between my descendants and your descendants forever.’”

David Goes to Nob

(21:1)

³ Then David ⁴  got up and left, while Jonathan went back to the city.

1 Samuel 17:1

David Kills Goliath

17:1 ⁵ The Philistines gathered their troops ⁶  for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.

1 Samuel 24:15

24:15 May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands!”

1 Samuel 17:6

17:6 He had bronze shin guards ⁷  on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders.

1 Samuel 17:3

17:3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites ⁸  on another hill, with the valley between them.

1 Samuel 26:13

26:13 Then David crossed to the other side and stood on the top of the hill some distance away; there was a considerable distance between them.

1 Samuel 7:12

7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. ⁹  He named it Ebenezer, ¹⁰  saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:14

7:14 The cities that the Philistines had captured from Israel were returned to Israel, from Ekron to Gath. Israel also delivered their territory from the control ¹¹  of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

1 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Taking an oath, David again ¹²  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ¹³  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ¹⁴  ‘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 14:4

14:4 Now there was a steep cliff on each side of the pass through which Jonathan intended to go to reach the Philistine garrison. One cliff was named Bozez, the other Seneh.

[14:42]  ¹ tc The LXX includes the following words: “Whomever the Lord will indicate by the lot, let him die! And the people said to Saul, ‘It is not this word.’ But Saul prevailed over the people, and they cast lots between him and between Jonathan his son.”

[20:23]  ² tc Heb “the Lord [is] between me and between you forever.” The translation assumes that the original text read עֵד עַד־עוֹלָם (’ed ’ad-’olam), “a witness forever,” with the noun “a witness” accidentally falling out of the text by haplography. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 338.

[20:42]  ³ sn Beginning with 20:42b, the verse numbers through 21:15 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 20:42b ET = 21:1 HT, 21:1 ET = 21:2 HT, 21:2 ET = 21:3 HT, etc., through 21:15 ET = 21:16 HT. With 22:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[20:42]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:1]  ⁴ tc The content of 1 Sam 17–18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. 17–18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in 1 Sam 17–18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages.

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “camps.”

[17:6]  ⁵ sn Or “greaves.” These were coverings (probably lined for comfort) that extended from about the knee to the ankle, affording protection for the shins of a warrior.

[17:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Israel.”

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”

[7:12]  ⁸ sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.

[7:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[20:3]  ⁹ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

[20:3]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.