1 Samuel 14:9

14:9 If they say to us, ‘Stay put until we approach you,’ we will stay ¹  right there and not go up to them.

1 Samuel 4:3

4:3 When the army ²  came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by ³  the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us ⁴  from the hand of our enemies.

1 Samuel 14:12

14:12 Then the men of the garrison said to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come on up to us so we can teach you a thing or two!” ⁵  Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up behind me, for the Lord has given ⁶  them into the hand of Israel!”

[14:9]  ¹ tn Heb “stand.”

[4:3]  ² tn Or “people.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “before.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it will come in our midst and it will save.” After the cohortative (see “let’s take”), the prefixed verbal forms with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose or result. The translation understands the ark to be the subject of the third masculine singular verbs, although it is possible to understand the Lord as the subject. In the latter case, one should translate, “when he is with us, he will save us.”

[14:12]  ³ tn Heb “a thing.”

[14:12]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically here to express Jonathan’s certitude. As far as he is concerned, the victory is as good as won and can be described as such.