Discovery Box1 Samuel 16:6-13
Context16:6 When they arrived, Samuel 1 noticed 2 Eliab and said to himself, 3 “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” 4 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by 5 his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. 6 People look on the outward appearance, 7 but the Lord looks at the heart.”
16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. 8 But Samuel 9 said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” 16:9 Then Jesse presented 10 Shammah. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 16:10 Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel. 11 But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 16:11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Is that all of the young men?” Jesse 12 replied, “There is still the youngest one, but he’s taking care of the flock.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we cannot turn our attention to other things until he comes here.”
16:12 So Jesse had him brought in. 13 Now he was ruddy, with attractive eyes and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him. This is the one!” 16:13 So Samuel took the horn full of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day onward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:2
Context16:2 Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you 14 and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
1 Samuel 7:8-16
Context7:8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Keep 15 crying out to the Lord our 16 God so that he may save us 17 from the hand of the Philistines!” 7:9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb 18 and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Samuel cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
7:10 As Samuel was offering burnt offerings, the Philistines approached to do battle with Israel. 19 But on that day the Lord thundered loudly against the Philistines. He caused them to panic, and they were defeated by 20 Israel. 7:11 Then the men of Israel left Mizpah and chased the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth Car.
7:12 Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen. 21 He named it Ebenezer, 22 saying, “Up to here the Lord has helped us.” 7:13 So the Philistines were defeated; they did not invade Israel again. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
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 23 of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 7:15 So Samuel led 24 Israel all the days of his life. 7:16 Year after year he used to travel the circuit of Bethel, 25 Gilgal, and Mizpah; he used to judge Israel in all of these places.
Psalms 78:68-72
Context78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 26
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 27
78:70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, 28
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation. 29
78:72 David 30 cared for them with pure motives; 31
he led them with skill. 32
Psalms 89:16-27
Context89:16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated 33 by your justice.
89:17 For you give them splendor and strength. 34
By your favor we are victorious. 35
89:18 For our shield 36 belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel. 37
89:19 Then you 38 spoke through a vision to your faithful followers 39 and said:
“I have energized a warrior; 40
I have raised up a young man 41 from the people.
89:20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king. 42
89:21 My hand will support him, 43
and my arm will strengthen him.
89:22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute 44 from him; 45
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him. 46
89:23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
89:24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love, 47
and by my name he will win victories. 48
89:25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers. 49
89:26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father, 50 my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ 51
89:27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son, 52
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
[16:6] 1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:6] 3 tn Heb “said”; the words “to himself” are implied, given the secrecy surrounding Samuel’s mission to Bethlehem (v. 2).
[16:6] 4 tn Heb “his anointed one.”
[16:7] 5 tn Heb “don’t look toward.”
[16:7] 6 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] 7 tn Heb “to the eyes.”
[16:8] 8 tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”
[16:8] 9 tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:9] 10 tn Heb “caused to pass by.”
[16:10] 11 tn Heb “caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel.” This could be taken as referring to seven sons in addition to the three mentioned before this, but 1 Sam 17:12 says Jesse had eight sons, not eleven. 1 Chr 2:13-15 lists only seven sons, including David. However, 1 Chr 27:18 mentions an additional son, named Elihu.
[16:11] 12 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jesse) has been specified in the translation both here and in v. 12 for clarity.
[16:12] 13 tn Heb “and he sent and brought him.”
[16:2] 14 tn Heb “in your hand.”
[7:8] 16 tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”
[7:8] 17 tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.
[7:9] 18 tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”
[7:10] 19 tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”
[7:12] 21 tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”
[7:12] 22 sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.
[7:15] 24 tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).
[7:16] 25 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[78:69] 26 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
[78:69] 27 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
[78:71] 28 tn Heb “from after the ewes he brought him.”
[78:71] 29 tn Heb “to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.”
[78:72] 30 tn Heb “He”; the referent (David, God’s chosen king, mentioned in v. 70) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[78:72] 31 tn Heb “and he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart.”
[78:72] 32 tn Heb “and with the understanding of his hands he led them.”
[89:16] 33 tn Heb “are lifted up.”
[89:17] 34 tn Heb “for the splendor of their strength [is] you.”
[89:17] 35 tn Heb “you lift up our horn,” or if one follows the marginal reading (Qere), “our horn is lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
[89:18] 36 tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king" here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.
[89:18] 37 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the
[89:19] 38 tn The pronoun “you” refers to the
[89:19] 39 tc Many medieval
[89:19] 40 tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”
[89:19] 41 tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”
[89:20] 42 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification, indicating that a royal anointing is in view.
[89:21] 43 tn Heb “with whom my hand will be firm.”
[89:22] 44 tn Heb “an enemy will not exact tribute.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential.
[89:22] 45 tn The translation understands the Hiphil of נָשַׁא (nasha’) in the sense of “act as a creditor.” This may allude to the practice of a conqueror forcing his subjects to pay tribute in exchange for “protection.” Another option is to take the verb from a homonymic verbal root meaning “to deceive,” “to trick.” Still another option is to emend the form to יִשָּׂא (yisa’), a Qal imperfect from נָאַשׂ (na’as, “rise up”) and to translate “an enemy will not rise up against him” (see M. Dahood, Psalms [AB], 2:317).
[89:22] 46 tn Heb “and a son of violence will not oppress him.” The imperfect is understood in a modal sense, indicating capability or potential. The reference to a “son of violence” echoes the language of God’s promise to David in 2 Sam 7:10 (see also 1 Chr 17:9).
[89:24] 47 tn Heb “and my faithfulness and my loyal love [will be] with him.”
[89:24] 48 tn Heb “and by my name his horn will be lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
[89:25] 49 tn Some identify “the sea” as the Mediterranean and “the rivers” as the Euphrates and its tributaries. However, it is more likely that “the sea” and “the rivers” are symbols for hostile powers that oppose God and the king (see v. 9, as well as Ps 93:3-4).
[89:26] 50 sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
[89:26] 51 tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”
[89:27] 52 sn The firstborn son typically had special status and received special privileges.
