1 Samuel 17:2

17:2 Saul and the Israelite army ¹  assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against ²  the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:4

17:4 Then a champion ³  came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 17:19

17:19 They are with Saul and the whole Israelite army ⁵  in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 17:53

17:53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they looted their camp.

1 Samuel 23:1

David Delivers the City of Keilah

23:1 They told David, “The Philistines are fighting in Keilah and are looting the threshing floors.”

1 Samuel 23:27

23:27 But a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”

1 Samuel 27:7

27:7 The length of time ⁶  that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year ⁷  and four months.

1 Samuel 28:4-5

28:4 The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa. 28:5 When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 29:1-2

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

29:1 The Philistines assembled all their troops ⁹  at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel. 29:2 When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands, ¹⁰  David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish.

1 Samuel 29:7

29:7 So turn and leave ¹¹  in peace. You must not do anything that the leaders of the Philistines consider improper!” ¹² 

1 Samuel 31:1

The Death of Saul

31:1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled from the Philistines and many of them fell dead on Mount Gilboa.

1 Samuel 31:11

31:11 When the residents of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,

[17:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”

[17:2]  ² tn Heb “to meet.”

[17:4]  ³ tn Heb “the man of the space between the two [armies].” See v. 23.

[17:4]  ⁴ tc Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 286, 291.

[17:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the men of Israel.”

[27:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the number of the days.”

[27:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “days.” The plural of the word “day” is sometimes used idiomatically to refer specifically to a year. In addition to this occurrence in v. 7 see also 1 Sam 1:3, 21; 2:19; 20:6; Lev 25:29; Judg 17:10.

[28:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “he was afraid, and his heart was very terrified.”

[29:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “camps.”

[29:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “passing by with respect to hundreds and thousands.” This apparently describes a mustering of troops for the purpose of inspection and readiness.

[29:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “go.”

[29:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and you must not do evil in the eyes of the leaders of the Philistines.”