1 Samuel 20:31

20:31 For as long as ¹  this son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established. Now, send some men ²  and bring him to me. For he is as good as dead!” ³ 

1 Samuel 20:2

20:2 Jonathan ⁴  said to him, “By no means are you going to die! My father does nothing ⁵  large or small without making me aware of it. ⁶  Why would my father hide this matter from me? It just won’t happen!”

1 Samuel 12:5

12:5 He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king ⁷  is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” ⁸  They said, “He is witness!”

1 Samuel 19:1

Saul Repeatedly Attempts to Take David’s Life

19:1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. ⁹ 

Psalms 79:11

79:11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners! ¹⁰ 

Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die! ¹¹ 

Psalms 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ¹² 

Ephesians 2:3

2:3 among whom ¹³  all of us ¹⁴  also ¹⁵  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ¹⁶  even as the rest… ¹⁷ 

[20:31]  ¹ tn Heb “all the days that.”

[20:31]  ² tn The words “some men” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:31]  ³ tn Heb “a son of death.”

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jonathan) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:2]  ⁵ tc The translation follows the Qere, many medieval Hebrew mss, and the ancient versions in reading “he will not do,” rather than the Kethib of the MT (“do to him”).

[20:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “without uncovering my ear.”

[12:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “anointed [one].”

[12:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “that you have not found anything in my hand.”

[19:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.”

[79:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may the painful cry of the prisoner come before you.”

[79:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “according to the greatness of your arm leave the sons of death.” God’s “arm” here symbolizes his strength to deliver. The verbal form הוֹתֵר (hoter) is a Hiphil imperative from יָתַר (yatar, “to remain; to be left over”). Here it must mean “to leave over; to preserve.” However, it is preferable to emend the form to הַתֵּר (hatter), a Hiphil imperative from נָתַר (natar, “be free”). The Hiphil form is used in Ps 105:20 of Pharaoh freeing Joseph from prison. The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 102:21) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[102:20]  ¹² tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

[2:3]  ¹³ sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ¹⁶ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ¹⁷ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.