1 Samuel 22:20-23

22:20 But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped and fled to David. His name was Abiathar. 22:21 Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 22:22 Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty ¹  of all the deaths in your father’s house! 22:23 Stay with me. Don’t be afraid! Whoever ²  seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.”

1 Samuel 23:6-9

David Eludes Saul Again

23:6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod. ³  23:7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered ⁴  him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” ⁵  23:8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁶ 

23:9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, ⁷  he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod!”

1 Samuel 23:2

23:2 So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.”

1 Samuel 15:24

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ⁸  and what you said as well. ⁹  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ¹⁰ 

1 Samuel 15:29

15:29 The Preeminent One ¹¹  of Israel does not go back on his word ¹²  or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.” ¹³ 

1 Samuel 15:1

Saul Is Rejected as King

15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says. ¹⁴ 

1 Samuel 15:11-12

15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I told him to do.” Samuel became angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

15:12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where ¹⁵  he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left ¹⁶  and went down to Gilgal.” ¹⁷ 

[22:22]  ¹ tc The translation follows the LXX, which reads “I am guilty,” rather than the MT, which has “I have turned.”

[22:23]  ² tn Or “the one who.” This may refer specifically to Saul, in which case David acknowledges that Abiathar’s life is endangered because of his allegiance to David. The translation assumes that the statement is more generalized, meaning that any enemy of Abiathar is an enemy of David. In other words, David promises that he will protect Abiathar with his very own life.

[23:6]  ³ tn Heb “an ephod went down in his hand.”

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מַכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”

[23:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”

[23:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”

[15:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[15:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

[15:29]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

[15:29]  ¹³ sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

[15:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord” (so KJV).

[15:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and look.”

[15:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he turned and crossed over.”

[15:12]  ¹⁷ tc At the end of v. 12 the LXX and one Old Latin ms include the following words not found in the MT: “to Saul. And behold, he was offering as a burnt offering to the Lord the best of the spoils that he had brought from the Amalekites.”