1 Samuel 22:21-23

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 22:1

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family ³  learned about it, they went down there to him.

1 Samuel 1:7

1:7 Peninnah ⁴  would behave this way year after year. Whenever Hannah ⁵  went up to the Lord’s house, Peninnah ⁶  would upset her so that she would weep and refuse to eat.

1 Samuel 1:19

1:19 They got up early the next morning and after worshiping the Lord, they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with ⁷  his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered ⁸  her.

1 Samuel 2:26-27

2:26 Now the boy Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.

The Lord Judges the House of Eli

2:27 A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not plainly ⁹  reveal myself to your ancestor’s ¹⁰  house when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh?

Matthew 2:16-18

2:16 When Herod ¹¹  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ¹²  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ¹³  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 2:17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ¹⁴ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ¹⁵  gone.” ¹⁶ 

[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.

[22:1]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn The MT has a masculine form of the verb here יַעֲשֶׂה (ya’aseh, “he used to do”); the subject in that case would presumably be Elkanah. But this leads to an abrupt change of subject in the following part of the verse, where the subject is the rival wife who caused Hannah anxiety. In light of v. 6 one expects the statement of v. 7 to refer to the ongoing actions of the rival wife: “she used to behave in this way year after year.” Some scholars have proposed retaining the masculine form but changing the vocalization of the verb so as to read a Niphal rather than a Qal (i.e., יֵעֲשֶׂה, ye’aseh, “so it used to be done”). But the problem here is lack of precedent for such a use of the Niphal of this verb. It seems best in light of the context to understand the reference to be to Hannah’s rival Peninnah and to read here, with the Syriac Peshitta, a feminine form of the verb (“she used to do”). In the translation the referent (Peninnah) has been specified for clarity.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Hannah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Peninnah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “Elkanah knew his wife.” The Hebrew expression is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[1:19]  ⁸ sn The Lord “remembered” her in the sense of granting her earlier request for a child. The Hebrew verb is often used in the OT for considering the needs or desires of people with favor and kindness.

[2:27]  ⁹ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[2:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to your father’s” (also in vv. 28, 30).

[2:16]  ¹¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ¹² tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:18]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

[2:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.