1 Samuel 23:25

23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. ¹  But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

1 Samuel 25:1

The Death of Samuel

25:1 Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned him. They buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David left and went down to the desert of Paran. ² 

1 Samuel 26:2

26:2 So Saul arose and

went down to the desert of Ziph, accompanied by three thousand select men of Israel, to look for David in the desert of Ziph.

1 Samuel 15:12

15:12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where ³  he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left ⁴  and went down to Gilgal.” ⁵ 

1 Samuel 17:8

17:8 Goliath ⁶  stood and called to Israel’s troops, ⁷  “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose ⁸  for yourselves a man so he may come down ⁹  to me!

[23:25]  ¹ tn Heb “to search.”

[25:1]  ² tc The LXX reads “Maon” here instead of “Paran,” perhaps because the following account of Nabal is said to be in Maon (v. 2). This reading is followed by a number of English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The MT, however, reads “Paran,” a location which would parallel this portion of David’s life with that of the nation Israel which also spent time in Paran (Num 10:12). Also, the desert of Paran was on the southern border of Judah’s territory and would be the most isolated location for hiding from Saul.

[15:12]  ³ tn Heb “and look.”

[15:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he turned and crossed over.”

[15:12]  ⁵ 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.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”

[17:8]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר, bkhr), rather than the MT. The verb in MT (ברה, brh) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.

[17:8]  ⁷ tn Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.