1 Samuel 25:29

25:29 When someone sets out to chase you and to take your life, the life of my lord will be wrapped securely in the bag ¹  of the living by the Lord your God. But he will sling away the lives of your enemies from the sling’s pocket!

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 17:27

17:27 The soldiers ³  told him what had been promised, saying, ⁴  “This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down.”

Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁵  my stronghold, ⁶  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁷  I take shelter, ⁸ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁹  and my refuge. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 63:1

Psalm 63 ¹¹ 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ¹² 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ¹³ 

My soul thirsts ¹⁴  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ¹⁵  land where there is no water.

Psalms 89:20

89:20 I have discovered David, my servant.

With my holy oil I have anointed him as king. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ¹⁷  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ¹⁸ 

[25:29]  ¹ tn Cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “bundle”; NLT “treasure pouch.”

[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.

[17:27]  ³ tn Heb “people.”

[17:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to this word, saying.”

[18:2]  ⁵ sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[18:2]  ⁶ sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁸ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[18:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”

[63:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.

[63:1]  ¹² sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.

[63:1]  ¹³ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.

[89:20]  ¹⁶ tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification, indicating that a royal anointing is in view.

[89:26]  ¹⁷ sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.

[89:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”