1 Samuel 28:1-2

The Witch of Endor

28:1 In those days the Philistines gathered their troops ¹  for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.” ²  28:2 David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard ³  from now on.” ⁴ 

[28:1]  ¹ tn Heb “their camps.”

[28:1]  ² tc The translation follows the LXX (εἰς πόλεμον, eis polemon) and a Qumran ms מלחמה במלחמה ([m]lkhmh) bammilkhamah (“in the battle”) rather than the MT’s בַמַּחֲנֶה (bammakhaneh, “in the camp”; cf. NASB). While the MT reading is not impossible here, and although admittedly it is the harder reading, the variant fits the context better. The MT can be explained as a scribal error caused in part by the earlier occurrence of “camp” in this verse.

[28:2]  ³ tn Heb “the guardian for my head.”

[28:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the days.”