1 Samuel 3:17-18

3:17 Eli ¹  said, “What message did he speak to you? Don’t conceal it from me. God will judge you severely ²  if you conceal from me anything that he said to you!”

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli ³  said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.” ⁴ 

Jeremiah 38:14

Jeremiah Responds to Zedekiah’s Request for Secret Advice

38:14 Some time later ⁵  Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance ⁶  of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 38:25

38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. ⁸  Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’ ⁹ 

[3:17]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:17]  ² tn Heb “So God will do to you and thus he will add.” The verbal forms in this pronouncement are imperfects, not jussives, but the statement has the force of a curse or warning. One could translate, “May God do to you and thus may he add.”

[3:18]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

[38:14]  ⁵ tn The words “Some time later” are not in the text but are a way of translating the conjunction “And” or “Then” that introduces this narrative.

[38:14]  ⁶ sn The precise location of this entrance is unknown since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT. Many commentators equate this with the “king’s outer entry” (mentioned in 2 Kgs 16:18) which appears to have been a private entryway between the temple and the palace.

[38:14]  ⁷ tn The words “when you answer” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness of style.

[38:25]  ⁸ tn The phrase “and what the king said to you” is actually at the end of the verse, but most commentators see it as also under the governance of “tell us” and many commentaries and English versions move the clause forward for the sake of English style as has been done here.

[38:25]  ⁹ tn Or “lest we kill you”; Heb “and we will not kill you,” which as stated in the translator’s note on 37:20 introduces a negative purpose (or result) clause. See 37:20, 38:24 for parallel usage.