1 Samuel 3:18

3:18 So Samuel told him everything. He did not hold back anything from him. Eli ¹  said, “The Lord will do what he pleases.” ² 

1 Samuel 15:16-24

15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! ³  Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul ⁴  said to him, “Tell me.” 15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose ⁵  you as king over Israel. 15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign ⁶  saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you ⁷  have destroyed them.’ 15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed ⁸  the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.” ⁹ 

15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed ¹⁰  the Lord! I went on the campaign ¹¹  the Lord sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites. 15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ¹² 

Certainly, ¹³  obedience ¹⁴  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ¹⁵  the fat of rams.

15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as ¹⁶  king.”

15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded ¹⁷  and what you said as well. ¹⁸  For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes. ¹⁹ 

1 Samuel 15:2

15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed ²⁰  Israel along the way when Israel ²¹  came up from Egypt.

1 Samuel 12:7-12

12:7 Now take your positions, so I may confront you ²²  before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. ²³  12:8 When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

12:9 “But they forgot the Lord their God, so he gave ²⁴  them into the hand of Sisera, the general in command of Hazor’s ²⁵  army, ²⁶  and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 12:10 Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ²⁷  ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. ²⁸  Now deliver us from the hand of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ ²⁹  12:11 So the Lord sent Jerub-Baal, ³⁰  Barak, ³¹  Jephthah, and Samuel, ³²  and he delivered you from the hand of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely.

12:12 “When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us’ – even though the Lord your God is your king!

1 Samuel 12:1

12:1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done ³³  everything you requested. ³⁴  I have given you a king. ³⁵ 

1 Samuel 21:1

21:1 (21:2) David went to Ahimelech the priest in Nob. Ahimelech was shaking with fear when he met ³⁶  David, and said to him, “Why are you by yourself with no one accompanying you?”

1 Samuel 22:14

22:14 Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house!

Ezekiel 2:7

2:7 You must speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.

Matthew 14:4

14:4 because John had repeatedly told ³⁷  him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ³⁸ 

Acts 20:27

20:27 For I did not hold back from ³⁹  announcing ⁴⁰  to you the whole purpose ⁴¹  of God.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Eli) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:18]  ² tn Heb “what is good in his eyes.”

[15:16]  ³ tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

[15:16]  ⁴ tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

[15:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “anointed.”

[15:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:18]  ⁷ tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

[15:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “journey.”

[15:22]  ¹² tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ¹⁵ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[15:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “from [being].”

[15:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[15:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and your words.”

[15:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

[15:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

[15:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:7]  ²² tn Heb “and I will enter into judgment with you” (NRSV similar); NAB “and I shall arraign you.”

[12:7]  ²³ tn Heb “all the just actions which he has done with you and with your fathers.”

[12:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “sold” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “he allowed them to fall into the clutches of Sisera”; NLT “he let them be conquered by Sisera.”

[12:9]  ²⁵ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[12:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “captain of the host of Hazor.”

[12:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and said.”

[12:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural). The words “images of” are supplied in both vv. 3 and 4 for clarity.

[12:10]  ²⁹ tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

[12:11]  ³⁰ sn Jerub-Baal (יְרֻבַּעַל) is also known as Gideon (see Judg 6:32). The Book of Judges uses both names for him.

[12:11]  ³¹ tc The MT has “Bedan” (בְּדָן) here (cf. KJV, NASB, CEV). But a deliverer by this name is not elsewhere mentioned in the OT. The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “Barak.”

[12:11]  ³² tc In the ancient versions there is some confusion with regard to these names, both with regard to the particular names selected for mention and with regard to the order in which they are listed. For example, the LXX has “Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel.” But the Targum has “Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, and Samuel,” while the Syriac Peshitta has “Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.”

[12:1]  ³³ tn Heb “Look, I have listened to your voice.”

[12:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to all which you said to me.”

[12:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and I have installed a king over you.”

[21:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “trembled to meet.”

[14:4]  ³⁷ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[14:4]  ³⁸ sn This marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

[20:27]  ³⁹ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ⁴¹ tn Or “plan.”