1 Samuel 4:2

4:2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight ¹  Israel. As the battle spread out, ²  Israel was defeated by ³  the Philistines, who ⁴  killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field.

1 Samuel 5:6

5:6 The Lord attacked ⁵  the residents of Ashdod severely, bringing devastation on them. He struck the people of ⁶  both Ashdod and the surrounding area with sores. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 9:14

9:14 So they went up to the town. As they were heading for the middle of the town, Samuel was coming in their direction ⁸  to go up to the high place.

1 Samuel 18:4

18:4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “to meet.”

[4:2]  ² tn The MT has וַתִּטֹּשׁ (vattittosh), from the root נטשׁ (ntsh). This verb normally means “to leave,” “to forsake,” or “to permit,” but such an idea does not fit this context very well. Many scholars have suspected that the text originally read either וַתֵּט (vattet, “and it spread out”), from the root נטה (nth), or וַתִּקֶשׁ (vattiqesh, “and it grew fierce”), from the root קשׂה (qsh). The former suggestion is apparently supported by the LXX ἔκλινεν (eklinen, “it inclined”) and is adopted in the translation.

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “before.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Philistines, and they killed.” The pronoun “they” has been translated as a relative pronoun (“who”) to make it clear to the English reader that the Philistines were the ones who did the killing.

[5:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the hand of the Lord was heavy upon.”

[5:6]  ⁶ tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:6]  ⁷ tc The LXX and Vulgate add the following: “And mice multiplied in their land, and the terror of death was throughout the entire city.”

[9:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “to meet them.” This may indicate purpose on Samuel’s part. The next sentence indicates that the meeting was by design, not just an accident.