Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 28 Feb 2021
Chapter 13 begins with a formula for summarizing the beginning and ending of the reign of kings that is repeated throughout the books of the Kings and Chronicles: “So-and-so was a son of X number of years when he began to reign, and he reigned X number of years.” However, some numbers seem to be missing in the Hebrew text for Saul's age and reign here.
All the other 19 kings listed in the Bible with this formula have numbers for their beginning age and length of reign, but Saul does not have a number for his age here, and there is only the number “two” for the length of his reign.
The oldest-known manuscripts don't have this verse at all, which is one way to avoid the textual problem.
The Latin Vulgate, the Chaldee Targums, and the English King James versions decided to put the number “one” for Saul's age at the beginning of his reign, and then the number “two” for the number of years he reigned,
referring either figuratively to Saul’s lack of experience (Targums), or
literally to the first year or two after he was anointed to the time the Lord rejected him.
Most contemporary English versions (NASB, NIV, ESV, NET, NLT) fill in a computed number, pegging Saul at 30 years of age when he began to reign nand giving his reign a length of 42 years.
But the number 30 apparently comes from a partial copy of a copy that a monk named Lucian made of the Septuagint, and it showed up for the first time in English in the 1881 Revised Version, the grandaddy of the ESV.
Thirty years, however, seems too young for Saul to have had a son capable of killing armed Philistine soldiers. If I had to put a number in there, I’d say the NASB should have stuck with the age of 40 that its parent edition, the ASV of 1901, inserted.
But I don’t think we have to write-in an age; the commentaries I read from the most-knowledgeable scholars of the Hebrew language maintained that the number had fallen out of the text1, so they left a blank there in their translation (AJV). Alternately, I think we can translate ben sanah as, “He was of age,” and leave it at that.
As for the length of Saul’s reign, the Apostle Paul said in Acts 13:21, “They asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years” (NKJV), so that proves the 42-year computations of the NASB, NIV, and NLT wrong (as well as the 20 year computation of Josephus2), but every reliable manuscript of 1 Samuel 13 says “two years.” How can that be reconciled with Acts 13? The best explanation I have found is that Saul did indeed reign 40 years, but he only reigned two years with God’s favor upon him. He was rejected by God after two years, and, in a sense, David, after being anointed, would have been co-regent for the last 38 years of Saul’s reign, just waiting to take over (Willet, Lightfoot, Gill, Tsumura). So Saul was a righteous king for 2 years, but his reign extended to 40.
In verse 2, we see that Saul appointed a bodyguard for himself of 2,000 soldiers, and a bodyguard for his son Jonathan of 1,000 soldiers. (Saul is training his son for military leadership and administration, and probably anticipating that his son will be king after him.) But that's a standing army of only 3,000 troops.
Now, if Saul is only 30 or 40, that makes Jonathan a pretty young man! Now what happens when you give a boy a tool? He wants to use it! So Jonathan mobilizes his thousand soldiers to knock out the Philistine fort at Gebah.
This is a couple hundred years late, but this is what God had told the Hebrews to do back in Moses’ and Joshua's time – get rid of the Canaanites, so he’s doing the right thing.
But now King Saul has a problem: The major cities of the Philistines out on the west coast are going to hear about his son's attack on their fort, and they're going to get mad and fight back. But is Israel able to defend itself in a full-on war with the Philistines?
Saul has to do something, and quick, so he follows the pattern of Joshua, Ehud, and Gideon, when they called the men of Israel to gather for war; he blows a horn. In order to mobilize the whole nation of Israel, I imagine he sent some of his 2,000 troops out to all the villages with horns too, and they sounded the call-to-arms.
The call-to-arms seems to have consisted of three announcements in v.4:
Saul has won a victory against a Philistine outpost3,
The Philistines are all riled up against Israel now (Literally, they think Israel “stinks”), and
Saul is mobilizing an army at Gilgal.
It’s curious that Saul’s message doesn’t give Jonathan credit for taking out that Philistine garrison; one has to wonder why.
Was Saul trying to take credit for a victory he didn’t win?
Or was he trying to protect Jonathan’s reputation by taking the blame after Jonathan had foolishly poked their enemies in the eye?
Or had he actually ordered Jonathan to do it? (Henry) I don’t know.
But the Philistines mobilized to destroy the Israelites, whom they considered to be pesky hillbillys.
They marched up from the coast to Mikmash, and pitched their army tents there, about 8 miles north of Jerusalem, opposite Saul's 2,000 troops, outnumbering them at least 15 to 1.
They wheeled in a staggering number of chariots,
The NIV divides their number by ten, even though the Hebrew and Septuagint and Vulgate all agree it was 30,000 – which may have included supply wagons4.
(There is only one other battle in Scripture that mentions a larger number of chariots, and that was when Joab and Abishai fought against a Moabite army with 32,000 chariots - and won with God’s help in 1 Chron. 19.)
As for the Philistine footsoldiers, the first century Jewish historian Josephus put the number 300,000 down for “as many [troops] as [grains of] sand on the shore of the sea,” so maybe Israel was overmatched by as much as 100:1 – we don’t know for sure.
Whatever the case, Saul withdraws from Mikmash about 10 miles away to Gilgal.
Gilgal was the first beachhead established in the Promised Land by Joshua,
and was where Saul had been officially made king in the last chapter.
And Gilgal was where the Prophet Samuel had told him to wait.
Now, most of the Israelites who saw what was shaping up decided to get out-of-the-way rather than join Saul's army.
They figured it was safer to stay alive in a cave and become a Philistine vassal afterward than to get slaughtered in in this battle.
A lot of them had dug hidey-holes back in Gideon's day5 to survive raids from the Canaanites, so they resorted helter-skelter to those: caves, bramble-thickets, crevices in big rocks, cellars, burial crypts, pits, water-cisterns – anywhere that would provide some cover.
Others took to flight and ran for the Eastern border, hoping to cross the Jordan River and find a safe place far away.
Question: Was this what God had called them to do?
No, God had not instructed the Israelites to fear the Canaanites and hide from them; God had commanded His people not to be afraid of them and to destroy them.
What instructions has God left you with? How about, “Occupy ‘till I come” (Luke 19:13), or, “Go into all the world and make disciples” (Matt. 28:19). Christians don’t have the option of embracing a defeatist attitude in the face of overwhelming attacks by the world.
Saul bravely stood his ground in contrast to the skittish Israelites.
This was one of his good character traits. He embraced his duty and his calling as lord-protector of his people, even at the risk of his own life.
Saul was faithful to carry out his role as king, even though it didn’t look like he would be successful.
Saul knew that God had called him to be Israel’s deliverer, and he knew that God was not through with Israel, so it was worth defending his nation.
It was truly manly of him to hold his post and not quit despite the imminent danger!
It takes wisdom to know God’s calling upon your life and to know what you should fight to defend and what positions to abandon because they are not hills worth dying on.
It takes wisdom to balance the repeated proverbial wisdom that “a righteous man sees evil and hides himself” (Prov. 22:3 & 27:12),
with the apostolic commands to “Put on the full armor of God… stand against the devil” (Eph. 6), and “Fight the good fight...” (1 Tim. 6:12).
Don’t give up and give ground to the enemy just because you don’t see how you could win.
Well, the few troops who remained with Saul in Gilgal were shaking in their boots,
But they were waiting for Samuel in Gilgal because Samuel’s instructions in 1 Samuel 10:8 were, “Go down ahead of me toward Gilgal, and, you'll see, I'll be coming down to you to offer a whole-burnt offering and to sacrifice peace-sacrifices. For seven days, you shall wait expectantly until I come to you, then I will make known to you what you should do.” (NAW)
The Hebrew word translated “wait” is also translated “hope” in many places throughout the Old Testament6; it is not twiddle-your-thumbs waiting, it is “expectant” waiting based upon the hope that God will bring deliverance.
A time had been set, but the appointed week came and went, and it didn’t look like God or Samuel were going to show up on time. So Saul jumped the gun. If he had waited just a couple more hours, Saul would have seen Samuel to do the sacrifice (v.10), but he was impatient and didn’t trust God.
A similar thing happened a couple hundred years later in 2 Kings 6-7. The Syrians laid seige to the Israelite city of Samaria until the people inside the city were starving. When King Joram discovered that his people were resorting to cannibalism, he said, “Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?” That very night that God caused the Syrian army to panic and run home. Joram jumped the gun by half a day. Saul lost his kingdom over being impatient for just an hour or two.
One thing's for sure; we cannot be impatient with the God of the universe. He does as He pleases.
There was a song we sang at my college church that goes, “He may not come when you want Him, but He's right on time!”
God likes to build trust, patience, and perseverance in us by waiting until the last minute to come through.
And when His timing is like that, it becomes all the more obvious that it was His hand rather than ours that does the work.
However, instead of keeping his eyes on God, Saul was watching the people. With his eyes on the people, he couldn't help but have a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as more and more of them got nervous and decided to desert the army and go home.
Now, the law in Deuteronomy 20 said to let the faint-hearted and preoccupied soldiers go home
But Saul should have remembered the rest of Deuteronomy 20 that says, “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (v.1, NKJV).
Saul should have remembered Gideon also, how God made his little band of 300 soldiers victorious over just-as-large an army of Midianites: “a multitude… as the sand of the seashore” (Jdg 7).
But Saul didn't have faith like Gideon. As Saul saw his army dwindle from 3,000 to a mere 600, he decided, in a desperate move to stop the ebb of Israelite soldiers, to offer sacrifices to invoke God's favor and go ahead to war before he was down any more troops.
But Saul offered sacrifices that only a priest could do.
The Levitical manual for offering sacrifices said: “The priest shall burn up the whole on the altar as a sacrifice for burning up, a fire-offering of a soothing aroma to Yahweh” (Lev. 1:9b, NAW), “And the priest shall offer up the whole-burnt-offering and the grain-offering at the altar, and so the priest shall make atonement...” (Lev. 14:20, NAW).
Looking at the whole book of 1 Sam, apart from this instance, it was only Samuel (1 Sam. 7:9) and other Levites (1 Sam. 6:14-15) who “offered up whole-burnt-offerings,” no one else.
“[Saul] presumed to offer sacrifice without Samuel, and nothing appears to the contrary but that he did it himself7, though he was neither priest nor prophet, as if, because he was a king, he might do any thing8.” ~Matthew Henry, 1714 AD
Furthermore, Samuel had specifically told Saul, “I'll be coming down to you to offer up a whole-burnt offering…” (10:8) You can’t get much more specific than that!
In light of such clear statements from the Torah and from Samuel, the people should have stopped Saul, but no one did! Don’t stand idly by when others are sinning!
And then when Samuel does arrive, shortly after Saul took the priestly administration into his own hands, Saul acts like nothing is wrong:
“Hey Samuel, blessings on ya! Glad you could make it! Hey, you wanna do the honors on the peace offerings now?”
“[Saul] went out to ‘bless’ [Samuel] ... as if he now thought himself a complete priest, empowered to bless as well as sacrifice…!” ~Matthew Henry
And when Samuel signals that it’s not o.k., Saul starts making excuses: “Look, Samuel, it’s your fault! You didn’t come when you said you would! And the Philistines, I couldn’t help it, they were about to attack me!”
And then he rationalizes his sin:
“I wouldn’t want to go into battle without a chapel service first. I was just trying to honor God!!!”
“It’s not like I was sinning high-handedly. I ‘felt compelled’ to do it; I had to ‘work up the courage’ and ‘force myself’ to do it. Literally, I used ‘restraint.’ Self-control is a good thing, right? After all, I did wait 7 days! Don’t get all hoity-toity about it.”
Do you see how easy it is to rationalize disobedience to God?
“It wasn’t really adultery. I just fell out of love with my spouse; I shouldn’t have married them in the first place; I was really in love with this other person; that’s who I really should have been married to in the first place. Far be it from me to undermine the importance of marriage!”
“Well, I know it’s a sin, but since God is sovereign over everything, it will have been His will if I do it, so if I do this sin, I will just be doing God’s will, and He will work all things together for good anyway.”
Or, “Most Christians do it; it’s normal. Sure it might not be ideal, but it isn’t that big a deal because everybody does it; let’s not have an oversensitive conscience and make an issue of it.”
Matthew Henry is so quotable; he wrote, “[T]here is no little sin, because [there is] no little god to sin against.”
Saul instead should have been saying, “Oh Samuel. I’m so sorry for being impatient. I had my eyes on the people instead of on Yahweh, and I usurped your job. I need a guilt offering, just for me. I’ll provide the bull; can you find it in your heart to sacrifice it for me after what I did?” That’s the kind of contrite heart God honors, but that’s not where Saul’s heart was.
King David, however, when he was in similar circumstances, took a different course of action. In Psalm 31 he wrote, “It is in You, Yahweh, that I have taken refuge; I will not ever be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness! Incline Your ear toward me; rescue me quickly! Become for me a mighty rock – a house with secure places – in order to cause me to be saved (for You are my rock-mountain and my secure place), so, for the sake of Your reputation, guide me, and lead me. You will get me out of the net which they hid to [capture] me because You are my strength. It is into Your hand that I will commit my spirit. You, Yahweh the true God, redeem me... 15 My circumstances are in Your control. Rescue me from the control of my enemies and from those who are hunting me down. Cause Your face to shine upon your servant; cause me to be saved in your lovingkindness! ... 22 Now, as for me, I said in my alarm, ‘I have been cut off from before Your eyes.’ Nevertheless, You heeded the sound of my pleas for mercy when I hollered to You. Love Yahweh, all you His godly ones! Those being faithful are the ones Yahweh is protecting, but He is paying back in excess the one who acts out haughtiness. Y'all be strong – and He will cause your heart to be firm, all you who are waiting for Yahweh!" (NAW)
“Waiting expectantly” for the Lord is not just an Old Testament concept; it applies to us as well! One way to recognize this is to look at how this Hebrew word for “wait/יחל” was translated into Greek, and how the Greek-equivalent words were used in the New Testament, which was written in Greek.
Of the 40 times that this Hebrew verb יחל occurs in the Old Testament, the two words most frequently used to translate it into Greek were ελπιζω (which means “hope”) and ‘υπομενω (which means “persevere”)9. How are these equivalent words in Greek used to build Christian doctrine in the New Testament? (NASB is quoted here)
Rom. 15:12 Isaiah says, "THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE*."
2Cor. 1:10b “God...[is the one] on whom we have set our hope*. And He will yet deliver us”
1Tim. 4:10 “...we have fixed our hope* on the living God, who is the Savior...”
1Tim. 6:17 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope* on the uncertainty of riches, but on God...”
Heb. 11:1 “...faith is the assurance of things hoped* for, the conviction of things not seen”
1Pe. 1:13 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope* completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Mat. 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured* to the end who will be saved.”
Mat. 24:13 “But the one who endures* to the end, he will be saved.”
1Cor. 13:7 “Love... bears... believes... hopes*... endures* all things.”
2Ti. 2:12 “If we endure*, we will also reign with Him; If we deny... He also will deny us”
Heb. 12:3 “For consider Him [Jesus] who has endured* such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jas. 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres* under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
Jas. 5:11 “We count those blessed who endured*. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”
Do you see how Saul violated a basic principle of relating to God by failing to endure in hope and wait on the Lord and His timing for deliverance? Samuel wasn’t overreacting.
Samuel rebukes Saul (“What have you done?”) and declares his punishment: God is going to set up another kingly family in the place of his.
“Then Samuel said to Saul, you acted foolishly, for you did not keep the command of Yahweh your God which He commanded, for it was at this time that Yahweh would have established your kingship over Israel for time-out-of-mind10, but now your kingdom will not go on. Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man [whose] heart is like His, and Yahweh has commanded for him to preside [to be prince/captain/ruler] over His people because you did not value what Yahweh commanded you [enough to obey Him].”
The word “now” shows up in verses 12, 13, and 14: Saul said, “The Philistines are going to come down on me now…,” but the prophet’s reply is, “It was now that Yahweh would have set up your kingship… yet now [because of your rogue action] your kingdom will not go on.”
Brothers and sisters, NOW is the time that God wants to bless you for trusting in Him!
Romans 13:11 “...now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (NKJV)
Don’t compromise because it seems like something needs to happen right now, but it doesn’t seem like God is helping! Persevere with hope in your savior Jesus.
God tends to wait until the last moment to come through in order to give His people opportunity to exercise faith (“without faith it is impossible to please God” Heb. 11:7).
Now, as much as we might sympathize with Saul, considering the enormous pressure he was under, the fact that he nevertheless violated the arrangements God had set for his reign – and did not repent for it – cannot be swept under the carpet.
If an Army General sends a lower officer with specific instructions to do a certain thing a certain way, and that lower officer does it his own way, ignoring the General’s instructions, he not going to remain in a leadership role in the Army for long!
But that’s essentially what Saul did. By following a different protocol – other than what God had commanded (which was to wait seven days for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices), Saul effectively took upon himself the role of ultimate authority to make decisions over the nation’s worship practices and wartime practices (and the timing of them). And in doing so, Saul demonstrated that he was not serving God as regent/president, but was acting upon his own authority as high king in his own right. Saul was declaring himself independent of God as the final authority11, which is exactly what God warned him not to do in chapter 12!
Do you see how serious a matter it is to disregard God’s authority and take matters into your own hands – to lead your way instead of God’s way?
Whom God can King He can also un-king. It was God who had Saul anointed “to preside over the people of Israel” in 1 Samuel 9:16, and now God will command Samuel to anoint someone else to preside. Thus we read in Psalm 89:20 ,“I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. My hand will sustain him...” (NIV).
This is a lot like the message to the old priest Eli back in 1 Samuel 2:30 “...I said that your household... would conduct themselves before my face for time-out-of-mind, but now, this is the declaration of Yahweh, Far be it from me, because those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me will become insignificant” (NAW). When Eli failed to confront sin and repent of sin, God replaced him with Samuel as priest.
And later, the prophet Hanani would deliver a very similar message to Asa king of Judah, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars” (2 Chron. 16:7-9, NKJV).
God isn’t depending on you; He can raise somebody else up, but He will delight in anyone whose heart is like His and who will beg His forgiveness and repent12 over sin.
If we are irresponsible with our position at church or work or our position as parents, we deserve to have our office or job or our children taken away.
Praise God that He is gracious and allows us to serve Him on this earth despite our failures.
May God make us patient in waiting on His timing, diligent in obeying Him, and careful with all the responsibilities with which He has entrusted us!
Twenty-two occurrences of “hope”
ἐλπίζω in Psalms 30:25, 32:18 & 22, 37:16, 41:6 & 12, 42:5, 68:4, 70:14, 129:5&6, 130:3, 146:11, Isa. 42:4, 51:5,
ἐπήλπιζω in Psalm 118:43, 49, 74, 81, 114, 147
Six instances of of "persevere"
ὑπομενω in 2 Kings 6:33, Job 6:11, 14:14 32:16, Lam. 3:21, Micah 7:7 (+ μενῶ in 2 Sam. 18:14)
A few forms of “begin/rule”
αρχω in Ezek. 13:6,
there were a few others with variant meanings from the Hebrew
Two forms of “have”
ἐπισχὼν in Gen. 8:10&12
προσέσχον in Job 29:21
Two forms of “see”
ἐνωτίζεσθέ in Job 32:11
ἀπῶσται in Ezekiel 19:5
One form of “stand”
ὑποστῇ in Micah 5:6
Note that these are Septuagint chapter and verse numbers, not English references, so if you look these up in English, for instance in the Psalms, you might need to look forward one chapter or backward one verse to find the English match.
|
Septuagint |
Brenton |
D-R |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
1 |
[uioVB eniautou Saoul en tw basileuein auton kai duo eth ebasileusen en Israhl] |
|
Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel. |
Saul reigned one yearC; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, |
Saul was of age when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel. |
בֶּן-שָׁנָהD, שָׁאוּל בְּמָלְכוֹ; וּשְׁתֵּי שָׁנִיםE, מָלַךְ עַל-יִשְׂרָאֵל. |
2 |
καὶ ἐκλέγεται Σαουλ ἑαυτῷ τρεῗς χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀνδρῶν Ισραηλ καὶ ἦσαν μετὰ Σαουλ δισχίλιοι ἐν Μαχεμας καὶ ἐν τῷ ὄρει Βαιθηλ χίλιοι ἦσαν μετὰ Ιωναθαν ἐν Γαβεε τοῦ Βενιαμιν καὶ τὸ κατάλοιπον τοῦ λαοῦ ἐξαπέστειλεν ἕκαστον εἰς τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ |
And Saul chooses for himself 3,000 men of the men of Israel: and there were with Saul 2,000 who were in Machmas, and in mount Baethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin: and he sent the rest of the people every man to his tent. |
And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and two thousand were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin, and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their dwellings. |
X Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tentX. |
Now, Saul chose for himself 3,000 men from Israel (of which 2,000 were with Saul in Mikmash - and on the hill of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin), and the rest of the people He discharged each to his tents. |
וַיִּבְחַר-לוֹ שָׁאוּל שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, וַיִּהְיוּ עִם-שָׁאוּל אַלְפַּיִם בְּמִכְמָשׂ וּבְהַר בֵּית-אֵל, וְאֶלֶף הָיוּ עִם-יוֹנָתָן בְּגִבְעַת בִּנְיָמִין; וְיֶתֶר הָעָם, שִׁלַּח אִישׁ לְאֹהָלָיוF. |
3 |
καὶ
ἐπάταξεν
Ιωναθαν τὸν |
And
Jonathan smote
|
And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of it, Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let the Hebrews hear. |
And Jonathan smoteI the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. |
Jonathan made a strike against the garrison of Philistines which is in Gebah, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew on the horn throughout all of the land to say, “Hebrews, take heed!” |
וַיַּךְ יוֹנָתָן, אֵת נְצִיב פְּלִשְׁתִּים אֲשֶׁר בְּגֶבַע, וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ, פְּלִשְׁתִּים; וְשָׁאוּל תָּקַע בַּשּׁוֹפָר בְּכָל- הָאָרֶץ לֵאמֹר, יִשְׁמְעוּ הָעִבְרִים. |
4 |
καὶ
πᾶς Ισραηλ ἤκουσεν
λεγόντων πέπαικεν
Σαουλ τὸν |
And
all Israel heard say, Saul has smitten
Nasib the PhilistineX; now Israel had been
put to shame before the Philistines; and the |
And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines: and Israel took courage against the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Galgal. |
And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination withK the Philistines. And the people were called togetherL after Saul to Gilgal. |
And all Israel heard it saying that Saul had made a strike against the garrison of the Philistines and also that Israel had made itself obnoxious to the Philistines. When these things were announced, the people got behind Saul at Gilgal. |
וְכָל-יִשְׂרָאֵל שָׁמְעוּ לֵאמֹר, הִכָּה שָׁאוּל אֶת- נְצִיב פְּלִשְׁתִּים, וְגַם- נִבְאַשׁM יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים; וַיִּצָּעֲקוּN הָעָם אַחֲרֵי שָׁאוּל, הַגִּלְגָּל. |
5 |
καὶ
οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι
συνάγονται
εἰς πόλεμον
ἐπὶ Ισραηλ [καὶ
ἀναβαίνουσιν
ἐπὶ Ισραηλ]
τριάκοντα χιλιάδες
ἁρμάτων καὶ ἓξ
χιλιάδες ἱππέων
καὶ λαὸς ὡς
ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ
τὴν θάλασσαν
τῷ πλήθει
καὶ ἀναβαίνουσιν
καὶ παρεμβάλλουσιν
ἐν Μαχεμας [ἐξ
ἐναντίας]
Βαιθων κατὰ
|
And
the Philistines gather together
to war with Israel; [and then come up against Israel] thirty
thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as
the sand by the seashore for multitude:
and they come up, and encamp in Machmas, [opposite]
Baeth |
The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and [a multitude of] people besides, like the sand on the sea shore for number. And going up they camped in Machmas at the east of Bethaven. |
And the Philistines gathered themselves togetherO to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitudeP: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven. |
Meanwhile, the Philistines were assembling 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horses, and a horde as vast as the sand which is upon the shore of the sea for war against Israel, and they went up and took their positions in Mikmash east of Beth Aven. |
וּפְלִשְׁתִּים נֶאֶסְפוּ לְהִלָּחֵם עִם-יִשְׂרָאֵל, שְׁלֹשִׁים אֶלֶף רֶכֶב וְשֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים פָּרָשִׁים, וְעָם, כַּחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל-שְׂפַת-הַיָּם לָרֹב; וַיַּעֲלוּ וַיַּחֲנוּ בְמִכְמָשׂ, קִדְמַת בֵּית אָוֶן. |
6 |
καὶ
ἀν |
And
the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait
|
And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened, (for the people were distressed,) X they X hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in dens, and in pits. |
When
the men of Israel saw that they were in a straitR,
(for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide
themselves in caves, and in thicketsS,
and in rocks, and in |
Then each man of Israel saw that it was a crisis, for their army had been put in a stranglehold, so the people hid themselves in the caves and in the brambles and in the rock-mountains and in the cellars and in the cisterns. |
וְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל רָאוּ כִּי צַר-לוֹ, כִּי נִגַּשׂ הָעָם; וַיִּתְחַבְּאוּ הָעָם, בַּמְּעָרוֹת וּבַחֲוָחִים וּבַסְּלָעִים, וּבַצְּרִחִיםV, וּבַבֹּרוֹתW. |
7 |
καὶ οἱ διαβαίνοντεςX διέβησαν τὸν Ιορδάνην εἰς γῆν Γαδ καὶ Γαλααδ καὶ Σαουλ ἔτι ἦν ἐν Γαλγαλοις καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἐξέστηY ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ |
And they that went over went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Galaad: and Saul was yet in Galgala, and all the people followed after him in amazement. |
And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Galaad. And when Saul was yet in Galgal, all the people that followed him were greatly afraid. |
And some of the Hebrews went overZ Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. |
Hebrews even crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad (that is, Gilead). But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, though all the army following him was trembling, |
וְעִבְרִים, עָבְרוּ אֶת-הַיַּרְדֵּן, אֶרֶץ גָּד, AAוְגִלְעָד; וְשָׁאוּל עוֹדֶנּוּ בַגִּלְגָּל, וְכָל-הָעָם חָרְדוּ אַחֲרָיו. |
8 |
καὶ διέλιπεν ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας τῷ μαρτυρίῳAB ὡς [εἶπεν] Σαμουηλ καὶ οὐ παρεγένετο Σαμουηλ εἰς Γαλγαλα καὶ διεσπάρη ὁ λαὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ |
And he continued seven days for the appointed testimony, as Samuel [told him], and Samuel came not to Galgala, and his people were dispersed from him. |
And he waited seven days according to the appointment of Samuel, I and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him. |
And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. |
and he waited expectantly for seven days, according to the meeting of which Samuel {had spoken}. But Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the people scattered away from him. |
וייחלAC שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, לַמּוֹעֵד אֲשֶׁר שְׁמוּאֵלAD, וְלֹא-בָא שְׁמוּאֵל, הַגִּלְגָּל; וַיָּפֶץ הָעָם, מֵעָלָיו. |
9 |
καὶ εἶπεν Σαουλ προσαγάγετε ὅπως [ποιήσω] ὁλοκαύτωσιν καὶ εἰρηνικάς καὶ ἀνήνεγκεν τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν |
And Saul said, Bring hither victims, that I may offer whole-burnt-offerings and peace-offerings: and he offered the whole-burnt-offering. |
Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace offerings. And he offered the holocaust. |
And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. |
So Saul said, “Bring the whole-burnt-offering and the peace-offerings to me.” And he offered up the whole-burnt-offering. |
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל--הַגִּשׁוּ אֵלַי, הָעֹלָה וְהַשְּׁלָמִים; וַיַּעַל, הָעֹלָה.AE |
10 |
καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς συνετέλεσεν ἀναφέρων τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν καὶ X Σαμουηλ παραγίνεται καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Σαουλ εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτῷ εὐλογῆσαι αὐτόν |
And it came to pass when he had finished offering the whole-burnt-offering, that X Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet him, and to bless him. |
And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, X behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him. |
And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. |
Then it happened as he finished offering up the whole-burnt-offering, that look, Samuel had arrived! So Saul went out to call out blessing to him. |
וַיְהִי, כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְהַעֲלוֹת הָעֹלָה, וְהִנֵּה שְׁמוּאֵל, בָּא; וַיֵּצֵא שָׁאוּל לִקְרָאתוֹ, לְבָרְכוֹAF. |
11 |
καὶ εἶπεν Σαμουηλ τί πεποίηκας καὶ εἶπεν Σαουλ ὅτι εἶδον ὡς διεσπάρη ὁ λαὸς ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ σὺ οὐ παρεγένου [ὡς διετάξω] ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τῶν ἡμερῶν καὶ οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι συνήχθησαν εἰς Μαχεμας |
And Samuel said, What hast thou done? and Saul said, Because I saw how the people were scattered from me, and thou was not present [as thou purposedst] according to the set time of the days, and the Philistines were gathered to Machmas. |
And Samuel said [to him]: What hast thou done? X Saul answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou wast not come according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were gathered together in Machmas, |
And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; |
But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Then Saul said, “When I saw that the people had scattered from me, and as for you, you had not come for a meeting during these days, and as for the Philistines, they were assembling at Mikmash, |
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל, מֶה עָשִׂיתָ; וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל כִּי-רָאִיתִי כִי-נָפַץ הָעָם מֵעָלַי, וְאַתָּה לֹא- בָאתָ לְמוֹעֵד הַיָּמִים, וּפְלִשְׁתִּים, נֶאֱסָפִים AGמִכְמָשׂ. |
12 |
καὶ εἶπα νῦν καταβήσονται οἱ ἀλλόφυλοι πρός με εἰς Γαλγαλα καὶ τοῦ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου οὐκ ἐδεήθην καὶ ἐνεκρατευσάμην καὶ ἀνήνεγκα τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσινAH |
Then I said, Now will the Philistines come down to me to Galgala, and I have not sought the face of the Lord: so I forced myself and offered the whole-burnt-offering. |
X I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust. |
Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the X XAI Lord: I forced myselfAJ therefore, and offered a burnt offering. |
then I said, ‘The Philistines are going to come down on me now at Gilgal, yet I haven’t made requests before the face of Yahweh!’ So I restrained myself and I offered up the whole-burnt-offering.” |
וָאֹמַר, עַתָּה יֵרְדוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים אֵלַי הַגִּלְגָּל, וּפְנֵי יְהוָה, לֹא חִלִּיתִי; וָאֶתְאַפַּקAK, וָאַעֲלֶה הָעֹלָה. {ס} |
13 |
καὶ
εἶπεν Σαμουηλ
πρὸς Σαουλ
μεματαίωταίAL
σοι [ὅτι]
οὐκ ἐφύλαξας
τὴν ἐντολ |
And
Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly; [for]
thou hast not kept |
And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, [and] hast not kept the commandment[s] of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. [And if thou hadst not done] thus, the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever. |
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. |
Then Samuel said to Saul, “You acted foolishly, for you did not keep the command of Yahweh your God which He commanded, for it was at this time that Yahweh would have set up your kingship over Israel for time-out-of-mind, |
וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל-שָׁאוּל, נִסְכָּלְתָּ: AMלֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ, אֶת-מִצְוַת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּךְ, כִּי עַתָּה הֵכִין יְהוָה אֶת- מַמְלַכְתְּךָ אֶל- יִשְׂרָאֵל, עַד-עוֹלָם. |
14 |
καὶ νῦν ἡ βασιλεία σου οὐ στήσεταιAN [καὶ] ζητήσει κύριος ἑαυτῷ ἄνθρωπον κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐντελεῗται κύριος αὐτῷ εἰς ἄρχοντα ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ὅτι οὐκ ἐφύλαξας ὅσα ἐνετείλατό σοι κύριος |
But now thy kingdom shall not stand [to thee, and] the Lord shall seek for himself a man after his own heart; and the Lord shall appoint him to be a ruler over his people, because thou hast not kept all that the Lord commanded thee. |
But X thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath the Lord commanded to be prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded Χ. |
But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. |
but now your kingdom will not go on. Yahweh has sought out for Himself a man [whose] heart is like His, and Yahweh has commanded for him to preside over His people because you did not value what Yahweh commanded you.” |
וְעַתָּה, מַמְלַכְתְּךָ לֹא-תָקוּם: בִּקֵּשׁ יְהוָה לוֹ אִישׁ כִּלְבָבוֹ, וַיְצַוֵּהוּ יְהוָה לְנָגִיד עַל-עַמּוֹ--כִּי לֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-צִוְּךָ יְהוָה. {ס} |
1“[T]he Masoretic text that has come down to us... cannot possibly be rendered... “Saul had been king for a year,” or “Saul reigned one year,” but can only mean “Saul was a year old when he became king.” ... there is an error in the text, namely, that between בֶּן and שָׁנָה the age has fallen out...” ~Keil & Delitzsch, 1891 AD (Tsumura’s NICOT commentary agreed, citing McCarter, Grayson, and Buccellati in support)
2Antiquities vol. 6. c. 14. sect. 9 “Now Saul, when he had reigned 18 years while Samuel was alive, and after his death two,” to which his translator, William Whiston added “[and 20]” to square with the Acts account.
3An alternate translation of nasib is that of the LXX, Goldman, Gill, and Tsumuah, indicating a single person – in other words, the assassination of a Philistine prefect/governor/tax-collector.
4So Henry, Jamieson, and Gill, despite K&D to the contrary.
5Judges 6:2 “...Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens [המנהרות], the caves [המערות], and the strongholds [המצדות] which are in the mountains.” (NKJV)
6NASB: Job 13:15; Psa. 31:24; 33:18,22; 38:15; 42:5,11; 43:5; 71:14; 119:49; 130:5,7; 131:3; Lam. 3:21,24; Eze. 13:6; 19:5 (plus a half dozen more in the KJV).
7Some commentators, such as Gill and K&D, interpreted this passage to mean that qualified priests who were with Saul offered the sacrifice and that this was not part of the offense against God.
8“...a piece of presumption which king Uzziah [also] paid dearly for [in] 2 Chronicles 26:16” (Henry)
9 See Appendix for more information.
10“[T]his is not spoken in respect of God’s immutable decree, but in regard of the outward possibilitie and likelihood, which Saul had to hold the kingdome.” ~Andrew Willett, 1607 AD
11“[H]e wished to rule as an autocrat, who possessed absolute power both in civil and sacred things” ~Robert Jamieson, 1871 AD
12“It is not sinning that ruins men, but sinning and not repenting” ~Matthew Henry
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. There is no known Dead Sea
Scroll containing any part of 1 Samuel 13. Where I believe that the
LXX text is superior to the MT, I have highlighted
with yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and
where I have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it
with {pointed brackets}.
B Symmachus adds “approximately” ‘ως
CLXX
omits. NASB/NIV = “ was
thirty
years old when he began to reign/became king,” ESV = “lived
for one year [and then] became king X” Syriac combined the 1
with the 2 later in the verse to make “21.”
DAlthough
the manuscripts are not in agreement about this verse, its pattern
is consistent with the pattern of giving the age of a king at the
beginning of his reign (lit. “son of x years in his reign”)
and the number of years he reigned over Israel. However, there
appears to be a word missing in the MT because Saul couldn't have
begun his reign at age one. Viz.
*
Ishbosheth in 2 Sam. 2:10
בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִים
שָׁנָה אִישׁ־בֹּשֶׁת
בֶּן־שָׁאוּל
בְּמָלְכוֹ
עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל
* David in 2 Sam. 5:4
בֶּן־שְׁלֹשִׁים
שָׁנָה דָּוִד
בְּמָלְכוֹ
אַרְבָּעִים
שָׁנָה מָלָךְ׃
* Rehoboam in 1 Ki.
14:21בֶּן־אַרְבָּעִים
וְאַחַת שָׁנָה
רְחַבְעָם
בְּמָלְכוֹ
וּשֲׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה
שָׁנָה מָלַךְ
בִּירוּשָׁלִַם
* Jehoshaphat in 1 Ki. 22:42
יְהוֹשָׁפָט
בֶּן־שְׁלֹשִׁים
וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה
בְּמָלְכוֹ
וְעֶשְׂרִים
וְחָמֵשׁ שָׁנָה
מָלַךְ בִּירוּשָׁלִָם
* Same
with Jehoram (2
Ki. 8:17/ 2
Chr. 21:5), Ahazian (2
Ki. 8:26/2 Chr. 22:2), Jehoash
(2
Ki. 12:1 / 2
Chr. 24:1), Amaziah in (2
Ki. 14:2/ 2 Chr. 26:3),
Azariah (2 Kin. 15:2), Jotham (2 Ki. 15:33/ 2 Chr. 27:8), Ahaz (2
Ki. 16:2/2
Chr. 28:1),
Hezekiah (2 Ki. 18:2), Manasseh (2 Ki. 21:1/2
Chr. 33:1),
Amon (2 Ki. 21:19/2
Chr. 33:21),
Josiah (2 Ki. 22:1/2 Chr. 34:1), Jehoahaz (2 Ki. 23:31/2 Chr. 36:2),
Jehoiakim (2 Ki. 23:36/2
Chr. 36:5),
Jehoiachin (2 Ki. 24:8/2
Chr. 36:9),
Zedekiah (2 Ki. 24:18/2 Chr. 36:11)
EK&D’s supposition that a dropped-out number here was penned as an alphanumeric instead of as a morpheme has been challenged by A. Millard, who claimed that individual letters representing numbers weren’t used until the Hellenistic period.
FThere are some manuscript variants over whether the word “tent” is singular or plural. The MT, LXX, Vulgate, and NIV read plural, whereas the Syriac, KJV, and NASB went with singular. Apparently Targums go both ways. It makes no difference in meaning. “[A]s no other summoning together of the people has been mentioned before, except to the war upon the Ammonites at Jabesh... it was there at Gilgal, after the renewal of the monarchy, that Saul formed the resolution at once to make war upon the Philistines, and selected 3000 fighting men for the purpose out of the whole number that were collected together, and then dismissed the remainder to their homes.” ~Keil & Delitzsch
GLXX translators transliterated this Hebrew word as though it were a proper name rather than translating it “garrison.” Aquila and Symmachus corrected it to uposthma/ekstasin (station/outpost)
HLXX translators seem to have mistaken the MT ישׁמעו העברים for ישׁטמו העבדים . Later Greek translators corrected the Greek to the MT: A = akousatwsan 'oi 'Ebraioi, S = akousatwsan oi en tw peran (interpreting “Hebrews” as “those who have crossed over,” which was the original meaning but came to be a designation for the Jewish people) Some ancient Latin manuscripts contain both the LXX and the MT run together, indicating both variants were around at that time: audiant Haebrei dereliquerunt servi, but the Vulgate supports the MT.
INASB, NIV = “attacked,” ESV = “defeated” - same in v.4
JThe Vaticanus, the oldest-known manuscript reads 'οι υιοι Ισραελ, which was followed by Brenton.
Kcf. NASB = “had become repulsive to,” NIV = “has become obnoxious to,” and ESV = “had become a stench to”
LNASB, NIV = “summoned”
MLiterally “stink,” but used in this political sense in Gen. 34:30; Exod. 5:21; 1 Sam. 27:12; 2 Sam. 10:6; & 16:21.
NLit. “were cried out,” cf. 10:17. Note this verb is plural, whereas “the people” is singular. I suggest that this verb could be referring to the two things that were announced listed immediately prior, and that “the people” could be the subject of the subsequent clause. Something about the wording of the LXX makes me think that if we had a DSS manuscript of this verse, it would say what the LXX says, but without objective proof I will keep the MT reading.
OESV = “mustered” - Same in v.11.
PNASB = “abundance,” NIV = “numerous”
QLXX reads as though the Hebrew were לו נגש להם instead of כי נגש העם
RNASB & ESV = “in trouble,” NIV = “critical”
SNASB = “crevasses,” ESV = “holes”
TNASB = “crypts,” NIV = “pits,” ESV = “tombs”
UCf. NIV & ESV = “cisterns”
VThis word only occurs here and in Judges 9:46-49, where a fire is built over the top of an underground hiding place.
WThe plural form consistently denotes cisterns (Gen. 37:20; Deut. 6:11; 2 Chr. 26:10; Neh. 9:25; Jer. 2:13).
XSymmachus unnecessarily rendered the Hebrew more literalistically oi ek tou peran (“those from the other side”).
YAquila translated with the synonym exeplagh (“struck senseless”), but Symmachus attempted to edit by changing to a smoother reading, giving a verb hkolouqhse (“followed”) for the adverb “after” to modify.
Z NASB, NIV, ESV = “crossed the” (ESV inexplicably adds “the fords of”)
AA Tsumura called this copula a “waw explicative (which is),” noting that “the lands of Gad and Reuben made up Gilead, the Israelite lands east of the Jordan (see Josh. 13:24-28).”
ABcf. synonyms in Aquila & Symmachus’ versions (peri/anemeinen... eiV suntaghn) and Theodotian’s (...kairon). Notably, most removed the “said” to conform to the MT.
ACMasorite scribes lengthened the stem on one letter to change it from Niphal to Hiphil (וַיּוֹחֶל), to match Samuel’s command in chapter 10, but there is no difference in meaning between the two stems, and although the Hiphil is more common, the Niphal also appears at Gen. 8:12 & Ezek. 19:5.
AD There appears to be a verb missing in the MT, which all the English versions attempt to supply. The oldest-known manuscripts are Latin and Greek versions which do have a verb, and there are Chaldee and Hebrew manuscripts with the verb אמר, so perhaps the LXX is accurate to the original.
AE The only other occurrences of עלה העלה in 1. Sam are 6:14-15; 7:9-10; & 10:8. Cf. “the priest shall...” Lev. 1:9 & 14:20
AF “Calling” and “blessing” occasionally occur together in greeting: Gen. 5:2; 28:1; 48:16; Num. 24:10; Ruth 4:14; 2 Sam. 18:28; 2 Ki. 10:15; 2 Chr. 20:26; Isa. 51:2
AG Several Hebrew manuscripts - as well as the Syriac version - insert a beth preposition at the beginning of this word, reflected in the LXX eis, and the insertion of the word “at” in English versions.
AHcf. synonymous verbs and additional pronoun (underlined) in S = litaneusw, kai biasqeiV anhnegka thn olokautwsin sou. “I will offer supplication and be forced to offer up your burnt offering”
AI NASB, NIV, and ESV = “asked/sought the favor [lit. ‘face’] of”
AJ NASB = “worked up the courage,” NIV = “felt compelled”
AK The other hithpael instances of this verb are at Gen. 43:31 & 45:1 (Joseph restrained himself around his brothers); Est. 5:10 (Haman restrained himself around Mordecai); Isa. 42:14; 63:15; 64:11 (God restraining Himself from mercy or people restraining themselves from heartfelt worship of God).
AL cf. synonyms A. hgnwmonhsaV (“ignorantly”). S. hfronhsaV (“thoughtlessly”).
AM Many Hebrew manuscripts have “for” or “and” here, and almost all the ancient versions do too, including Septuagint, Latin, Vulgate, and Syriac.
AN Vaticanus, the oldest LXX manuscript (which doesn’t always agree with the majority of Septuagint manuscripts compiled by Rahlf) adds σοι, hence my bracketed phrase in Brenton’s translation. This could be explained by ditography, although there is no copula in the Masoretic Hebrew or in the Latin (or, I presume, in the Syriac) to translate as και or mistake as σοι.