Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 13 Jun 2021
READ 1 Samuel 19 (NKJV) Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. So Jonathan told David, saying, "My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell you." Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?" So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed." Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past. And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him. Now the distressing spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand. Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away from Saul's presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David fled and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, "If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed." So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats' hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, "He is sick." Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, "Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him." And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats' hair for his head. Then Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this, and sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?" And Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go! Why should I kill you?' " So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. Now it was told Saul, saying, "Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!" Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So he asked, and said, "Where are Samuel and David?" And someone said, "Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah." So he went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
This story takes place in three scenes,
first in Saul’s palace in Gibeah, where Prince Jonathan comes to David’s aid,
then in David’s house probably near Gibeah somewhere, where his wife Michal aids him,
and lastly at Samuel’s school of the prophets in Ramah, where the Spirit of God comes to David’s aid.
Saul feels so threatened by David in his palace that he orders David killed in order to prevent David from becoming king, but Jonathan saves the day. Surely Jonathan knew that is was in his best interest to allow David to be killed. Jonathan was prince in line to the throne, and David was a threat to that. Jonathan could have stayed away from David. David had enough savvy to know that his life was in danger, and if someone else killed David, then Jonathan would get the throne. But it is wrong to stand by while innocent people are murdered, when God has given you the resources to do something to stop it! (This could be applied to abortion, too!) Jonathan was right-on to rebuke his father. Nobody else was going to interfere.
“Jonathan dealeth with his father for David, urging specially these three reasons: the first ab honesto, it was no credit or honestie for Saul to persecute an innocent and harmelesse man, that had not offended him, nor sinned against him: secondly ab utili, because David was for his profit, and for the defence of the people: he had done many worthie exploits in sauing and delivering Israel: thirdly, from Saul's owne testimonie, who had formerly approoued David's service, and commended it. Saul by these perswasions was moved, and swore that David should not die…” ~Andrew Willett, 1607 A.D.
Are there any people whose reputation or safety you could protect by speaking to those in power over them?
In this case, there is a command from the king to kill David, but Jonathan the prince refuses to obey that command. But he doesn’t stop with merely disobeying an unrighteous decree; he goes on to try to persuade the lawmaker to change the law. This is an important example for us at a time when civil disobedience has been something many of us have considered recently. Don’t just disobey unrighteous laws if you have a shot at changing them.
Each of us in our places of work have opportunities to use the power God has given us to fight injustice. It may be
with patients in the hospital
or with students in the school
or coworkers in the office
or with children in the home.
And we all have the right to call our legislators in the county, state, or fed and reason with them. They are all accountable to you. Are you using your influence for God’s glory?
The converse is also true, if you are in authority and someone under your authority respectfully asks you to repeal your decision, “We must be willing to hear reason, and to take all reproofs and good advice even from our inferiors, parents from their own children.” ~Matthew Henry
Maybe you’re not in a position of great power, but it can show up in little things like not giving bad internet reviews for problems that a company can’t help, or writing good reviews when others have maligned a company or its product unfairly.
After Jonathan had brought reconciliation between David and Saul, “David continued his good services to his king and country [through playing his guitar for Saul and through leading his thousand-man division in battle against enemies]. Though Saul had requited him evil for good, yet he did not therefore retire in sullenness and decline public service. Those that are ill paid for doing good, yet must ‘not be weary of well doing’.” (Henry) All the same, it must have been nerve-wracking to try to sing and play in front of Saul when he was fondling his spear!
And it didn't take long for Saul to waffle; He got jealous again after David's next military victory, and he set out to kill David. In so doing, Saul added another nail to his coffin for breaking his oath before God that he had made earlier in the chapter not to kill David.
David runs to his house where his wife Michal is, but Saul posts guards at David’s house with orders to kill him in the morning1. Apparently they only stood guard at the door, but there was a back window they weren’t watching.
Michal clearly wanted to save David’s life2, so she helps David escape through the window and buys time for him to get away by claiming that he is sick and by arranging a statue in the bed so that anyone who peeped in the window would think David was still there in bed.
So it was that the woman Saul hoped would be a “snare,” turned out to be one of David’s deliverers. Matthew Henry commented on this: “Often is the devil out-shot with his own bow.”
I might also add that it is a very Biblical thing to do to escape through a window when people are trying to kill you for obeying God. (cf. Joshua & Caleb, and the Apostle Paul)
Well, the next day, when Saul’s henchmen finally storm the house to carry David on his bed to Saul, and they discover Michal’s ruse, they return to the palace dragging Michal behind them, and Saul gives her “what-for.”
Her explanation to Saul for why she aided David in his escape sounds fishy.
The narrative says nothing about David threatening to kill Michal if she wouldn’t cooperate, so I suspect she lied about it to her Dad in hopes of saving her life by playing the victim, knowing how often Saul killed political enemies.
It was a life-or-death situation for her, and her resort to a lie may have saved her life, but lies still have consequences, and that lie was probably the reason she was forced to remarry another man.
In this we see a contrast between Jonathan and his sister Michal: Jonathan spoke up for David before Saul, but Michal threw David under the buss when Saul interrogated her.
So David runs to the next town where Samuel has a school of prophets. The Targums call it “a house of doctrine” - probably a place where Samuel had gathered Levites together to copy the holy scriptures and study them together, and where he trained them to lead worship and teach throughout the nation.
The word “Naioth,” as it is rendered in most English Bibles, is from a Hebrew root that means “apartments/dwellings/retreat-center/compound3,” and it was to these quarters that David came, seeking the prophet Samuel and seeking safety.
It’s possible even that this served as a sort of “city of refuge” (although the official city of refuge was a bit further north in Shechem).
God told the Levites who ran the cities of refuge in the law of Moses (Num. 35) that they had to first determine whether or not the refugee was being unjustly treated before granting asylum. If he was a criminal, he was not to be protected.
(So-called sanctuary cities in our day and age don’t do this; they presume every refugee to be innocent and thus allow themselves to be filled with lawlessness; this is not the Biblical way.)
So David tells his story to Samuel, and Samuel decides that David is not the national traitor that Saul thinks he is. (The fact that Samuel had, upon God’s command, anointed David as the next king surely played into that decision.)
But that meant Samuel would take responsibility for protecting David. That had to have been a scary decision because it meant potentially being attacked by the army under King Saul. It must have taken great faith for Samuel to decide to take that risk, but God rewarded his faith.
The story really gets wild now! God protects David from Saul's hit men. Every time they come to get him, they start prophesying and forget all about their errand!
There is some debate as to the nature of this prophesying,
whether it was singing along with a scripture song that the prophets were playing,
or whether it was some kind of divinely-inspired speech,
or whether it was a form of insanity where men were reduced to meaningless gibbering.
I’m inclined toward the singing, and that’s also the sense of most of the commentators I read.4 So Samuel may have been standing there conducting them like a choir.
Now, it’s only two miles from Gibeah, as the crow flies, so Saul has reason to expect his soldiers back within about two hours, but when they don’t return after a couple of hours, he sends more men over to help capture David. Still he gets no response, so he sends still more. At this point, the earliest-known manuscripts of 1 Samuel add a phrase between vs. 20 and 21 that “Saul became very angry.” This is obvious from his actions, so it can go without saying,
but God warns us that sinful anger opens us up to Satanic influences: “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” (Eph. 4:26b-27)
I also like Matthew Henry’s proverb: “[W]hen men lay the reins on the neck of their passions they grow more and more outrageous.”
So in the afternoon, after waiting all day to no avail for his messengers to come back, Saul finally goes after David himself. As seems to have been his custom (9:11), Saul asked the girls drawing water at the cistern for information, and they pointed him towards the Navit in Ramah, but Saul falls under the same power of God that his servants did – furthermore, stripping off clothes, and falling before Samuel, and prophesying for the rest of the day and then all night long!
It appears that the word “naked” could describe someone still wearing the modern equivalent of a t-shirt and boxer shorts, for Michal later accused David of indecency5 when he was wearing a linen ephod. So perhaps Saul just took off his armor and his royal robe and laid down his spear.6
There is also some question whether to translate the verb “fell”
literally (as in, “he fell down at Samuel’s feet”),
or with an additional figurative meaning (as in, “he fell into a trance,” like Baalam did in Numbers 247.)
The point of the story, however, is that God’s power & dominion are over all kings & authorities.
As Asaph said in Psalm 76:10, “Even the wrath of man shall praise You...!”
At any time He wants, God can protect His people and bring kings to their knees!
Notice how completely God is in control of King Saul:
First God sends an evil spirit and Saul goes mad, trying to kill David,
then God sends another spirit and Saul prophecies and become harmless!
Proverbs 21:1 “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (NKJV) The same can be said of commissioners, governors, senators, legislators, presidents, and prime ministers.
God is ultimately the one who is in control of everything and everyone who threatens you, and it is God alone who can ensure your safety.
This chapter is just a small part of the larger story of Israel’s political transition from King Saul to King David, but it establishes the fact that David’s life really was in danger - Saul really was out to kill him, and it describes the beginning of David’s season of life as a political fugitive, fleeing from one place to another seeking safety.
Now, I have known some political fugitives, but chances are, you are not one, so what on earth can we learn from a narrative like this?
I may be allegorizing more than usual, but there’s a spiritual that goes, “O sinner man, where you gonna run to? O sinner man, where you gonna run to? O sinner man, where you gonna run to? Oh sinner man!” And in the song, he tries running to different places for safety, but they won’t save him, then the last verse affirms that Jesus is the one to run to for a sinner to find safety and salvation.
In this story, David initially rests upon the security of his friend in court, Prince Jonathan, looking out for him and putting in good words for him with the King.
And there’s nothing wrong with having friends in high places. In fact, that’s why I recommend interacting with your government officials and building relationships with your neighbors so that when you have a need (or when they have a concern about you), there is already a positive relationship established.
But ultimately, the help of friends will fail you. History is littered with accounts of government officials turning against Christians and persecuting us for our faith – and that is still going on today in many places. It is strategic to invest in community relationships, but ultimately they cannot keep you safe.
After the second assassination attempt by King Saul, David concludes that the palace in Gibeah is no longer a safe place, so David runs to the safety of his own home.
Now, a man should do all he can to make his home a safe place for his wife and children to live in. Home needs to be a place of peace where we can rest without fear.
But we don’t have control over all the things in life that could harm us, and we are not humanly capable of making our home secure from every potential threat.
I had to get my house insured against man-made objects falling from the sky, because my house is so close to an airport and to an Army firing range, but that doesn’t actually do me any good if a bomb or a plane crashes into my house. I’ll be dead; the insurance money will go to somebody else. Our homes cannot provide ultimate safety and security; they can only go so far.
So David escapes from his home, and makes it over to Samuel’s house and the school of the prophets, and it is with these people of God that he finds real safety.
In David’s day, there was a layer of human leadership between the people and God which no longer exists today, namely, the priests who were authorized to offer sacrifices and burn incense. Samuel had that function in David’s day. Now, an individual could still talk directly to God (and that is amply proved by David’s Psalms), but taking refuge with Samuel was a special way, in his day and age, of going to God for safety.8
David’s Psalms make it abundantly clear that David looked to God to keep him safe:
Psalm 7:1 {by David, which he sang to Yahweh over the words of the Cush Benjamite.} “Yahweh, my God, in You I have taken refuge. Cause to save me from all my pursuers, and cause to deliver me.” (NAW)
Psalm 11:1 “In Yahweh I have taken refuge...” (NAW)
Psalm 16:1 God, protect me, for I have taken refuge in You.” (NAW)
Psalm 18:1 {by David... uttered to Yahweh when... Yahweh caused him to escape from... the hand of Saul...} "I will show affection for you Yahweh, my strength. Yahweh is my rock-mountain, my stronghold, and my deliverer, my God, my landmark-rock. I will take refuge in Him, my shield and horn of my salvation, my high tower! He being praiseworthy, I will call Yahweh, and from my enemies I will be saved.” (NAW)
He may save through dramatic means, such as,
In 2 Kings 1, when army units of 50 soldiers were sent by the king to capture Elijah, and God destroyed the soldiers with fire from heaven every time Elijah prayed!
Or in John 7:32-46, when the Pharisees sent a squad to capture Jesus, the officers returned empty-handed, saying, “We’ve never heard such a speaker before!”
And then there’s the Apostle Paul, who was breathing out threats and murder against Christians one day and got baptized as a Christian the next, after his vision on the Damascus road!
But God’s deliverance isn’t always like that.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in their trial before king Nebuchadnezzar for not bowing down to his idol, acknowledged the possibility that God might not deliver them in the fiery furnace. (Dan. 3:18)
And there were plenty of other prophets whom God allowed to be murdered (Mat. 23:31), or as Steven put it, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?” (Acts 7:52)9
Many have been delivered from sin and pain by God allowing them to die and go to heaven, and there is no safer place than heaven!
But it is God to whom we must go to find safety and salvation. How do we do that? Through prayer, laying your case out before God.
This is what the early church did when the priests threw Peter and John into jail and commanded them never again to preach Jesus: they immediately went to the other Christians and started praying, “...they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'WHY DID THE NATIONS RAGE, AND THE PEOPLE PLOT VAIN THINGS? THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.' ... Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:24-31, NKJV)
And later on, when Herod threw Peter into jail, the Christians also went to prayer, and when the angel delivered Peter, “...he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John... Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” (Acts 12:12, NKJV)
Corollary to prayer is the importance of gathering together with other believers in corporate prayer. There’s a reason why we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. “And where may the influences of the Spirit be expected but in the congregations of the saints?” (M. Henry)
Proverbs 14:26 “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge.” (NKJV)
|
Septuagint |
Brenton |
VulgateB |
KJV |
MT |
1 |
καὶ ἐλάλησεν Σαουλ πρὸς Ιωναθαν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς πάντας τοὺς παῗδας αὐτοῦ θανατῶσαι τὸν Δαυιδ καὶ Ιωναθαν υἱὸς Σαουλ ᾑρεῗτο τὸν Δαυιδ σφόδρα |
And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, to slay David. 2 And Jonathan, Saul's son, loved David much: |
And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David exceedingly. |
And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. 2 But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: |
וַיְדַבֵּר שָׁאוּל, אֶל-יוֹנָתָן בְּנוֹ וְאֶל-כָּל-עֲבָדָיו, לְהָמִית, אֶת- דָּוִד; וִיהוֹנָתָן, בֶּן-שָׁאוּל, חָפֵץ בְּדָוִד, מְאֹד. |
2 |
καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν Ιωναθαν τῷ Δαυιδ λέγων Σαουλ X X ζητεῗ θανατῶσαί σε φύλαξαι οὖν αὔριον πρωὶ καὶ κρύβηθι καὶ κάθισον κρυβῇ |
and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul X X seeks to kill thee: take heed to thyself therefore to-morrow morning, and hide thyself, and dwell in secret. |
And
Jonathan told David, saying: Saul, my father, seeketh to kill
thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning
and thou shalt abide in |
and
Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee:
now therefore, I pray thee, take heedC
to thyself until the morning, & abide in |
וַיַּגֵּד יְהוֹנָתָן לְדָוִד לֵאמֹר, מְבַקֵּשׁ שָׁאוּל אָבִי לַהֲמִיתֶךָ; וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁמֶר-נָא בַבֹּקֶר, וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בַסֵּתֶרD וְנַחְבֵּאתָ. |
3 |
καὶ ἐγὼ ἐξελεύσομαι καὶ στήσομαι ἐχόμενος τοῦ πατρός μου ἐν ἀγρῷ οὗ ἐὰν ᾖς ἐκεῗ καὶ ἐγὼ λαλήσω περὶ σοῦ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ ὄψομαι ὅ [τι ἐὰν ᾖ] καὶ ἀπαγγελῶ σοι |
And I will go forth, and stand near my father in the field where thou shalt be, and I will speak concerning thee to my father; and I will see what [his answer may be], and I will tell thee. |
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee. |
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will communeE with my father of thee; and what I seeF, that I will tell thee. |
וַאֲנִי אֵצֵא וְעָמַדְתִּי לְיַד- אָבִי, בַּשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שָׁם, וַאֲנִי, אֲדַבֵּר בְּךָ אֶל- אָבִי; וְרָאִיתִי מָה, וְהִגַּדְתִּי לָךְ. {ס} |
4 |
καὶ ἐλάλησεν Ιωναθαν περὶ Δαυιδ ἀγαθὰ πρὸς Σαουλ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν μὴ ἁμαρτησάτω ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸν δοῦλόν σου X Δαυιδ ὅτι οὐχ ἡμάρτηκεν εἰς σέ καὶ τὰ ποιήματα αὐτοῦ ἀγαθὰ σφόδρα X X |
And Jonathan spoke favorably concerning David to Saul his father, and said to him, Let not the king sin against thy servant X David, for he has not sinned against thee, and his deeds are very good X X. |
And
Jonathan spoke good |
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: |
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוֹנָתָן בְּדָוִד טוֹב, אֶל- שָׁאוּל אָבִיו; וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַל-יֶחֱטָא הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּעַבְדּוֹ בְדָוִד, כִּי לוֹא חָטָא לָךְ, וְכִי מַעֲשָׂיו, טוֹב-לְךָ מְאֹד. |
5 |
καὶ
ἔθετοG
τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ
ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ
καὶ ἐπάταξεν
τὸν ἀλλόφυλον
καὶ ἐποίησεν
κύριος σωτηρίαν
μεγάλην |
And
he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and the
Lord wrought a great deliverance; |
And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood, by killing David, [who is] without fault? |
For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvationJ for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? |
וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת-נַפְשׁוֹ בְכַפּוֹ וַיַּךְ אֶת-הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי, וַיַּעַשׂ יְהוָה תְּשׁוּעָה גְדוֹלָה לְכָל-יִשְׂרָאֵל--רָאִיתָ, וַתִּשְׂמָח; וְלָמָּה תֶחֱטָא בְּדָם נָקִי, לְהָמִית אֶת-דָּוִד חִנָּם. |
6 |
καὶ ἤκουσεν Σαουλ τῆς φωνῆς Ιωναθαν καὶ ὤμοσεν Σαουλ [λέγων] ζῇ κύριος εἰ ἀποθανεῗται |
And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, saying, As the Lord lives, he shall not die. |
And
when Saul heard [this, he was appeased] with the |
And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swareK, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. |
וַיִּשְׁמַע שָׁאוּל, בְּקוֹל יְהוֹנָתָן; וַיִּשָּׁבַע שָׁאוּל, חַי-יְהוָה אִם-Lיוּמָת. |
7 |
καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ιωναθαν τὸν Δαυιδ καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν X αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα καὶ εἰσήγαγεν Ιωναθαν τὸν Δαυιδ πρὸς Σαουλ καὶ ἦν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέρανM |
And Jonathan called David, and X told him all these words; and Jonathan brought David in to Saul, and he was before him as in former times. |
Then Jonathan called David, and X told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before. |
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewedN him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. |
וַיִּקְרָא יְהוֹנָתָן, לְדָוִד, וַיַּגֶּד-לוֹ יְהוֹנָתָן, אֵת כָּל-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה; וַיָּבֵא יְהוֹנָתָן אֶת-דָּוִד אֶל-שָׁאוּל, וַיְהִי לְפָנָיו כְּאֶתְמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם. {ס} |
8 |
καὶ
προσέθετο ὁ
πόλεμος γενέσθαι
[πρὸς Σαουλ]
καὶ |
And
there was again war [against Saul]; and David did |
And the war began again, and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face. |
And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. |
וַתּוֹסֶף הַמִּלְחָמָה, לִהְיוֹת; וַיֵּצֵא דָוִד וַיִּלָּחֶם בַּפְּלִשְׁתִּים, וַיַּךְ בָּהֶם מַכָּה גְדוֹלָה, וַיָּנֻסוּ, מִפָּנָיו. |
9 |
καὶ
ἐγένετο πνεῦμα
|
And
an evil spirit from |
And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and he sat in his house, and [held] a spear in his hand: and David played with [his] hand. |
And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelinO in his hand: and David played with [his] hand. |
וַתְּהִי רוּחַ יְהוָה רָעָה, אֶל- שָׁאוּל, וְהוּא בְּבֵיתוֹ יֹשֵׁב, וַחֲנִיתוֹ בְּיָדוֹ; וְדָוִד, מְנַגֵּן בְּיָדP. |
10 |
καὶ
ἐζήτει
Σαουλ πατάξαι
τὸ δόρυ εἰς
Δαυιδ X
καὶ ἀπέστη
|
And
Saul sought
to smite
David with the spear X;
and |
And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And [David] slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear [missed him, and] was fastened in the wall, and David fled, and escaped that night. |
And Saul soughtQ to smiteR David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped awayS out of Saul's presence, and he smoteT the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. |
וַיְבַקֵּשׁ שָׁאוּל לְהַכּוֹת בַּחֲנִית, בְּדָוִד וּבַקִּיר, וַיִּפְטַר מִפְּנֵי שָׁאוּל, וַיַּךְ אֶת-הַחֲנִית בַּקִּיר; וְדָוִד נָס וַיִּמָּלֵט, בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא. {פ} |
11 |
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Σαουλ ἀγγέλους εἰς οἶκον Δαυιδ φυλάξαι αὐτὸν XU τοῦ θανατῶσαι αὐτὸν πρωί καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ Δαυιδ Μελχολ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ λέγουσα ἐὰν μὴ σὺ σώσῃς τὴν ψυχὴν σαυτοῦ τὴν νύκτα ταύτην αὔριον θανατωθήσῃ |
that Saul sent messengers to the house of David to watch him, in order to slay him in the morning; and Melchol David's wife told him, saying, Unless thou save thy life this night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain. |
Saul
therefore sent [his] |
Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slayV him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou saveW not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. |
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל מַלְאָכִים אֶל-בֵּית דָּוִדX, לְשָׁמְרוֹ, וְלַהֲמִיתוֹ, בַּבֹּקֶר; וַתַּגֵּד לְדָוִד, מִיכַל אִשְׁתּוֹ לֵאמֹר, אִם- אֵינְךָ מְמַלֵּט אֶת- נַפְשְׁךָ הַלַּיְלָה, מָחָר אַתָּה מוּמָת. |
12 |
καὶ κατάγει ἡ Μελχολ τὸν Δαυιδ διὰ τῆς θυρίδος καὶ ἀπῆλθεν καὶ ἔφυγεν καὶ σῴζεται |
So Melchol lets David down by the window, and he departed, and fled, and escaped. |
X
|
So
Michal let David down through |
וַתֹּרֶד מִיכַל אֶת-דָּוִד, בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן; וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּבְרַח, וַיִּמָּלֵט. |
13 |
καὶ
ἔλαβεν ἡ Μελχολ
τὰ κενοτάφιαAA
καὶ ἔθετο ἐπὶ
τὴν κλίνην καὶ
|
And
Melchol took images, and laid them on the bed, and she put the
|
And
Michol took |
And
Michal took |
וַתִּקַּח מִיכַל אֶת- הַתְּרָפִים, וַתָּשֶׂם AFאֶל-הַמִּטָּה, וְאֵת כְּבִירAG הָעִזִּים, שָׂמָה מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיוAH; וַתְּכַס, בַּבָּגֶד. ס |
14 |
καὶ
ἀπέστειλεν
Σαουλ ἀγγέλους
λαβεῗν τὸν Δαυιδ
καὶ λέγ |
And
Saul sent messengers to take David; and |
And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it [was] answered that he was sick. |
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. |
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל מַלְאָכִים, לָקַחַת אֶת-דָּוִד; וַתֹּאמֶר, חֹלֶה הוּא. ס |
15 |
καὶ ἀποστέλλει X X X X ἐπὶ τὸν Δαυιδ λέγων ἀγάγετε αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης πρός με τοῦ θανατῶσαι αὐτόν |
And
|
And again Saul sent X X to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain. |
And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that [I may] slay him. |
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל אֶת- הַמַּלְאָכִים, לִרְאוֹת אֶת-דָּוִד לֵאמֹר: הַעֲלוּ אֹתוֹ בַמִּטָּה אֵלַי, לַהֲמִתוֹ. |
16 |
καὶ ἔρχονται οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ ἰδοὺ τὰ κενοτάφια ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης καὶ ἧπαρ τῶν αἰγῶν πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ |
And the messengers come, and, behold, the images were on the bed, and the goat's liver at his head. |
And
when the messengers were come in, [they] |
And
when the messengers were come in, behold, there was |
וַיָּבֹאוּ, הַמַּלְאָכִים, וְהִנֵּה הַתְּרָפִים, אֶל-הַמִּטָּה; וּכְבִיר הָעִזִּים, מְרַאֲשֹׁתָיו. ס |
17 |
καὶ
εἶπεν Σαουλ
τῇ Μελχολ ἵνα
τί οὕτως παρελογίσω
με καὶ ἐξαπέστειλας
τὸν ἐχθρόν μου
καὶ διεσώθη
καὶ εἶπεν Μελχολ
τῷ Σαουλ αὐτὸς
εἶπεν X
ἐξαπόστειλόν
με |
And
Saul said to Melchol, Why hast thou thus deceived me, and suffered
my enemy to depart, and he has escaped? and Melchol said to Saul,
He said X X, let me go, |
And
Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my
enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: [Because] he
said to me: Let me go, |
And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent awayAJ mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? |
וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל- מִיכַל, לָמָּה כָּכָה רִמִּיתִנִי, וַתְּשַׁלְּחִי אֶת- אֹיְבִי, וַיִּמָּלֵט; וַתֹּאמֶר מִיכַל אֶל-שָׁאוּל, הוּא- אָמַר אֵלַי שַׁלְּחִנִי לָמָה אֲמִיתֵךְ. |
18 |
καὶ
Δαυιδ ἔφυγεν
καὶ διεσώθη
καὶ παραγίνεται
πρὸς Σαμουηλ
εἰς Αρμαθαιμ
καὶ ἀπαγγέλλει
αὐτῷ πάντα ὅσα
ἐποίησεν
αὐτῷ Σαουλ
καὶ ἐπορεύθη
|
So
David fled, and escaped, and comes to Samuel to Armathaim, and
tells him all that Saul had done to him: and Samuel and |
But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth. |
So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. |
וְדָוִד בָּרַח וַיִּמָּלֵט, וַיָּבֹא אֶל-שְׁמוּאֵל הָרָמָתָה, וַיַּגֶּד-לוֹ, אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה-לוֹ שָׁאוּל; וַיֵּלֶךְ הוּא וּשְׁמוּאֵל, וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בנויתAL. |
19 |
καὶ ἀπηγγέλη τῷ Σαουλ λέγοντες ἰδοὺ Δαυιδ ἐν Ναυαθ ἐν Ραμα |
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is in Navath in Rama. |
And it was told Saul [by some], saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha. |
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. |
וַיֻּגַּד לְשָׁאוּל, לֵאמֹר: הִנֵּה דָוִד, בנוית בָּרָמָה. |
20 |
καὶ
ἀπέστειλεν
Σαουλ ἀγγέλους
λαβεῗν τὸν Δαυιδ
καὶ εἶδ |
And
Saul sent messengers to take David, and |
So
Saul sent officers to take David: and when |
And
Saul sent messengers to take David: and when |
וַיִּשְׁלַח שָׁאוּל מַלְאָכִים, לָקַחַת אֶת-דָּוִד, וַיַּרְאAQ אֶת-לַהֲקַתAR הַנְּבִיאִים נִבְּאִים, וּשְׁמוּאֵל עֹמֵד נִצָּב עֲלֵיהֶם; וַתְּהִי עַל-מַלְאֲכֵי שָׁאוּל, רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, וַיִּתְנַבְּאוּ, גַּם-הֵמָּה. |
21 |
καὶ
ἀπηγγέλ |
And
|
And
when |
And
when |
וַיַּגִּדוּAS לְשָׁאוּל, וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים אֲחֵרִים, וַיִּתְנַבְּאוּ, גַּם-הֵמָּה; ס וַיֹּסֶף שָׁאוּל, וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָכִים שְׁלִשִׁים, וַיִּתְנַבְּאוּ, גַּם-הֵמָּה. |
22 |
[καὶ
ἐθυμώθη ὀργῇ
Σαουλ]
καὶ ἐπορεύθη
καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς
Αρμαθαιμ
καὶ ἔρχεται
ἕως τοῦ φρέατος
τοῦ |
[And
Saul was very angry,]
and went himself also to Armathaim, and he comes as far as the
well of the |
X
Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great
cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place
are Samuel and David? And it |
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and saidAU, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, [they be] at Naioth in Ramah. |
וַיֵּלֶךְ גַּם-הוּא הָרָמָתָה, וַיָּבֹא עַד-בּוֹר הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר בַּשֶּׂכוּAV, וַיִּשְׁאַל וַיֹּאמֶר, אֵיפֹה שְׁמוּאֵל וְדָוִד; וַיֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה בנוית בָּרָמָה. |
23 |
καὶ ἐπορεύθη ἐκεῗθεν εἰς Ναυαθ ἐν Ραμα καὶ ἐγενήθη καὶ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ πνεῦμα θεοῦ καὶ ἐπορεύετο X προφητεύων ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῗν αὐτὸν εἰς Ναυαθ ἐν Ραμα |
And he went thence to Navath in Rama: and there came the Spirit of God upon him also, and he went on X prophesying till he came to Navath in Rama. |
And
he went XAW
to Najoth, in Ramatha, and the Spirit of |
And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went onAX, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. |
וַיֵּלֶךְ שָׁם, אֶל-נוית בָּרָמָה; וַתְּהִי עָלָיו גַּם-הוּא רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, וַיֵּלֶךְ הָלוֹךְ וַיִּתְנַבֵּאAY, עַד-בֹּאוֹ, בנוית בָּרָמָה. |
24 |
καὶ
ἐξεδύσατο
XAZ
τὰ ἱμάτια
αὐτοῦ καὶ
ἐπροφήτευσεν
X X
ἐνώπιον
|
And
he X
took off his clothes, and X
X prophesied before |
And
he stripped himself also of his garments, and X X prophesied |
And he stripped off his clothes also, and X X prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? |
וַיִּפְשַׁט גַּם-הוּא בְּגָדָיו, וַיִּתְנַבֵּא גַם-הוּא לִפְנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל, וַיִּפֹּל עָרֹם, כָּל-הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל-הַלָּיְלָה; עַל-כֵּן, יֹאמְרוּ--הֲגַם שָׁאוּל, בַּנְּבִיאִםBB. פ |
1“The
reason why he did not order them to break into the house, and slay
him at once, but wait till morning, seems to be, lest should he be
alarmed by their breaking in, he might take the advantage of the
night, and easily escape, or another person through mistake might be
slain for him; and therefore, that they might be sure of him, they
were to watch till it was broad daylight, when they could not well
miss him.” ~J. Gill
Goldman, following Wellhausen,
suggested that it was against the ancient code of manners to enter
the house of one’s enemy during the night.
2“...shewing
the neare coniunction betweene man and wife, preferring her husbands
safety, before the displeasure of her father, according to the first
institution: for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and
cleave to his wife...” ~Andrew Willett
“How Michal
came to know the danger her husband was in does not appear; perhaps
she had notice sent her from court, or rather was herself aware of
the soldiers about the house, when they were going to bed, though
they kept so still and silent that they said, Who dost hear? which
David takes notice of, Psalm 59:7.” ~M. Henry
3A couple of commentators, including Tsumura (NICOT), insisted that this means shepherd’s tents in a pasture.
4Targums, Puritan commentators Andrew Willet, Matthew Henry, and John Gill, and other more modern commentators Jamieson, .Other historic Jewish rabbis (Ben Gersom, Abarbinel) have suggested that they prophecied verbally of David’s ascendance to the throne. Gill gives some credence to this.
5 2 Sam. 6:20, using the root גלה, whereas the roots in 1 Sam. 19:24 are פּשׁט and ערם
6 So Rashi, B. Isaiah,Willett, Henry, Gill, Jamieson, K&D, Driver, Goldman, and Tsumura.
7Num. 24:4 uses the same verb נףל in that sense. This was the position of Junius, Willett, Henry, Gill, Jamieson, K&D, and Tsumura, in their commentaries.
8cf. Matthew Henry: “In flying to Samuel he made God his refuge, trusting in the shadow of his wings; where else can a good man think himself safe? .... And, doubtless, what little pleasure is to be had in this world those have it that live a life of communion with God”
9“God usually in these days turneth not men’s hearts on the sudden, that there should be continual exercise of the preaching of his word, and of the labour and diligence of those which hear unto their edifying.” ~Andrew Willett
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. The only known Dead Sea
Scroll containing any part of 1 Samuel 19 is 4Q52, which contains
fragments of vs. 10-17, and which has been dated to 250 B.C. Where
consonants of this DSS are legible and in agreement with the MT, I
have colored the MT purple. Where the DSS supports the LXX with
omissions or text not in 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}.
BThis is the Douay-Reims English translation of the Latin Vulgate
CNASB, NIV, ESV = “be on guard” which is a more literal translation of the Hebrew (and Greek).
D“[H]e
seems to suggest as if it was not safe for him to be in his own
house, and in his own bedchamber that night, but that it was
advisable to retire to some private place, where it might not be
known or suspected that he was there. By what follows he means some
field, and a private place in it.” ~J. Gill
Tsumura
(NICOT) claimed
that this is the same “hiding” in the field referred to
in 20:19.
ENASB, NIV, ESV = “speak” The Hebrew word is the one usually translated “speak” by the KJV.
FKJV has the most literal translation. NASB & NIV render “find out,” which would be a different Hebrew verb (מצא), and ESV renders “learn,” which would also be a different Hebrew verb (למד).
GSymmachus translated with a synonym exedwken (“gave away”)
HSymmachus translated with a synonym anaition (“irreproachable”)
ISymmachus translated with a synonym mathn (“vain”)
JNASB = deliverance,” NIV = “victory”
KNASB = “vowed,” NIV = “took oath”
LThe letters sureq and mem have switched places for euphonic purposes, but it is the same as ימות.
MSymmachus translated from the MT with literal woodenness wV pro miaV kai prin (“as before the first and third”)
NNASB & NIV = “told,” ESV = “reported”
ONASB, NIV = “spear” also in the following verse
PSeveral Hebrew manuscripts add a vav to the end (“his”), and the Vulgate and Septuagint also appear to support this.
QNASB, NIV = “tried”
RNASB, NIV = “pin”
SNIV, ESV = “eluded”
TNASB = “stuck,” NIV = “drove,” ESV = “struck”
UAlthough the initial vav is obliterated in the DSS, there is plenty of room for it in the spacing between legible portions of this verse and the previous, so on that basis, I think it more probable that the DSS has the copula (which is also in the MT) than not.
VNASB = “put to death” (a better rendering of the Hiphil form here), NIV, ESV = “kill” (By the way, the purple Hebrew text is in the DSS.)
WNIV = “run,” “Escape” (ESV) is more central to the meaning of this Hebrew word, but the LXX translates “save.”
XThe location of David’s house at this point is not known, but it was only about 2 miles as the crow flies between Gibeah of Saul and Ramah of Samuel.
Y“Window” is definite in both the Greek & Hebrew. Perhaps there was only one.
ZThe NIV & ESV omit this phrase, but it is in the Greek and Hebrew.
AALXX is literally “empty grave,” cf. synonyms by other Greek versions in the centuries after the LXX: Aquila: morfwmata (“forms”), Symmachus: eidwla (“idols”), Theodotian: qerafin (“teraphim” – transliteration of the Hebrew word.) Sym. and Theod. use the same in v.16, whereas Aq. renders protomai (“the before-mentioned things”?)
AB A. = to pan plhqoV (“the whole shebang” – also in v.16), Q. = cober (transliteration of the Hebrew word translated “liver/cover/quilt.”
ACThis is the Hebrew word “teraphim,” translated “[household] idol” by the NASB & NIV. The Hebrew ending is plural, thus the plurals in the LXX.
ADNASB = “quilt,” NIV = “some hair”
AENASB, NIV, ESV = “head” (same in v.16)
AFThe Cairo Geniza manuscripts from a century before the MT read with the synonym על (“upon”), which clarifies, but does not change the meaning.
AG“כְּבִיר, from כָּבַר, signifies something woven, and עִזִּים goats' hair, as in Ex. 25:4. But it is impossible to decide with certainty what purpose the cloth of goats' hair was to serve; whether it was merely to cover the head of the teraphim with hair, and so make it like a human head, or to cover the head and face as if of a person sleeping. The definite article not only before תְּרָפִים and בֶּגֶד, but also with הָעִזִּים כְּבִיר, suggests the idea that all these things belonged to Michal's house furniture, and that עִזִּים כְּבִיר was probably a counterpane made of goats' hair, with which persons in the East are in the habit of covering the head and face when sleeping.” ~Keil & Delitzsch
AH Most English versions interpret the Teraphim as a singular idol, even though it has a plural spelling, and then interpret it as the referent of the 3ms pronoun “its head.” The only singular masculine noun in the sentence is “cover/quilt/liver.”
AIcf. synonym from Aquila = arrwstein (“to be sick/ill”)
AJNASB, ESV translated less-literally “let go.”
AK Neither the MT nor the Vulgate support the additional descriptor of the place “in Ramah,” which is found in the LXX. (Unfortunately, no legible DSS is available of this verse for comparison.) But since the full phrase “Navith in Ramah” does occur in the next verse in the MT, the LXX does not change the meaning.
ALHere
and in vs.16, 22, and 23, the MT and Vulgate (and several other
Hebrew manuscripts – and even Keil & Delitzsch’s
commentary), support the LXX spelling of “Navat.”
KJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV all followed the Qere editorial note in
the margin of the MT with the spelling “Naioth” (making
the yod and vav swap places),
rather than the MT. Symmachus, however,
instead of transliterating, translated with the word
diaitwmenoi (“apartments”)
here, and with the word oikhsesi (“in
the house”) in v.22 (which is a reasonable translation of the
root of the Hebrew nvh).
McClintock
& Strong:
“Naioth… from an early date has been interpreted to
mean the huts or dwellings of a school or college of prophets over
which Samuel presided, as Elisha did over those at Gilgal and
Jericho. This appears first in the Targum-Jonathan, where for Naioth
we find throughout בֵּית
אוּלְפָנָא,
"the house of instruction," the term which appears in
later times to have been regularly applied to the schools of the
rabbis (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. Col. 106)…”
Easton
Illustrated Bible Dictionary:
“Naioth: dwellings, the name given to the prophetical college
established by Samuel near Ramah. It consisted of a cluster of
separate dwellings, and hence its name…”
Eerdman’s
Dictionary of the Bible:
“Although its linguistic form is uncertain, Naioth should be
related to Heb. nāweh, which is a shepherd’s camp pitched
outside a city. Such a camp was apparently also the dwelling of
Samuel and his disciples.”
Keil
& Delitzsch Commentary:
“...applied
to the coenobium
of the pupils of the prophets, who had assembled round Samuel in the
neighbourhood of Ramah. The plural נְוָיֹת
points
to the fact, that this coenobium
consisted of a considerable number of dwelling-places or houses,
connected together by a hedge or wall…. If
we bear in mind, that, according to 1Sam.3:1, before the call of
Samuel as prophet, the prophetic word was very rare in Israel, and
prophecy was not widely spread, there can be no doubt that these
unions of prophets arose in the time of Samuel, and were called into
existence by him… It is ... generally assumed, that the study
of the law and of the history of the divine guidance of Israel
formed a leading feature in the occupations of the pupils of the
prophets, which also included the cultivation of sacred poetry and
music, and united exercises for the promotion of the prophetic
inspiration... from the time of Samuel downwards the writing of
sacred history formed an essential part of the prophet's labours…
sacred music not only received a fresh impulse from David, who stood
in a close relation to the association of prophets at Ramah, but was
also raised by him into an integral part of public worship…
just as, in the time of Samuel, it was the fall of the legal
sanctuary and priesthood which created the necessity for the
founding of schools of the prophets; so in the times of Elijah and
Elisha, and in the kingdom of the ten tribes, it was the utter
absence of any sanctuary of Jehovah which led these prophets to
found societies of prophets… Consequently the founding of
associations of prophets is to be regarded as an operation of divine
grace, which is generally manifested with all the greater might
where sin most mightily abounds.”
AMCompare with other Greek translations in the early centuries AD: A. omilon (“throng”), S. sustrofhn (“mob”), Q. susthma (“gathering?”).
ANLater Greek versions include a translation of the Hebrew words missing in the LXX as kaige autoi (“even they”).
AOSee AJ & AL; the Hebrew word is different from the word which the KJV translated “company” in ch. 10. NIV = “group”
APNASB = “presiding,” NIV = “as leader,” ESV = “as head”
AQThe LXX, Vulgate, Targums, Syriac, as well as all the English versions I know of translated this singular verb as plural, which makes me suspect an error in the MT. It doesn’t make a big difference in meaning because there is only one person (Saul) behind the plural messengers who would act upon their report back to him. Gill followed Kimchi in explaining the singular as “the chief messenger.” Cf. Keil & Delitzsch: “The singular וַיַּרְא is certainly very striking here; but it is hardly to be regarded as merely a copyist's error for the plural וַיִּרְאוּ, … and understood either as relating to the leader of the messengers, or as used because the whole company of messengers were regarded as one body.”
ARAlthough there is an Ethiopian root lhq which means “senior,” neither להק nor הקת are words in Hebrew, so it is commonly assumed that the MT scribe experienced a moment of dyslexia, spelling the word for “assembly” (קהל) backwards. Compare to 10:5&10, where the word חבל (“company/band”) is used. Another possibility is that this is a specialized word used among the prophets to describe their ranks. Perhaps it is like our word “sodality,” used to distinguish a para-church religious meeting from a regular worship service of all believers. I could even imagine a creative prophet reversing the word for “church assembly” to invent a word for this relatively-new institution of schools of prophets. (I was intrigued to find that Kimchi and Keil & Delitzsch had the same theory!) Nevertheless, Tsumura (NICOT) and R.P. Gordon opted for “elders.”
ASThe MT spelling of this verb is plural active (“they told”), but the Vulgate and Septuagint (and all the English versions I’ve seen) read passive and singular (“it was told”).
ATSyriac version supports the plural of the LXX (“they said”), but the Vulgate and MT are agreed on singular (“one said”).
AUNIV & ESV omit “and said,” even though it is in the MT, Vulgate, Septuagint, and historic English translations.
AVThis place is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. It supposedly means “watchtower” or “bare height.” I wonder if it could be a corruption of Shechem, which was a city of refuge (Jos 20:7) on a hill where Jacob’s Well (John 4) was located, and a place that Saul might expect a political fugitive to go for refuge. The problem is that this might be a bit further north than the events of this story.
AW“There” is also missing in the Lucian rescription of the Septuagint (and thus perhaps in the NIV?), but it’s in the MT and the original Septuagint.
AXThe verb “went/walked” is made emphatic through repetition in the MT, but it is not so in the LXX. The emphatic-ness of the MT appears to be carried into English translations with phrases like “as he walked” (ESV), “went/walked along” (NASB/NIV), and “went on” (KJV).
AYThis is a Hitpael imperfect verb, but the LXX and many English versions translate it as a participle. The Syriac and Targums translate it as an infinitive, but the parallel structure of the imperfect verbs for “went” and “prophecied” make it not unreasonable for these translations to change verb types in order to bring over the idea of simultaneous action.
AZLater Greek versions corrected to the MT kaige autoV (“and even he”).
BAcf. Aquila mh (“not”) and S. oti (“that”).
BB“Now the proverb recurs, Is Saul among the prophets? See 1Sa. 10:12. Then it was different from what it had been, but now contrary. He is rejected of God, and actuated by an evil spirit, and yet among the prophets.”~M. Henry