The Hebrew also contains the particle of entreaty after the verb Go, but this is left untranslated in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Contemporary English Version attempts to translate this by using the word “please.”

Make yet more sure: literally “prepare again.” New International Version tries to retain the basic idea of the verb by translating “make further preparation.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is quite similar, “prepare further.” But the context shows that the additional effort requested by Saul has to do with finding out exactly where David is hiding.

His haunt: literally “his foot” in the sense of “the trace of his foot.” Moffatt translates rather colorfully “the spot where his fleeting foot rests.” La Bible du Semeur translates “his movements,” while Revised English Bible says “exactly where he is.”

Who has seen him: some have considered the grammar of the Masoretic Text to be in error. Following the Septuagint, they have changed the two Hebrew words rendered who has seen him into one word meaning “in haste.” New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible omit these words, considering them to have been added accidentally to the Hebrew text. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {C} rating to the MT.

It is told: literally “he tells me.” Others may translate “they tell me,” using the indefinite subject, or “people say.”

He is very cunning: literally “to be cunning, he is cunning.” Regarding the translation of reinforcing verbs, see page 20 and following. Languages have a wide variety of ways of representing the idea of craftiness expressed by the Hebrew verb used here. The term includes the notion of both prudence and deception. It is used elsewhere only in Psa 83.3 (“crafty plans”) and in Pro 15.5 and 19.25, where the idea of “prudence” is found in the Revised Standard Version translation.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .