This verse begins in Hebrew with the word ky, which most translators render as For. Fox, however, says “Indeed: all the days that the son of Yishai is alive on the earth.” (See the comments on 8.7.)

Lives upon the earth: there is no implied contrast here between living on the earth and living in heaven. This means simply as long as David “is alive.” Since the addition of upon the earth may be misleading, it may have to be omitted in some languages.

Neither you nor your kingdom shall be established: Jonathan normally was expected to succeed his father as king. But David poses a threat, since he, not Jonathan, has been designated as the one to replace Saul (see 15.26-28). There is a small textual problem here, but the meaning remains the same. The Septuagint says “your kingdom shall not be established.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament follows a manuscript from Qumran, giving it a {C} rating, and recommends the following text and translation: “you will not establish your kingdom.” Compare New American Bible, whose translation of this clause is based on the same Qumran manuscript: “you cannot make good your claim to the kingship!”

Send and fetch: see the comments on these two verbs used together in 16.11. Fetch him to me means “find him and bring him back to me.”

He shall surely die: literally “he [is] son of death.” The same Hebrew idiom is found in 26.16 and 2 Sam 12.5. This does not mean simply that David will eventually die. Rather it is Saul’s way of insisting that “he deserves to die!” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .