The words And David said may be considered redundant in some languages and may therefore be omitted. David is speaking in verse 9, and he continues to speak here. New Century Version and Contemporary English Version continue the quotation begun in the previous verse without these words.

The antecedents of the pronouns him, his, and he may be ambiguous, since the reader may think that the reference is the person “who puts his hand against the LORD’s anointed” (verse 9). To avoid ambiguity translators may use the name Saul the first time the third person pronoun occurs.

As the LORD lives: see the comments on 14.39.

Smite: as in previous verses (15.3; 20.33) this verb refers to killing with a blow or strike. Similarly the expression go down into battle and perish also refers to death in the course of warfare. This is in contrast to the previous clause, his day shall come to die, which refers to natural death.

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 .