Though the text does not say from where Saul and his servant set out, they probably left from Gibeah (see 11.4; 15.34).

In Revised Standard Version in this verse the first five verbs referring to Saul and the servant are plural. Good News Translation makes all six verbs plural. The Hebrew, however, is literally “he passed through … he passed through … they did not find … they passed through … he passed through … they did not find.” Receptor language considerations may determine how this problem is handled, but in many cases it will be most natural to use the plural form throughout.

The hill country of Ephraim was located in central Palestine (see 1.1). The precise locations of Shalishah, Shaalim, and Jamite (see below) are not known. Probably the reader is to understand that Saul traveled in a northwestern direction.

The land of Shalishah: probably a region in the northern part of Ephraim. It is likely that the place called “Baal-Shalishah,” mentioned in 2 Kgs 4.42, was situated in this region.

The land of Shaalim is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. It appears to be a region within the territory of Ephraim.

The land of Benjamin: literally “the land of Jamite” (or, Yamite; see verse 1). Many versions render the Hebrew place name as Benjamin, but such a translation makes little sense. If Saul started his trip in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin and was moving northward in the hill country of Ephraim, why would he have returned south to the land of Benjamin, only to turn back north toward the land of Zuph (verse 5)? Various conjectures have been made, including “the land of Jabin” (Anchor Bible) and “the district of Jemini” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). If the name Benjamin is retained in translation, it will be more logical to say “went back through the territory of Benjamin.” It is conceivable that in looking for lost animals the search party may have followed a circular route.

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 .