The men of Judah: New Revised Standard Version and Contemporary English Version have translated “the people of Judah” in order to make the language more inclusive. However, it is quite possible that this delegation is the same as the “elders of Judah” mentioned in 1 Sam 30.26-31, in which case they all were men.

Note that Good News Translation also supplies the information that these people came “to Hebron,” which is not in the original but is clearly the intended meaning.

Anointed: see 1 Sam 2.10 and verse 14 in the previous chapter. Contemporary English Version provides an excellent model for some languages that may have difficulty in expressing the idea of anointing: “poured olive oil on his head to show that he was their new king.” Although the Hebrew verb is plural, that is, “they anointed,” the sense is probably that a priest or prophet anointed him on behalf of the men of Judah. In languages where passive forms are common, it may be more natural and quite legitimate to translate “David was anointed king….”

The house of Judah: this expression occurs forty times in the Old Testament as well as in Heb 8.8. Here it refers to the whole community of people thought to be descended from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. These people lived in the region assigned to that tribe in southern Palestine. Later in Jewish history they combined with the tribe of Benjamin to make up the kingdom of Judah, after its separation from the northern kingdom (Israel); this happened after the death of Solomon. Here Knox has translated “the line of Juda[h].”

When they told David: literally “and they told David, saying.” Revised English Bible translates using the passive form, “It was reported to David.” Some may prefer to translate here “When David learned” or “When David heard.”

The men of Jabesh-gilead: the same word is used here as in the expression “men of Judah” at the beginning of the verse, but here the context definitely favors more inclusive language. Translators should probably say “people of…” as in Good News Translation. On Jabesh-gilead see the comments on 1 Sam 11.1.

The construction of the second half of this verse in Revised Standard Version may prove to be awkward to follow in other languages, since it has a direct quotation within a subordinate clause. Good News Translation resolves the problem by making the direct quotation indirect. Another possible solution is to make an independent sentence of the subordinate clause and begin a new sentence at the beginning of the next verse, as the Hebrew text does. The resulting model will look something like this:

• Then the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed David king of Judah. They told David that it was the men of the town of Jabesh in Gilead who buried Saul.
When David heard this, he sent messengers….

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .