So: Revised Standard Version takes the common conjunction here as marking a logical relationship, as do New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible. Others take it as marking a temporal relationship and translate “Then” (New American Bible, New International Version, New Century Version). But it may also be omitted altogether (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation). Naturalness in the receptor language should determine which kind of transition word is used here.

Kiriath-jearim was located on the border between the territories of Judah and Benjamin, about thirteen kilometers (eight miles) northwest of Jerusalem and fifteen kilometers (nine miles) east-northeast of Beth-shemesh. The name Kiriath-jearim means “city of woods.” Nearly all translations transliterate the name, though Nueva Biblia Española translates it here and elsewhere as “Villasotos,” that is, “Grove City.”

Come down and take up: though Kiriath-jearim was located northeast of Beth-shemesh, the words Come down do not refer to the southerly direction on a map. Rather, these verbs reflect the fact that Kiriath-jearim was about 1,400 feet higher than Beth-shemesh. See the comments on “go up” at the end of verse 20.

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 .

He will take: see the comments on verse 11.

The Hebrew text states explicitly that the king will take both menservants and maidservants. Good News Translation has combined the two words into one (“servants”), but such a reduction may lose some of the force of the Hebrew. Translators may therefore prefer to say “your servants, both men and women” or something similar.

On the idea of the best, see verse 14.

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, along with most modern translations, have followed the Septuagint in reading cattle instead of “young men” of the Hebrew text. Translators, however, are urged to translate the meaning “young men,” following the Masoretic Text (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), to which Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating.

And put them to his work: in place of these words the Septuagint reads “and will take the tenth of them for his works.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text, which is followed by nearly all modern translations. The whole expression means simply “take for his own use” (New International Version) or “make them work for him” (New Jerusalem Bible as well as Good News Translation). This meaning will be best translated by a causative verb form in certain languages.

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 .

The oak of Tabor: probably regarded as a sacred tree (Good News Translation), and perhaps the oak near the city of Bethel, under which Rebekah’s nurse had been buried (Gen 35.8). The use of a preposition like “at” (Good News Translation) is preferred in order to show that Tabor is a place and not a person.

The three men on their way to Bethel (first mentioned in 7.16) were carrying animals and food for sacrifices, expressed in Hebrew as going up to God. But since this may be misunderstood if translated literally, some possible alternative models are “going up to Bethel to worship God” (Revised English Bible) and “making a pilgrimage to God at Bethel” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

The English word kids refers here to young goats and not to small children. Because of the problem of the dual meaning of the word “kid” in English, the Hebrew word is translated “young goats” by several modern versions, including Revised English Bible and New International Version.

A skin of wine: see the comments on 1.24.

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 .

Who had come: that is, to Gibeah (verse 4). Certain modern versions add the implied information that these messengers had come “from Jabesh” (La Bible du Semeur, Good News Translation).

By the time the sun is hot: this simple way of telling time is translated in many common language versions as “before noon” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). See verse 11 below.

If the two levels of direct quotation in this verse are awkward in the receptor language, one or both of these levels may be made indirect. Good News Translation turns the second level quotation into an indirect statement but retains the direct quote of what the people of Gibeah said to the messengers from Jabesh. If translators wish to do away with the direct quotation altogether, the following model may prove helpful:

• They instructed the messengers from Jabesh to tell the people of their city that they would be rescued before noon the next day.

When the messengers came: that is, when they had returned to Jabesh.

They were glad: in modern English this may seem to be a rather weak reaction to the good news brought by the messengers. The translation “they rejoiced” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) is at least equally valid. Compare also the renderings of New International Version (“they were elated”) and New Century Version (“they were very happy”).

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 .

This verse follows the standard formula for introducing kings of Israel (and later also of Judah) in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. But this verse contains one of the most difficult textual problems in the book of 1 Samuel, if not of the whole Bible.

The Masoretic Text literally says “Saul was a son of a year in his reigning and two years he reigned over Israel.” Obviously there are two errors in the Hebrew text as we have it today: (1) Saul was not one year old when he became king, and (2) he reigned more than two years. Interpreters and translators have followed many solutions to this textual problem:

(a) Some translations, following the example of the Septuagint, omit the entire verse (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
(b) Some translate the verse but leave blank spaces as in Revised Standard Version (so also New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Osty-Trinquet, and La Bible Pléiade).
(c) Others leave only the first number blank. Compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible: “Saul was … years old when he became king and he ruled two years over Israel.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, however, includes a note saying that two years is certainly not correct. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Fox, Stuttgarter Erklärungsbibel, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow the same solution as Traduction œcuménique de la Bible.
(d) Some follow the first-century Jewish historian Josephus and Acts 13.21, and claim that Saul ruled for (about) forty years. Compare New International Version “Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.” The “thirty years” is based on a few late Septuagint manuscripts.
(e) Revised English Bible follows the Greek manuscripts, which say that Saul began to reign when he was thirty, and then conjectures that the number of years he ruled was twenty-two: “Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel for twenty-two years.”
(f) Nueva Biblia Española leaves the first number blank, stating in a note that the original lacks the number. But then Nueva Biblia Española says that Saul reigned for twenty-two years; however, it has no note indicating that the number twenty-two is a guess.

Solution (d) above may seem the best at first glance, but a major problem with this is that early in his rule Saul already has a grown son able to command troops (see verse 2). Therefore Saul must have been older than thirty when he became king.

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text. As for the first number, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament suggests that the author left a blank space, not knowing the exact age of Saul when he began to rule. And as for the second number, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament defends the number “two,” suggesting that Saul reigned two years with God’s blessing, that is, he reigned two years before David was anointed (see 16.13). If translators follow the recommendation of Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, it may be helpful to indicate in a note the possible sense of the words that Saul “reigned over Israel for two years.”

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 .

So: the common conjunction is properly translated to show the logical relationship between previous events and what follows. New American Bible translates “Accordingly.”

Showed themselves means simply “let themselves be seen” (New Jerusalem Bible) or, avoiding the passive, “allowed the Philistines to see them.” Some languages may even have to say “came out of hiding.”

Look renders the Hebrew interjection often translated “behold.” In this case it is a device used by some Philistines to draw the attention of others to the fact that Jonathan and his armorbearer were approaching.

Hebrews: see the comments on 4.6 and 13.3.

Coming out of the holes where they have hid themselves: the word translated holes here is the same word used of holes where animals live. Perhaps this explains why Moffatt translates “look at the mice creeping out of their hiding-holes.” But this is probably a case of overdramatizing the text and is not recommended.

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 .

This concluding verse is introduced by the common Hebrew conjunction, which seems to indicate the passage of a certain amount of time after the rescue of Jonathan. In any case it is probably best translated as a temporal connector. New American Bible, like Good News Translation, has “After that.”

Went up: see the comments on verse 36. Together with the words from pursuing, the meaning is that Saul “gave up pursuit” (New American Bible) or “decided not to pursue” (New Jerusalem Bible) the Philistines for the time being (see verse 52). The Philistines in turn went back home.

To their own place: that is, back to the southwest area of Palestine along the Mediterranean coast.

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 .

The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you: just as Saul separated a piece of cloth from Samuel, so God had taken the kingdom of Israel from Saul.

A neighbor … better than you: that is, David (see 13.14; 28.17; 1 Kgs 11.30-31). But David is not specifically identified in the text at this point, and his name should not appear in translation here. The word translated neighbor really means “friend,” “associate,” or “fellow Israelite.” It is certainly not limited to people living nearby. So it may be translated “another person” or “someone else.” Some may even wish to say “a fellow Israelite.”

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 .