1 Samuel 14:16-18

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “at Gibeah of Benjamin.” The words “in the territory” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
2. 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “saw, and look!”
3. 1 Samuel 14:16 tn Heb “the crowd melted and went, even here.”
4. 1 Samuel 14:17 tn Heb “and they mustered the troops, and look!”
5. 1 Samuel 14:18 tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath Jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v. 19. There are also quotations of this reading in rabbinic literature and medieval Jewish literature according to V. Aptowitzer, The Scripture in the Rabbinic Literature and Medieval Jewish Literature, Prolegomena (3 parts, Vindobonae, 1906, 1908, 1911). It is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, NJB, GWN, TEV, NLT, CEB, BBE).
6. 1 Samuel 14:18 tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.