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1 Samuel 26:8-10
New English Translation
1 Samuel 26:8-10
New English Translation
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me drive the spear[a] right through him into the ground with one swift jab![b] A second jab won’t be necessary!”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill him! Who can extend his hand against the Lord’s chosen one[c] and remain guiltless?” 10 David went on to say, “As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away.
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- 1 Samuel 26:8 tn Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: TEV, CEV “his own spear”; NLT “that spear.” Cf. NIV, NCV “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.
- 1 Samuel 26:8 tn Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”
- 1 Samuel 26:9 tn Heb “anointed” (also in vv. 11, 16, 23).
New English Translation (NET)
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