¹tn Heb “to the voice of the words of the Lord.”

²tn Heb “what Amalek did to Israel, how he placed against him.”

³tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴tn Or perhaps “don’t take pity on.”

⁵tn Heb “caused the people to hear.”

⁶tn Heb “people.”

⁷tc The LXX has the plural here, “cities.”

⁸tc The translation follows the LXX and Vulgate (which assume a reading wayyaáreb, “and he set an ambush,” from the root árb with quiescence of alef) rather than the MT, which has wayyareb, “and he contended,” from the root ryb.

⁹tn That is, “the dry stream bed.”

¹⁰tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate (which assume a reading áespeka, “I sweep you away,” from the root sph) rather than the MT áosipeka, “I am gathering you,” from the root ásp.

¹¹tn Heb “[as] you enter.”

¹²tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. We should probably read wehammasmannim (“the fat ones”) rather than the MT wehammisnim (“the second ones”). However, if the MT is retained, the sense may be as the Jewish commentator Kimchi supposed: the second-born young, thought to be better than the firstlings. (For discussion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 123-24.)

¹³tn Heb “good.”

¹⁴tc The MT has here the very odd form nemibza, but this is apparently due to a scribal error. The translation follows instead the Niphal participle nibza.

¹⁵tn Heb “and look.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and he turned and crossed over.”

¹⁷tc At the end of v. 12 the LXX and one Old Latin ms include the following words not found in the MT: “to Saul. And behold, he was offering as a burnt offering to the Lord the best of the spoils that he had brought from the Amalekites.”

¹⁸tn Heb “to Saul.”

¹⁹tn The words “if that is the case” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

²⁰tn Heb “they brought them.”

²¹tn Or perhaps “be quiet.”

²²tc The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading the singular (“he said”) rather than the plural (“they said”) of the Kethib.

²³tn Heb “anointed.”

²⁴tn Heb “journey.”

²⁵tc The translation follows the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum in reading the second person singular suffix (“you”) rather than the third person plural suffix of the MT (“they”).

²⁶tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

²⁷tn Heb “you have done what is evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

²⁸tn Heb “listened to the voice of the Lord.”

²⁹tn Heb “journey.”

³⁰tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

³¹tn Heb “look.”

³²tn Heb “listening.”

³³tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

³⁴tn Or “from [being].”

³⁵tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

³⁶tn Heb “and your words.”

³⁷tn Heb “and I listened to their voice.”

³⁸tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

³⁹tn Heb “he,” but Saul is clearly the referent. A Qumran ms and the LXX include the name “Saul” here.

⁴⁰tn Heb “splendor,” used here by metonymy as a title for the Lord.

⁴¹tn Or perhaps “does not lie.”

⁴²sn This observation marks the preceding statement (v. 28) as an unconditional, unalterable decree. When God makes such a decree he will not alter it or change his mind. This does not mean that God never deviates from his stated intentions or changes his mind. On the contrary, several passages describe him as changing his mind. In fact, his willingness to do so is one of his fundamental divine attributes (see Joel 2:13; Jon 4:2). For a fuller discussion see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Change His Mind?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

⁴³tn Heb “he”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁴tn The MT reading ma`adannot (literally, “bonds,” used here adverbially, “in bonds”) is difficult. The word is found only here and in Job 38:31. Part of the problem lies in determining the root of the word. Some scholars have taken it to be from the root `nd (“to bind around”), but this assumes a metathesis of two of the letters of the root. Others take it from the root `dn with the meaning “voluptuously,” but this does not seem to fit the context. It seems better to understand the word to be from the root m`d (“to totter” or “shake”). In that case it describes the fear that Agag experienced in realizing the mortal danger that he faced as he approached Samuel. This is the way that the LXX translators understood the word, rendering it by the Greek participle tremon (tremon, “trembling”).

⁴⁵tn Heb “and Agag said.”

⁴⁶tc The text is difficult here. With the LXX, two Old Latin mss, and the Syriac Peshitta it is probably preferable to delete sar (“is past”) of the MT; it looks suspiciously like a dittograph of the following word (mar, “bitter”). This further affects the interpretation of Agag’s comment. In the MT he comes to Samuel confidently assured that the danger is over (see KJV and NIV, “Surely the bitterness of death is past”). However, it seems more likely that Agag realized that his fortunes had suddenly taken a turn for the worse and that the clemency he had enjoyed from Saul would not be his lot from Samuel. The present translation thus understands Agag to approach not confidently but in the stark realization that his death is imminent (“Surely death is bitter!”).

⁴⁷tn That is, Samuel.