translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET textual note

text: The content of –18, which includes the David and Goliath story, differs considerably in the LXX as compared to the MT, suggesting that this story circulated in ancient times in more than one form. The LXX for chs. –18 is much shorter than the MT, lacking almost half of the material (39 of a total of 88 verses). Many scholars (e.g., McCarter, Klein) think that the shorter text of the LXX is preferable to the MT, which in their view has been expanded by incorporation of later material. Other scholars (e.g., Wellhausen, Driver) conclude that the shorter Greek text (or the Hebrew text that underlies it) reflects an attempt to harmonize certain alleged inconsistencies that appear in the longer version of the story. Given the translation characteristics of the LXX elsewhere in this section, it does not seem likely that these differences are due to deliberate omission of these verses on the part of the translator. It seems more likely that the Greek translator has faithfully rendered here a Hebrew text that itself was much shorter than the MT in these chapters. Whether or not the shorter text represented by the LXX is to be preferred over the MT in –18 is a matter over which textual scholars are divided. For a helpful discussion of the major textual issues in this unit see D. Barthélemy, D. W. Gooding, J. Lust, and E. Tov, The Story of David and Goliath (OBO). Overall it seems preferable to stay with the MT, at least for the most part. However, the major textual differences between the LXX and the MT will be mentioned in the notes that accompany the translation so that the reader may be alert to the major problem passages.


label: NET translator note

text: Heb “camps.”


text: Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”


text: Heb “to meet.”


text: Heb “Israel.”


text: Heb “the man of the space between the two [armies].” See v. 23 .


text: Heb “his height was six cubits and a span” (cf. KJV, NASB, NRSV). A cubit was approximately eighteen inches, a span nine inches. So, according to the Hebrew tradition, Goliath was about nine feet, nine inches tall (cf. NIV, CEV, NLT “over nine feet”; NCV “nine feet, four inches”; TEV “nearly 3 metres”). However, some Greek witnesses, Josephus, and a manuscript of 1 Samuel from Qumran read “four cubits and a span” here, that is, about six feet, nine inches (cf. NAB “six and a half feet”). This seems more reasonable; it is likely that Goliath’s height was exaggerated as the story was retold. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 286, 291.


text: The translation follows the Qere and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading “wood,” rather than the “arrow” (the reading of the Kethib ).


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The Hebrew text adds “and said to them.”


text: The translation follows the ancient versions in reading “choose,” (from the root בחר , bkhr ), rather than the MT. The verb in MT ( ברה , brh ) elsewhere means “to eat food”; the sense of “to choose,” required here by the context, is not attested for this root. The MT apparently reflects an early scribal error.


text: Following the imperative, the prefixed verbal form (either an imperfect or jussive) with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result here.


text: Following the imperative, the cohortative verbal form indicates purpose/result here.


text: Heb “all Israel.”


text: Some mss of the LXX lack vv. 12-31 .


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .


text: The translation follows the Lucianic recension of the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta in reading “in years,” rather than MT “among men.”


text: Heb “his.”


text: Heb “was going and returning.”


text: Heb “run.”


text: Heb “officer of the thousand.”


text: Heb “and your brothers, observe with respect to welfare.”


text: Heb “and their pledge take.” This probably refers to some type of confirmation that the goods arrived safely. See R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 177. Cf. NIV “bring back some assurance”; NCV “some proof to show me they are all right”; NLT “bring me back a letter from them.”


text: Heb “all the men of Israel.”


text: Heb “to a guard”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “with a keeper”; NIV “with a shepherd.” Since in contemporary English “guard” sounds like someone at a military installation or a prison, the present translation uses “to someone else who would watch over it.”


text: Or “entrenchment.”


text: Heb “the guard of the equipment.”


text: Heb “according to these words.”


text: Or “fled.”


text: Heb “he is coming up.”


text: Heb “and turns aside humiliation from upon Israel.”


text: Heb “people.”


text: Heb “according to this word, saying.”


text: Heb “his”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “the anger of Eliab became hot.”


text: Heb “the wickedness of your heart.”


text: Heb “Is it not [just] a word?”


text: Heb “and spoke according to this word.”


text: Heb “the people.”


text: Heb “he took him.”


text: Heb “Let not the heart of a man fall upon him.” The LXX reads “my lord,” instead of “a man.”


text: The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”


text: Or “Go, and may the Lord be with you” (so NASB, NCV, NRSV).


text: Heb “he had not tested.”


text: This Hebrew word occurs only here and its exact meaning is not entirely clear. It refers to a receptacle of some sort and apparently was a common part of a shepherd’s equipment. Here it serves as a depository for the stones that David will use in his sling.


text: Most LXX mss lack v. 41 .


text: Many medieval Hebrew mss have “the earth” here, instead of the MT’s “the field.”


text: Most LXX mss lack the second half of v. 48 .


text: Most LXX mss lack v. 50 .


text: Verse 50 is a summary statement; v. 51 gives a more detailed account of how David killed the Philistine.


text: Heb “his”; the referent (Goliath) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Most LXX mss lack the words “drew it from its sheath.”


text: Heb “arose and cried out.”


text: Most of the LXX ms tradition has here “Gath.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Most LXX mss lack 17:55 – 18:5 .


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-E2 ; Map10-B4 .