1 Samuel 31 — Hebrew and Greek compared
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
1 Samuel 31
The fallen king and the unfinished royal story
Editorial Christian reading within the sequence Saul–David–Jesus in Acts 13:20–23 [NT1]. The deaths close Saul’s story without resolving the hope through his own survival.
31:1–7 | Defeat and the deaths on Gilboa
Verse MT 31:1 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:1
The Philistines were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:1
The foreigners were fighting against Israel. The men of Israel fled before the foreigners and fell wounded on Mount Gelboue.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew describes the fallen as slain; Greek calls them wounded. Gilboa and Gelboue are corresponding forms of the mountain’s name.
Verse MT 31:2 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:2
The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons. The Philistines struck down Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:2
The foreigners closed in on Saul and his sons. The foreigners struck down Jonathan, Aminadab and Melchisa, Saul’s sons.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: The pursuit and three sons agree. The Greek forms Aminadab and Melchisa are retained beside the Hebrew names rather than silently normalized.
Verse MT 31:3 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:3
The battle grew heavy against Saul. The shooters, men with bows, found him, and he trembled greatly because of the shooters.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:3
The war grew heavy against Saul. The missile-throwers, men who were archers, found him, and he was wounded beneath the ribs.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew’s final verb is rendered as trembling in anguish; a wounding interpretation is also encountered. Greek explicitly locates a wound beneath the ribs. Its combination of missile-throwers and archers is retained.
Verse MT 31:4 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:4
Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised men come, pierce me, and abuse me.” His armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was greatly afraid. Saul took the sword and fell on it.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:4
Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me with it, lest these uncircumcised men come, pierce me, and mock me.” His armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was greatly afraid. Saul took the sword and fell on it.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Both narrate Saul’s request, the bearer’s refusal, and Saul’s own action. Hebrew’s abuse and Greek’s mockery differ in emphasis. The narrative is not rewritten through a later account of Saul’s death.
Verse MT 31:5 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:5
His armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead. He too fell on his sword and died with him.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:5
His armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead. He too fell on his sword and died with him.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The observation and death of the armor-bearer agree.
Verse MT 31:6 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:6
Saul died, and his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men, together on that day.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:6
Saul died, and his three sons and his armor-bearer, together on that day.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Greek lacks all his men. Hebrew’s comprehensive expression remains in its own narrative context; it is not expanded to deny the existence of any surviving member of Saul’s family or army.
Verse MT 31:7 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:7
The men of Israel beyond the valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died. They abandoned the cities and fled. The Philistines came and lived in them.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:7
The men of Israel beyond the valley and beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died. They abandoned their cities and fled. The foreigners came and lived in them.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The flight and occupation agree; Greek explicitly marks the cities as theirs.
31:8–10 | The bodies and armor displayed
Verse MT 31:8 Similar
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:8
On the following day, the Philistines came to strip the slain. They found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:8
On the following day, the foreigners came to strip the dead. They found Saul and his three sons fallen on the mountains of Gelboue.
Classification & Notes
Similar
Text: Greek has the plural mountains, where Hebrew uses the singular mountain or hill country. The discovery agrees.
Verse MT 31:9 Divergent
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:9
They cut off his head and stripped off his equipment. They sent throughout the surrounding land of the Philistines to announce the news to the house of their idols and to the people.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:9
They turned him over and stripped off his equipment. They sent it throughout the surrounding land of the foreigners, announcing the news to their idols and their people.
Classification & Notes
Divergent
Text: Hebrew explicitly reports beheading; Greek says they turned him over. Greek identifies the equipment as what was sent and lacks Hebrew’s house of the idols. The English news expresses the announcement verb, without naming an unstated Hebrew object of sending.
Verse MT 31:10 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:10
They put his equipment in the house of the Ashtaroth and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:10
They dedicated his equipment in the temple of Astarte and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Greek explicitly describes dedication and names the Astarte sanctuary. Hebrew has the plural-form Ashtaroth. Neither column imports the different sanctuary details of Chronicles.
Honor for the dead amid national grief
Editorial Christian thematic application: Augustine affirms care for bodies and burial [C4, §5]. His teaching is cited as a later ethical comparison, not as a commentary on this particular cremation.
31:11–13 | The men of Jabesh recover and bury the remains
Verse MT 31:11 Same
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:11
The inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard about him—what the Philistines had done to Saul.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:11
The inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead heard what the foreigners had done to Saul.
Classification & Notes
Same
Text: The report reaching Jabesh agrees; Hebrew includes a preliminary about him phrase.
Verse MT 31:12 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:12
All the valiant men rose and traveled all night. They took Saul’s body and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan, came to Jabesh, and burned them there.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:12
All the mighty men rose and traveled the whole night. They took Saul’s body and the body of Jonathan his son from the wall of Beth-shan, brought them to Jabesh, and burned them there.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew includes the bodies of Saul’s sons in the plural; Greek names Jonathan alone. Both explicitly report burning the bodies; no alternative funeral action is substituted.
Saints: As a thematic comparison, Augustine’s defense of care for bodies and pious burial affirms the dignity of the dead. His discussion is not cited as a direct explanation of the burning narrated here [C4, On the Care of the Dead §5].
Verse MT 31:13 Different
Hebrew–English: Literal-Smooth (Rabbinic Priority)
MT 31:13
They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk at Jabesh. They fasted seven days.
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
LXX 31:13
They took their bones and buried them beneath the cultivated ground at Jabesh. They fasted seven days.
Classification & Notes
Different
Text: Hebrew names a tamarisk; Greek has aroura, cultivated ground, as at 22:6. The burial and seven-day fast agree. No Greek tree is supplied.
Sources, Method & Decisions
Review revision • 11 September 2026. Every Greek source unit, both English columns, and every comparison note were reviewed. All thirty-one Hebrew chapters were checked in the publisher BHS text, including the cached chapter 17 presentation identified under H17. Rashi and the cited patristic passages were checked in their linked presentations; Sefaria Avot was available only as an indexed excerpt. NETS, the full Logeion entry, the USCCB Luke 6 page, and the L4 lectionary page were inaccessible for fresh verification. No manuscript images, Göttingen volume, or full critical apparatus were collated.
The process and its limits
The work proceeded through independent Hebrew and Greek drafts, verse alignment, comparison classification, attributed reception, contextual English review, and whole-book structural checks. Page rendering verifies layout; it does not certify disputed lexical judgments or establish an original text.
English is newly drafted from the declared ancient texts. The earlier Saints Translation volumes and updated reference guide supply editorial conventions. Modern translations displayed beside ancient texts were not copied as the running translation. NETS supplied only the listed indirect checks; reception sources furnish brief attributed paraphrases.
Source register
[H] Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Elliger and Rudolph, fifth corrected edition prepared by Schenker, 1997; Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft publisher web presentation, 1 Samuel 1–31. Selected Hebrew running edition. Fresh direct review covered all thirty-one chapters; the cached chapter 17 presentation is identified under H17. Selected written/read checks are separately listed. Source
[H17] Publisher BHS 1997, 1 Samuel 17, recovered through its parallel presentation. All fifty-eight Hebrew verses and the edition footer were personally reviewed. Retrieved 11 September 2026 from a web cache marked crawled two weeks earlier; this establishes access to the selected main text, not live-page freshness or apparatus collation. Source
[G] Septuaginta, Rahlfs, revised by Hanhart, second revised edition, 2006; Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft publisher web presentation, 1 Reigns (1 Samuel) 1–31. Greek running text, without full apparatus collation. Exact chapter links follow. Source
[N] A New English Translation of the Septuagint, 1 Reigns, electronic edition, University of Pennsylvania. The original release records indirect English checks only at 1:14; 5:4, 6; 6:11; 15:11; 25:21; 27:8. The PDF was inaccessible in this review; those checks are not claimed as freshly repeated. Not the running translation base or direct Göttingen apparatus access. Source
[D1] Liddell–Scott–Jones, Greek-English Lexicon, entry σκῆπτρον, Logeion / University of Chicago. The original release records an indexed-excerpt check of contextual staff and tribal senses. The full entry and its specific indexed excerpt were not recoverable in this review; the current contextual renderings were reviewed against the Greek running text. Source
[D2] Brown–Driver–Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon, entry אֲגוֹרָה, reproduced in Bible Hub’s explicitly labeled BDB subsection. Freshly checked gloss payment at 1 Samuel 2:36; the site’s separate anonymous topical discussion is not the lexical authority. Source
[Q2] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 2, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 2:3, 16. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q4] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 4, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 4:13. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q14] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 14, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 14:27, 32. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q15] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 15, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 15:16. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q17] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 17, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications. The complete Hebrew chapter was also freshly read as an auxiliary check. The selected BHS publisher main text was independently verified through H17; Mechon Mamre does not certify BHS typography or apparatus. The written/read forms at 17:7, 23 were checked. The parallel English was not the translation base. Source
[Q20] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 20, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 20:2, 24, 38. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q22] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 22, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 22:17. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q24] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 24, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 24:5 in this volume, displayed as 24:4 at the host. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q25] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 25, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 25:3, 34. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[Q27] Mechon Mamre, 1 Samuel 27, pointed Masoretic Hebrew with written/read indications; targeted checks at 27:8. The parallel English is not the translation base. Source
[R1] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 1:11, 13; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[R2] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 2:9–10, 13, 22, 35; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[R16] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 16:7, 13; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[R17] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 17:25, 55; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[R25] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 25:31, 39; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[R28] Rashi, Commentary on 1 Samuel, at 28:13, 19; Chabad / Judaica Press presentation. Brief attributed commentary paraphrases, distinct from its modern Bible translation. Source
[RA] Mishnah Avot 5:16, Sefaria indexed text. A fresh indexed excerpt confirms David and Jonathan as the example of love not dependent on an external cause. The full interactive body remained unavailable; no broader commentary or variant review is claimed. Source
[C1] Augustine, The City of God XVII.4–6, New Advent transcription: Hannah’s song, the faithful priest, and David’s respect for Saul’s anointing. Selective attributed theological reception. Source
[C2] Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule III.4, Admonition 5, New Advent transcription: rulers and subjects, including David’s conscience after cutting Saul’s robe. Source
[C3] John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew 39.1–2, New Advent transcription: David’s bread in the interpretation of Matthew 12. The author’s name harmonization is identified as interpretation. Source
[C4] Augustine, On the Care of the Dead §§5, 18–19, New Advent transcription: care for bodies and burial; Samuel’s appearance and the alternative interpretation; divine power rather than the dead acting at will. Source
[NT1] Acts 13:20–23, Greek NA28 publisher presentation, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. Consulted for the Samuel–Saul–David–Jesus sequence; no separate New Testament translation or apparatus collation. Source
[NT2] Hebrews 11:32–40, USCCB biblical presentation. Consulted for the explicit remembrance of Samuel and David and the wider faith theme; only brief paraphrase used. Source
[NT3] Luke 1:46–55, Greek NA28 publisher presentation, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. Consulted for the editorial comparison of the Magnificat with Hannah’s song. Source
[NT4] 1 Corinthians 8:4–6, USCCB biblical presentation. Thematic comparison concerning idols, the one God, and Jesus Christ; no claim of explicit quotation of 1 Samuel. Source
[NT5] Luke 6:3–5, 27–38, 46–49, USCCB biblical presentation. The original cited presentation was inaccessible in this review. The bread, enemy-love, and obedience parallels were freshly checked in the official SBLGNT Greek text [NT5a]; only the bread passage explicitly reuses David’s story. Source
[NT5a] Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (2010), official Faithlife/SBLGNT Luke main-text file. Fresh contextual check at Luke 6:3–5, 27–38, 46–49 using the currently verified official file. Auxiliary New Testament parallel evidence, not a replacement First Samuel source. Source
[L1] USCCB, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, 29 December 2024, Lectionary 17. Optional first reading: 1 Samuel 1:20–22, 24–28; Gospel Luke 2:41–52. Selection facts used; liturgical English not reproduced. Source
[L2] USCCB, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 14 January 2024, Lectionary 65. 1 Samuel 3:3b–10, 19; Gospel John 1:35–42. The complete exact publisher page was freshly read on 11 September 2026, confirming the selection, Gospel pairing, occasion, and Lectionary 65. Source
[L3] USCCB, Fourth Sunday of Lent, scrutiny readings for Year A, 14 March 2021, Lectionary 31. 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6–7, 10–13a; Gospel John 9:1–41, with the listed shorter option. Source
[L4] USCCB, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 23 February 2025; inherited selection 1 Samuel 26:2, 7–9, 12–13, 22–23 with Luke 6:27–38. The publisher page was opened on 13 September 2026 and the selection (Reading I 1 Samuel 26:2, 7–9, 12–13, 22–23; Gospel Luke 6:27–38) is confirmed. Source
Direct chapter access
Hebrew publisher presentation [H]: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31
Greek publisher presentation [G]: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31
Some exact source links open a publisher page containing more than one edition. Only the declared Hebrew or Greek text furnished the corresponding running column. The extra modern versions on such pages were not the translation base.
Numbering and source alignment
The Hebrew publisher sequence contains 811 numbered verses. The Greek publisher sequence contains 773 numbered units, including 30:28a. Every source unit appears once in 812 comparison rows. This is a coverage statement about the selected editions, not about all manuscript witnesses.
Source location | Relationship | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
13:1 | The Hebrew regnal formula has no counterpart in this Greek edition. | The difficult Hebrew age and reign are retained with a note. Greek receives an editorial absence notice. |
17:12–31, 41, 50, 55–58 | Twenty-six Hebrew verses have no counterpart in the selected Greek chapter. | The complete Hebrew narrative remains in sequence. No longer Greek text from another witness is silently inserted. |
18:1–5, 10–11, 17–19, 30 | Eleven Hebrew verses have no counterpart in the selected Greek chapter. | All Hebrew verses and explicit Greek absence notices remain visible. |
21:1–16 | Both publisher sources use a sequence differing from common English numbering. | 21:1 = the final sentence of common English 20:42. Source 21:2–16 = common English 21:1–15. |
23:12 | The second Hebrew inquiry and reply have no counterpart in the selected Greek. | The Greek response at 23:11 is not expanded with Hebrew 23:12. |
24:1–23 | Both publisher sources again differ from common English numbering. | 24:1 = common English 23:29. Source 24:2–23 = common English 24:1–22. |
30:28a | The Greek edition includes an extra numbered list of four recipient groups. | A separate Greek-only comparison row preserves this source unit without invented Hebrew. |
Reading across verse boundaries
Punctuation preserves continuous speech and lists even when a row ends mid-sentence. Examples include Hannah’s Greek song at 2:8–9; the oath in chapter 20; the parting at 20:42–21:1; and the recipient list at 30:27–31. Each source’s wording stays in its own numbered unit.
Selected written/read decisions
Local notes identify the actual written/read distinction at 2:3, 9–10, 16; 4:13; 14:27, 32; 15:16; 17:7, 23; 20:2, 24, 38; 22:17; 24:5; 25:3, 34; 27:8. The register supplies the checked source. The supplied contextual my at 26:23 is an English pronoun decision, not a claimed qere.
Contextual term record
These are contextual decisions for 1 Samuel, not universal Hebrew–Greek equations. Transliteration is a reading aid. The ancient running texts at the named passages are the primary evidence; limited external checks are explicitly identified.
Source expression | English rendering | Context and reason |
|---|---|---|
YHWH / kyrios; hosts / Sabaoth | YHWH / Lord; hosts / Sabaoth | Each source’s own divine name and title is retained, including added God or a transliterated hosts title. Divine pronouns are capitalized only when the referent is clear. |
mashiaḥ / christos | Anointed one | The immediate referent is the anointed king or expected figure in the ancient text. Jesus is named only in attributed or editorial Christian reception. |
ʿeved, ’amah, shiphḥah / doulos, paidiskē, pais | Servant, maidservant, young servant; slave where enslavement is stated | Court service and deferential self-description do not establish legal enslavement. Explicit slave contexts remain explicit, including 2:27; 8:16–17; 17:8–9; 30:13. |
shevet / skēptron; phylē | Tribe or tribal division; staff; clan in the local hierarchy | Skēptron is contextual: tribal terminology in 9:21; 10:19–21; 15:17, but the staff used with honey in 14:27, 43. The precise Greek hierarchy at 9:21 and 15:17 remains provisional [D1]. |
bamah / Bama | High place / Bama | Greek’s transliterated form is retained at 9:12–25 and related passages; it is not silently replaced by the Hebrew noun. |
netsiv / Nasib; matsav / messab | Garrison or station / Nasib; messab | Context distinguishes Hebrew military nouns from Greek retained forms and the location Nasib Ephraim at 1:1. See 10:5; 13:3; 14:1 and local notes. |
’aron / kibōtos; ’ephod / ephoud | Ark; ephod / ephoud | At 14:18 Hebrew requests the ark and Greek the ephoud. The consequential object difference is preserved; Greek has no ephoud counterpart at 21:10. |
teraphim / kenotaphia | Teraphim / funerary images | The bed scene at 19:13, 16 preserves the Greek funerary-image term and the Hebrew teraphim. Greek goat liver is distinct from Hebrew goat-hair covering. |
kinnor; nevel / kinyra; nabla | Lyre; harp / kinyra; nabla | Source-specific instrument terms are preserved in 10:5 and 16:16–23. No precise reconstruction of ancient instrument design is asserted. |
nephesh / psychē | Soul or life, according to the clause | Distress of soul, endangered life, and the bundle-of-life imagery retain their contexts; the English does not settle a complete theory of the soul. |
ḥesed / eleos; ḥen / charis | Steadfast kindness / mercy; favor | Covenant and court settings govern the translation. Similar meaning may receive Same even where ordinary idiom differs. |
ephah, seah / oiphi; omer / gomor | Named ancient capacities retained | Examples include 1:24; 16:20; 25:18. Donkey-load and gomor at 16:20, and seahs and oiphi at 25:18, remain separate. No modern volume is imposed. |
shekel; pim; cubit and span | Shekel; pim; cubit and span | Weights, tool charges, and lengths retain their named units at 9:8; 13:20–21; 17:4–7. The obscure pim and tool-rate syntax remain qualified. |
bersechthan; ergab; amapheth | Retained Greek forms with contextual notes | The receptacle / stone settings in 6:8, 11, 15 and 20:19, 41 are explained locally; amapheth occurs at 5:4. Limited NETS checks are indirect [N]. |
Urim / dēla; tāmim-related prayer / dēla and hosiotēs | Urim / clear signs; clear signs and holiness in Greek 14:41 | The expanded Greek lot prayer is translated from its own words, without inserting Hebrew oracle names into it. Compare 28:6. |
’ov; yiddeʿoni / engastrimythos; gnōstēs | Medium; spiritist / ventriloquist; knower | Ancient divinatory categories in 28:3–9. Ventriloquist denotes the Greek ritual designation here, not modern stage entertainment. |
raʿah / ponēron, of the spirit | Evil; distressing action translated as stated | Terror, choking, and departure in 16:14–23 and related scenes retain their source distinctions. These ancient descriptions are not assigned clinical diagnoses. |
niḥam / parakaleō, metamelomai | Regret / be consoled, regret | At 15:11 the unusual perfect passive of parakaleō is retained provisionally; 15:35 uses a different Greek regret verb. The two are not mechanically harmonized [N]. |
Philistines / allophyloi | Philistines / foreigners | The Greek designation identifies the same narrative people contextually, while preserving its wording. Specific changed cities and personal names remain visible. |
ḥerem / Jerim in particular clauses | Devote to destruction / Jerim | The ban vocabulary and the Greek retained form in 15:3, 8 are not flattened. Chapter 15’s killing remains explicit. |
mishpat / dikaiōma | Rule, practice, or claim according to context | Priestly and royal usages in chapters 2, 8, 10 and David’s practice in 27:11 do not automatically mean a divinely approved ordinance. |
masaʿ, encampment forms / lampēnē; aroura | Camp enclosure / covered carriage; cultivated ground | The camp setting in chapter 26 and Greek cultivated-ground wording in 22:6; 31:13 preserve source-specific images. Local identifications remain qualified. |
Material decisions and remaining questions
Complete, independent source columns. The selected editions remain BHS 1997 and Rahlfs–Hanhart 2006. This review personally checked all thirty-one chapters in each publisher main text. Hebrew chapter 17 was recovered in a cached publisher presentation, retrieved 11 September 2026 and marked crawled two weeks earlier; no live-page freshness or apparatus access is inferred. Mechon Mamre remains an ancillary written/read check.
Unequal book length. The 811 Hebrew source verses and 773 Greek source units appear once in 812 rows. Thirty-nine Hebrew rows have no counterpart in the selected Greek; Greek 30:28a has no Hebrew counterpart. Absence labels are editorial and make no claim about every Greek witness.
Numbering. Navigation follows the publisher’s 1 Samuel sequence. The sentence at 21:1 and the location at 24:1 produce the differences from common English numbering recorded in the alignment guide. The Greek book is 1 Reigns, not the modern book 1 Kings.
Written/read Hebrew. Meaningful qere choices were checked at the passages identified by Q-codes and at 2:9–10 through Rashi. The written form and adopted reading are distinguished in local notes. This is a targeted reading-tradition check, not a full apparatus edition.
Names, amounts, and apparatus limits. Variant cities, families, objects, military totals, Goliath’s height, the bridal price, and the number of slain priests are retained without conjectural repairs. Reading the online main text or consulting NETS does not establish a Göttingen or manuscript-apparatus collation.
Contextual English review. Royal servants and deferential self-designations were reviewed against the servant/slave policy. Greek skēptron was checked for tribal and staff senses. Ordinary idiomatic differences were reclassified where they did not warrant Similar or a stronger category; the final totals are calculated from the reviewed rows.
Theological and narrative agency. Changed subjects, direct speech, divine titles, negatives, and statements of intention remain visible, including 2:25; 14:45; 15:11, 20; 20:13; 22:23; 26:16. Difficult clauses are marked provisional rather than silently made identical.
Hard narratives. The violence at Nob, intended and averted killing in chapter 25, destruction in chapter 15, killing of witnesses in chapter 27, and Saul’s death remain explicit. Christian headings guide reception without declaring every narrated action exemplary.
Samuel at Endor. The narrator’s Samuel, the woman’s plural vision, and the sources’ different prediction in 28:19 remain in the running text. Rashi and Augustine’s interpretations are attributed; neither demons nor an expanded doctrine of the afterlife is inserted.
Liturgical and reception scope. Four inherited Roman selections remain distinguished from editorial reading units. L1–L4 have all been verified on the publisher pages (L4 on 13 September 2026). Christ-centered framing distinguishes explicit apostolic reuse, the Davidic sequence, attributed patristic interpretation, and editorial thematic comparison. Rabbinic and Saints notes are selective and do not imply unanimity.
First-release change record. This is the first complete 1 Samuel volume in the series. Material pre-release corrections include contextual servant terminology, skēptron, qere at 2:9–10, classification calibration, and resolution of the temporary chapter-source substitutions. No previously released 1 Samuel edition is represented as revised.
Remaining review questions
1. Independent specialist review of the English and full Hebrew and Greek critical apparatuses remains outstanding. Coverage and page checks do not settle disputed readings or establish the earliest recoverable text.
2. Review the difficult portion expression at 1:5, the loan / request syntax at 2:20, the Great Abel clause at 6:18, and the unusually large death total at 6:19. No reconstructed number or object has been substituted.
3. Further lexical work is needed on Greek 8:3; the tribal hierarchy at 9:21 and 15:17; the gnaw instruction at 9:24; the expenditure at 10:2; and the subject / place construction at 11:8.
4. The regnal formula at Hebrew 13:1 remains textually problematic. Tool names and charges at 13:20–21, compressed Greek movement at 13:23, and several action clauses in chapter 14 require further specialist assessment.
5. Greek parakaleō at 15:11, the ritual wording at 15:23, Hebrew Agag’s manner at 15:32, and the changed source imagery in 19:13, 16 remain qualified in their local notes.
6. The oath syntax in chapter 20, especially Greek 20:9, 12–14, 21, 41, and the sacred-bread purity syntax at 21:6 warrant further review. The source-specific agents and negatives are retained.
7. Review the sparse Greek reply at 23:11, the supplied sparing subject in Hebrew 24:11, and the wording at Greek 25:21; 27:8. The provisional interpretations are stated rather than treated as certain.
8. The prediction at 28:19, the battle duration at 30:17, the extra Greek place list at 30:28a, and the wound / trembling and body-treatment verbs in chapter 31 should be assessed against broader textual evidence before publication.
Classification totals and Disparate index
Totals count comparison rows, not unique textual variants or degrees of theological disagreement. A sustained difference may govern more than one verse.
Category | Rows | Share of 812 comparison rows |
|---|---|---|
Same | 125 | 15.4% |
Similar | 140 | 17.2% |
Different | 406 | 50.0% |
Divergent | 115 | 14.2% |
Disparate | 26 | 3.2% |
Total | 812 | 100.0% |
Rows classified Disparate
The governing reasons below link to the full comparisons. Qualifications remain in the notes; a provisional lexical judgment is not promoted to certainty by its category.
Source reference | Governing textual consequence |
|---|---|
MT 1:5 | Hebrew’s difficult one portion appayim is provisionally read as a double portion; a choice portion is another interpretation. Greek expressly gives one portion because she has no child and makes the comparative love explicit. The rationale and distribution remain distinct. |
MT 1:6 | Hebrew names the rival as the agent of provocation. Greek describes Hannah’s distress and repeated divine withholding without narrating the rival’s action. That change in agency and explanation governs the comparison; the Greek expression of distress is repetitive and difficult. |
MT 1:11 | Greek adds a prohibition of wine and intoxicating drink and uses iron where Hebrew specifies a razor. It also expands the divine address and lacks the separate do-not-forget clause. The additional abstinence materially changes the stated vow. Adonai, Eloai, and Sabaoth are retained Semitic divine expressions in the selected Greek. |
MT 2:9 | Hebrew contrasts guarded faithful ones with wicked people silenced in darkness. Greek instead describes granted prayer and blessed years. These are materially different acts and recipients; only the closing denial of human strength closely corresponds. Hebrew follows the read plural faithful ones, against the written singular form noted by Rashi [R2, on 2:9]. |
MT 2:33 | Hebrew addresses your eyes and soul and predicts death in manhood; Greek has his eyes and soul and specifies death by men’s sword. The affected person and manner of death differ materially. The Hebrew final expression remains difficult. |
MT 4:7 | Hebrew uses a singular arrival verb with elohim; Greek explicitly says these gods have come and adds a plea to Lord for rescue. These remain the frightened enemy’s words. Neither the unexpected prayer nor the divine-number difference is harmonized away. |
MT 6:19 | Greek names Jeconiah’s sons and their displeasure; Hebrew directly connects the blow with looking at or into the ark. Both displayed texts retain seventy and fifty thousand; Hebrew juxtaposes the figures without “and.” Neither number is silently deleted. The Greek’s “among/with” relation and the precise offending action remain uncertain. |
MT 11:15 | Hebrew has the people make Saul king and Saul rejoice; Greek has Samuel anoint Saul, offer the sacrifices, and rejoice. Greek also distinguishes sacrifices and peace offerings. These changes of named actor are preserved. |
MT 12:15 | The threatened second party is your fathers in the displayed Hebrew and your king in Greek. Hebrew is not altered to “as against your fathers” or silently replaced by the Greek reading. |
MT 13:3 | Hebrew has a garrison and a call for the Hebrews to hear; Greek has Nasib the foreigner and an announcement of slaves’ rebellion. Nasib continues the untranslated name-like form in 10:5. Shofar and trumpet are kept as the respective instrument terms. |
MT 14:18 | Hebrew names the ark of God twice; Greek names the ephoud twice and its bearer. Hebrew’s closing conjunction is compressed; “with” supplies its understood relationship. The object used in the consultation is not harmonized. |
MT 14:24 | Hebrew begins with Israel’s distress; Greek begins with a negative judgment on Saul’s action. Hebrew has enemies, Greek a singular enemy. Bread can include food more broadly in this context; the concrete noun is retained. |
MT 14:40 | The displayed Greek twice has servitude, douleia, where Hebrew divides the parties into two sides. The difficult Greek is retained without replacement from Hebrew; no actual enslavement event is inferred from this wording alone. |
MT 14:45 | Hebrew grounds the defense in Jonathan’s working with God and says the people redeemed him. Greek grounds it in God’s people and says they prayed for him. Both preserve his survival. The oath’s literal if-clause expresses an emphatic negative in English. |
MT 15:11 | Hebrew expresses regret; Greek uses parakaleō in the perfect passive, literally being consoled or entreated. Its unexpected force is retained provisionally and distinguished from the regret verb in Greek 15:35. Hebrew’s anger and Greek’s discouragement also differ. |
MT 15:20 | Hebrew asserts listening to YHWH; Greek answers with listening to the people. This difference in Saul’s defense is not harmonized. |
MT 15:32 | Hebrew’s rare manner word is provisional: delicately, cheerfully, and in bonds have been proposed. Greek clearly has trembling. Hebrew’s statement about death’s bitterness passing differs from Greek’s question about its bitterness. |
MT 18:6 | Hebrew’s returning-battle preface is absent in Greek. The one met is King Saul in Hebrew and David in Greek. Hebrew shalishim is retained as an uncertain musical term rather than identified from Greek cymbals. |
MT 18:21 | Greek explicitly places the foreigners’ hand against Saul, in a narrator’s statement, rather than against David in Saul’s plan. It lacks the final marriage offer. Hebrew through the second is provisional for bishtayim, also understood as through one of the two or on a second occasion. |
MT 20:13 | Hebrew’s oath is construed as Jonathan’s pledge to warn of his father’s hostile intent. Greek explicitly says I will bring the evils upon you, followed by disclosure and safe departure; the awkward agency is retained, not silently changed to reporting evil. Hebrew YHWH corresponds to God in the first Greek clause, and wish to future assertion in the final blessing. The oath syntax warrants further specialist review. |
MT 22:23 | Hebrew explains their shared danger through the same pursuer; Greek promises David’s shared search for a place of refuge. Both promise protection, but the agency and rationale differ substantially. |
MT 23:11 | Hebrew first asks about the city’s masters surrendering David and receives an answer about Saul’s descent. Greek asks an impersonal-looking question about shutting up and receives that answer. Its unnamed singular subject is left open, possibly the city or the person enclosed. The responses are not harmonized, and Greek lacks a separate 23:12. |
MT 25:22 | The oath’s curse falls on David’s enemies in Hebrew and David himself in Greek. Greek names Nabal. The male-designating urination idiom is retained in both, with its violent scope left explicit. |
MT 25:29 | Hebrew’s final unnamed singular agent is construed as God; Greek explicitly makes David the slinger. Hebrew names your God and the sling’s hollow; Greek Lord God and the midst of the sling. Bundle/bond of life retains the related but distinct imagery. |
MT 28:16 | Hebrew describes YHWH as Saul’s adversary; Greek describes the Lord’s association with Saul’s neighbor. The different theological relation is retained, with the neighbor identified as David in 28:17. |
MT 28:19 | Hebrew says Saul and his sons will be with me, the speaker Samuel; Greek says they will fall, with you. Both announce defeat and death, but only Hebrew explicitly relates the dead to the speaker’s state. Neither column adds a judgment about their final salvation. |
Version record
V1 • 8 September 2026. First complete 1 Samuel volume. Review revision • 11 September 2026. Five Greek and three Hebrew translation corrections address ritual vocabulary, collectivity, conditional punctuation, physical posture, pronoun ambiguity, and silver payment. Nine related notes were corrected, with the original comparison categories retained. Source-access limits and precise reception citations were updated. No external scholarly approval or full critical apparatus review is claimed.