UTN uW Translation Notes:

1 Samuel 19 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the part of the book that describes how David became king (chapters 16–31). It describes how, after promising not to harm David, Saul once again became jealous of David’s success as a military leader. This led Saul to try once again to kill David, both indirectly, by sending soldiers to kill him, and directly, by ordering soldiers to bring David to him and by pursuing David in person. But Yahweh continued to protect David so that he could survive and eventually become the next king of Israel.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

What was the “teraphim” that Michal had in her home?

In 19:13, the author says that Michal took a “teraphim” that she had in her home and put it in David’s bed under a covering to make it look as if David was there. She did that to help David escape. Teraphim were idols that people kept in their homes. While contexts such as [Genesis 31:34](../gen/31/34.md) suggest that in some cases they were small, the context in this chapter shows that the teraphim Michal had was the size of a man. It appears that Michal worshiped this idol in some way. But that does not mean that David did. Samuel said in 13:14 that Yahweh considered David to be “a man according to his heart” who would do all that he commanded. So we may be confident that David was wholeheartedly devoted to Yahweh and worshiped only him, even though his wife unfortunately kept an idol in their home.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“Naioth”

The author says in 19:18 that David and Samuel “stayed in Naioth.” The word “Naioth” is not attested as a place name in any other passage of the Bible or in any historical sources. The term means “dwellings,” and it seems to refer to a cluster of lodgings that had been built near Ramah for young prophets whom Samuel was training. Samuel apparently felt that David would be safer within a community of people, and he may also have hoped that Saul would not seek to harm David within an area that was dedicated to a sacred purpose. While Naioth may have become the name of these lodgings, it might also have been a descriptive term, and the author may be using it in that way. So instead of saying “in Naioth,” you might to choose to say something such as “among the lodgings of the young prophets.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, consider what it says.

“Is Saul among the prophets?” (19:24)

In 10:12, the author describes the origin of this short popular saying. Originally people in the culture applied it to situations in which a person did something that was surprising in light of his upbringing or family of origin. In 19:24, the author describes how this saying came to be applied to a further type of situation, one in which a person did something that was very unexpected. You could indicate that explicitly in your translation if that would be helpful to your readers. The UST models one way to do that.