Contemporary English Version begins this verse with the words “One day,” marking the beginning of a new episode in the ongoing story of Saul and Samuel.

The placement of the question mark in Revised Standard Version may be confusing. The question is only How long will you grieve over Saul? And in some cases this may be rendered as a statement, “You cannot go on grieving over Saul forever.”

I have rejected him is a decisive statement and not a part of the question. See 15.23 and 26 for the statement that God has rejected Saul.

Fill your horn with oil, and go: that is, go to anoint the new king. The same Hebrew word translated horn may refer to the horn of a live animal, but the term is also used for containers made from animal horns and used for holding liquids (the same term occurs in 1 Kgs 1.39). The oil was “olive oil” (see Exo 30.22-25), and this may be made explicit as Good News Translation has done.

I will send you: this is not an indefinite future notion. Rather it indicates that the LORD is in the process of sending Samuel to the home of Jesse. The future tense should therefore probably be avoided. New American Bible and Revised English Bible translate “I am sending you,” while Good News Translation simply uses the imperative “go.”

Jesse the Bethlehemite: Jesse was from the tribe of Judah, from the clan of Ephrathah according to 17.12. He lived in the city of Bethlehem. Ephrathah in the Old Testament refers both to the clan and to a city. The city is identified with Bethlehem in Micah 5.2 (see also Gen 35.19; 48.7). Probably Ephrathah had originally been a separate village but later became a part of the city of Bethlehem. See also Ruth 1.2. Here it is probably best to translate “Jesse from the town of Bethlehem” or “Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem” (New Century Version, Contemporary English Version).

I have provided: literally “I have seen.” This verb is used here, as also in 16.7; Gen 22.8; 41.33; and 2 Kgs 10.3, with the meaning “to choose” or “to select.”

For myself: although these words are omitted by Good News Translation, they may be important. The addition of these words may be taken to indicate that God has chosen the person he wanted as opposed to one whom the people wanted (so Gordon, page 150). This seems to be the implication of New American Bible, “I have chosen my king….”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Since a question follows, some languages will prefer to translate the verb said as “asked.” And the rhetorical question may have to be rendered as an emphatic statement, “I cannot possibly do that!”

If Saul hears it: that is, if Saul hears that Samuel is going to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king to replace Saul.

A heifer, that is, a female cow that had not yet had a calf. Such an animal could be used for peace offering sacrifices (see Lev 3.1) but could not be used for other sacrifices (see Lev 1.3; 4.3). Good News Translation does not indicate that this “calf” was a female, but such information should be preserved in the receptor language if this can be done naturally.

The end of this verse contains a quotation within a quotation. In some languages it will be better to follow the model of Good News Translation and change this into an indirect quotation.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Invite translates the Hebrew word that is elsewhere rendered “call” (as in the story of the calling of Samuel in chapter 3). It is also used in 6.2, where the Philistines summoned the priests and magicians.

Show you: this verb is literally “cause you to know.” It may be better rendered “inform you.” Some other renderings are “make known to you” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “tell you” (New American Bible), or “reveal to you” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Anoint: see the comments on 2.10.

For me: see the comments on “for myself” in verse 1 above. Here again the emphasis seems to be intentional, but Good News Translation again omits this element.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The use of the conjunction and between the first two clauses may give the mistaken impression that going to Bethlehem and doing what the LORD commanded were two different things. The meaning is rather that Samuel followed the LORD’s command, and going to Bethlehem was a part of that. Certain versions (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) make a separate sentence of the first clause. Then the part that speaks of going to Bethlehem is made a temporal relative clause (“When he arrived at Bethlehem…”) introducing the main clause about the reaction of the elders of that city.

Bethlehem was located about eight kilometers (or five miles) south-southwest of Jerusalem.

The elders: see the comment on 4.3.

Trembling: see the comments on 13.7. No reason is given to explain why the elders were fearful or felt a sense of terror. Some scholars argue that the meaning of this verb here should be explained on the basis of a similar sounding verb in Arabic, meaning “set off in haste.” This understanding is apparently the basis for the Revised English Bible translation here and in 21.1 “in haste,” but this interpretation is not widely accepted.

Do you come peaceably? Some translations follow the Septuagint and a manuscript from Qumran and say “Is your visit peaceful, O seer?” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Anchor Bible). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project has no discussion of this textual problem. The Masoretic Text should be followed.

The Hebrew text contains a grammatical difficulty, in that the text says literally “and he [Samuel?] said, ‘Do you [singular] come peaceably?’ ” Many Hebrew manuscripts have the plural verb “and they asked.” The singular verb form is, however, easily explained as expressing the indefinite personal subject, as in 2 Sam 2.16.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The verb said will be better rendered “replied” (New Jerusalem Bible) in certain languages, because this is a part of an ongoing conversation.

Samuel responds by repeating the main word in the elders’ question, Peaceably. He then goes on to state more specifically why he has come. But in some languages it may be much more natural to begin his answer by a simple “Yes” (New Jerusalem Bible as well as Good News Translation).

Consecrate yourselves: ritual purity was required before certain religious practices could be performed, and specific cleansings were required for different forms of ritual impurity. Compare Exo 19.9-15, where Moses consecrates the people of Israel. The verb used here and repeated in the following sentence contains the root meaning “holy.” It has to do with being set aside for a particular purpose, or being withdrawn from ordinary use to serve God in some way. In this case the elders of Bethlehem are instructed to devote themselves exclusively to the sacrifice Samuel was about to make.

He consecrated Jesse and his sons: the Hebrew states that Samuel consecrated Jesse and his son, not that they consecrated themselves, as Good News Translation states. Compare the consecration of Eleazar in 7.1.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

He looked: the subject is still Samuel, which Good News Translation makes explicit.

Eliab: identified as Jesse’s oldest son in 17.13. The context may be sufficient to indicate that this is one of Jesse’s sons; but translators may wish to make that explicit by identifying Eliab more fully as “Jesse’s son,” “one of Jesse’s sons” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), or even “Jesse’s oldest son” (Contemporary English Version).

Thought: the verb in Hebrew is literally “said,” but the context seems to indicate that this is something that Samuel said to himself. In some languages it will be better not to translate these thoughts as direct discourse. It may be preferable to say “he thought that the person standing there was certainly the one the LORD had chosen.”

Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him: literally “Surely before the LORD his anointed.” Regarding the expression the LORD’s anointed, see the comments on 2.10.

Before him: that is, before the LORD.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

In some languages it will be necessary to know whether other people who were present could hear what the LORD said to Samuel here and in the following verses. It is not clear from the Hebrew whether they could. That Samuel has to tell Jesse in verse 10 that the LORD had not chosen any of the seven sons suggests that only Samuel heard what God said to him.

But: the common Hebrew conjunction is properly translated by the contrasting conjunction in English, since the LORD’s response is contrary to the thinking of Samuel.

A literal translation of the remainder of this verse reads “Don’t look on his appearance or the height of his standing, for I-have-rejected-him, for not which man sees for man looks to/with the eyes but Yahweh looks to the heart.” The Septuagint has an addition in the middle of this verse which reads as follows: “for not which man sees that God sees for man looks….” New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible follow the Septuagint. Revised Standard Version has added the words the LORD in the middle of the verse for reasons of English style. But if this is taken as a direct quotation of what Yahweh said, then in most languages it will be more natural to change the term—whether LORD or God—to “I” in this context.

Appearance: this English word occurs twice in this verse, and in the second case it is qualified as outward appearance in Revised Standard Version. This second occurrence is literally “with the eyes.” The word appearance seems to focus on physical attractiveness, which leads certain English translations to use the word “handsome.” The same term is used later in the description of David (17.42).

The height of his stature is somewhat redundant and may be reduced to “his height” or “how tall he is,” as in certain modern language versions.

The Hebrew word rendered man does not refer to males in opposition to females. Rather man (that is, human beings in general) here stands in contrast to deity. Revised English Bible says “The LORD does not see as a mortal sees.” New Jerusalem Bible says “as human beings see.”

Man looks on the outward appearance is literally “man looks with the eyes,” as noted above.

The heart: see the comments on 1.8.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Abinadab: identified as Jesse’s secondborn son in 17.13. Here, as with Eliab in verse 6, Good News Translation identifies Abinadab as Jesse’s “son.”

Made him pass before Samuel: there is no emphasis on the coercion of an unwilling subject in this phrase or in verse 9 where the same form is used. Contemporary English Version here translates freely “Jesse told his son Abinadab to go over to Samuel.”

And he said: that is, Samuel said or “Samuel thought.” See also verse 9. But in some languages indirect discourse will be more appropriate here: “But Samuel rejected him also because he was not the one that the LORD had chosen.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .