The Hebrew text leaves certain information implicit. Since Saul was not with the messengers, it is most probable that he sent for Michal to come to him.

Escaped: see the comments on verse 10 above.

And Michal answered Saul: Good News Translation follows English style by not immediately repeating names. Good News Translation also changes direct discourse into indirect at the end of this verse. In Hebrew the words of David are a quotation within the larger quotation of Michal’s speech.

He said to me: in this context the verb said may be rendered “threatened” (see next paragraph).

Why should I kill you? This elliptical expression may need to be expanded in translation. Implicit in the question is the threat that David will kill Michal if she tries to prevent him from escaping. The words Let me go do not mean that Michal was holding David back with ropes or chains, or restraining him in some other physical way. Compare Revised English Bible (“He said to me, ‘Help me to escape or I shall kill you.’ ”) and New American Bible (“He threatened me, ‘Let me go or I will kill you’ ”). The implied threat should be translated in such a way as to indicate that this is what Michal said in response to Saul. But it does not necessarily mean that what she said is what actually happened.

The quote within a quote found in Revised Standard Version accurately reflects the form of the Hebrew but may be quite unnatural in other languages. Good News Translation provides a good model for making the embedded quotation into indirect discourse. Contemporary English Version and New Century Version handle the problem in a similar way.

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 .

David had escaped from Saul and went to Ramah, the town where Samuel lived (see 7.17; 15.34). Contemporary English Version begins a new section at this point with the heading “Samuel Helps David Escape.” Both Contemporary English Version and Revised English Bible start this verse with the word “Meanwhile,” showing that the events described here were happening at the same time as Saul was questioning Michal about David’s disappearance.

Fled and escaped: the first verb in this pair is a different Hebrew verb from that translated “fled” in verse 10 above. It expresses the idea of evading or fleeing from continuing unpleasant and dangerous circumstances.

Naioth: there are several difficulties in translating this Hebrew word. The consonants in the Hebrew text are n-w-y-th. A scribal note in the margin of the Masoretic Text, however, suggests that the word should be n-y-w-th, reversing the second and third letters. This marginal reading is followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. If this is a place name, it appears to be a location within the city of Ramah (see verses 19, 22, and 23).

Others, however, follow the Aramaic Targum and understand the word in the text to refer to a house of instruction where groups of prophets lived (see verse 20). Support for this interpretation comes from a similar word in Akkadian meaning “encampment.” This is the basis for the translations in New American Bible (“went to stay in the sheds”) and New Jerusalem Bible (“went and lived in the huts”). Similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje say “house of the prophets.” If one follows this interpretation, La Bible du Semeur provides a good model, “went to stay in the community of prophets.” See also Nueva Biblia Española, “the monastery in Ramah.”

Whichever solution is adopted in the text of the translation, the alternative interpretation should be placed in a footnote. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, for example, both translate this word as a name in the text but explain in a note that it may also be a noun meaning “huts [of prophets].” Contemporary English Version, on the other hand, translates “went to Prophet’s Village” in the text and in a footnote says “Or ‘Naioth.’ ”

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 .

Revised Standard Version maintains the direct quotation of the Hebrew text. Good News Translation, like Revised English Bible and Knox, restructures and uses an indirect quotation, which is more natural here in English, although in some languages this may lose something of the dramatic effect of the original.

And it was told Saul: literally “And it was told Saul, saying.” This passive formulation may be made active by saying “Someone told Saul” (Contemporary English Version) or “They [indefinite] told Saul.”

Behold: the focusing particle here directs the reader’s attention to the revelation to Saul about where David was located.

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 .

Then: Saul’s action is a logical result of the report he had received. For this reason it may be better to translate the common Hebrew conjunction here as “Therefore” or “Accordingly” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Messengers: see the comments at verses 11 and 14-16. These were not necessarily the same men, but once again their task was not just to convey a verbal message. So the word may be better rendered by a more general term like “agents” (New Jerusalem Bible), “men” (New International Version), or “soldiers” (Contemporary English Version).

When they saw: the Hebrew is singular, as the note in Good News Translation states. Nearly all translations, including New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, follow the ancient versions in reading this verb as plural. If the singular is correct, then it may refer to the unmentioned leader of the group, but this seems unlikely. More likely the messengers are thought of as one body acting in total agreement. Regardless of whether the singular or the plural is original in Hebrew, in most languages it will probably be necessary to use the plural for translation reasons.

The company: this word occurs only here in the Old Testament, and the exact meaning is not clear. But most versions take it to mean something like “group” (New International Version, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version), “band” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible), or “community” (New Jerusalem Bible).

Prophesying and prophesied: see the comments on 10.5. The meaning is the same in this context.

As head over them: as the footnote in New Revised Standard Version states, the meaning of the Hebrew is not certain. The general sense is clear, however. Compare “as their leader” (Good News Translation and New International Version), “in charge of them” (New Revised Standard Version), and “presided over by Samuel.” (New American Bible).

The Spirit of God: New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible say “spirit of God.” See the comments on “the spirit of the LORD” at 10.6. For some unknown reason, Revised Standard Version capitalizes the word for “spirit” here but not in 10.6. The lowercase letter is, however, preferred in both cases.

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 .

When it was told Saul: literally “When they told Saul.” The literal rendering of the Hebrew will provide a much better model for languages that do not naturally use a passive here. Others may say “some people told Saul.” Another way of handling this problem is to make Saul the subject of the verb “heard,” as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version. This conveys the same meaning and may be more natural.

Prophesied: see verse 20 and 10.5.

As in earlier verses the word translated messengers here may be better translated “another group of soldiers” (Contemporary English Version) or something similar.

Instead of repeating the words they also prophesied at the end of the verse, Good News Translation says simply “the same thing happened to them.” This avoids a threefold repetition, which some consider stylistically inappropriate in English. Such repetition, however, may be perfectly acceptable in some other languages.

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 .

Then: the common conjunction here introduces the climax in a series of events. For this reason a number of modern versions begin this verse with the word “Finally” (New International Version, New Century Version, Contemporary English Version).

He himself went: this emphatic form refers to Saul, and the emphasis should be retained in translation where possible. The verb went should not be translated in such a way as to indicate that Saul actually arrived at Ramah immediately. The context speaks of certain events taking place along the way. So it will be better to translate the verb as in Good News Translation, or “set out for [Ramah]” (Revised English Bible), or “took the road…” (Knox).

Well: as noted in the discussion at 13.6, the Hebrew word refers to a storage place for water, dug in the rocky ground. Some translations use the word “cistern” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Fox) or “storage-well” (New Jerusalem Bible), since a well usually refers to a hole dug into the ground to find water that is already underground, not stored by people.

Secu is an unidentified place either in or near Ramah—probably a village, but that is not certain. Some manuscripts of the Septuagint and the Vulgate say “on the bare hill” instead of Secu. These manuscripts are the basis for the New American Bible translation, “Arriving at the cistern of the threshing floor on the bare hilltop, he inquired…” (and similarly Klein). In Hebrew the word meaning great is similar in spelling to the word for “threshing floor,” and in Secu is similar to “on the bare hilltop.”

And he asked: literally “and he asked and said.”

In those languages where the direct quotations of this verse are considered less natural than indirect discourse, Good News Translation will serve as a good model for translators.

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 .

Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint, which has the word from after the verb he went. If one follows the Septuagint, then the word there refers to Ramah (see verse 22). The meaning is basically the same: Saul was in Ramah near the well that is in Secu (verse 22), and he continued on to Naioth in Ramah.

But if one follows the Masoretic Text, there is a slightly different emphasis from that found in the Septuagint. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text and suggests a translation such as “And he went there to that very place, to Naioth in Ramah.” Good News Translation is based on the Masoretic Text, but because it omits the words to Naioth in Ramah, it loses some of the force of the Hebrew. Saul had sent messengers three times to Naioth in Ramah (verses 20-21), and now he is going to that very place himself. Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, “He was on his way there, to Naioth in Ramah, when the spirit of God came upon him too.”

The Spirit of God: see the comments on verse 20.

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 too stripped off his clothes: the word too indicates that either the earlier messengers or the prophets, or both, were without clothes. The meaning expressed by the word too should not be omitted in translation. It is repeated with the word prophesied as well, and this repetition gives it added emphasis. The words rendered he too are, in fact, the same as those translated “he himself” in verse 22. Fox preserves the emphasis by translating verses 23 and 24 as follows:
So he went there, to Nayot in Rama, and there came upon him, him too, the spirit of God; he went, going-along and ranting-like-a-prophet, until he arrived at Nayot in Rama. And he stripped off, he too, his garments, and he ranted-like-a-prophet, he too, before Shemuʾel.

Prophesied: see verse 20.

Lay naked: a literal translation of this expression may have quite a different meaning in other languages. If this is the case it may be more accurate to say “lay without clothes” or something similar.

Hence it is said, “… among the prophets?” For a different explanation of this saying, see 10.9-12. To show that these words are the writer’s aside to explain to the readers a well-known saying, Good News Translation places this sentence within parentheses and says “This is how the saying originated.” Compare New International Version: “This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ ”

It is quite clear that the words it is said refer to a common saying among the people of Israel at the time and not just to something that was said on that one occasion, as the rendering of the Living Bible (Living Bible) would lead readers to believe: “ ‘What!’ they exclaimed. ‘Is Saul a prophet, too?’ ” The writer certainly intends to explain one of the sources of the proverbial saying.

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 .