Study Desk

When the army had returned to camp, the leaders of Isra'el asked, "Why has Adonai defeated us today before the P'lishtim? Let's bring the ark for the covenant of Adonai from Shiloh to us, so that he will come among us and save us from our enemies."

Be strong; and behave like men, you P'lishtim; so that you won't become slaves to the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Behave like men, and fight!"

So they summoned all the leaders of the P'lishtim and said, "Send the ark of the God of Isra'el away! Let it go back to its own place, so that it won't kill us and our people!" — because death and panic pervaded the whole city; God's oppression was very heavy there.

Thus the P'lishtim were humbled, so that they no longer entered Isra'el's territory; and the hand of Adonai was against the P'lishtim as long as Sh'mu'el lived.

However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice.

so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles."

All the people said to Sh'mu'el, "Pray to Adonai your God for your servants, so that we won't die; because to all our other sins now we've added this evil as well, asking for a king over us."

But the people said to Sha'ul, "Must Y'honatan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Isra'el? Heaven forbid! As Adonai lives, not one hair of his head will fall to the ground; because he worked with God today!" In this way the people rescued Y'honatan, so that he didn't die.

"I regret setting up Sha'ul as king, because he has turned back from following me and hasn't obeyed my orders." This made Sh'mu'el very sad, so that he cried to Adonai all night.

Now, please, pardon my sin; and come back with me, so that I can worship Adonai ."

Then Sha'ul said, "I have sinned; but in spite of that, please show me respect now before the leaders of my people and before Isra'el by coming back with me, so that I can worship Adonai your God."

David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and hurled it with his sling. It struck the P'lishti in his forehead and buried itself in his forehead, so that he fell face down on the ground.

By the time David had finished speaking to Sha'ul, Y'honatan found himself inwardly drawn by David's character, so that Y'honatan loved him as he did himself.

The following day an evil spirit from God came powerfully over Sha'ul, so that he fell into a frenzy in the house. David was there, playing his lyre as on other occasions. This time Sha'ul had his spear in his hand;

Sha'ul said, "I'll give her to him, so that she can entrap him, and the P'lishtim can do away with him." So Sha'ul said to David, "Today you will become my son-in-law through the second [daughter]."

Sha'ul said, "Here's what you are to say to David: ‘The king doesn't want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the P'lishtim, so that he can have vengeance on the king's enemies." For Sha'ul was hoping to have David killed by the P'lishtim.

This only made Sha'ul the more afraid of David, so that Sha'ul became David's enemy for the rest of his life.

The leaders of the P'lishtim would attack; but whenever they attacked, David was more successful than any of Sha'ul's servants; so that David acquired a great reputation.

when Sha'ul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear. But he dodged it and moved out of Sha'ul's way, so that the spear stuck in the wall. David fled, so that night he escaped.

Sha'ul sent the messengers to see David with the order, "Bring him up to me, bed and all, so that I can kill him."