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1 Samuel 4:1

Hebrew Bible

1 The word of Samuel was given to all Israel¹. The Ark of the Covenant is Lost to the Philistines. Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight Israel. As the battle spread out, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men in the battle line in the field. 3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies.”

Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)

Source

Jonathan 1 Samuel 4:1

Targum

1 The word of Samuel was pleasing to all Israel and Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and camped beside Ebenezer and the Philistines camped in Aphek 2 The Philistines lined up in battle against Israel and the warriors fought and Israel was defeated before the Philistines and they killed about four thousand men on the battlefield 3 The people came to the camp and the elders of Israel said Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines Let us bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh so that it may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies

Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)

Source

Search: 1 Samuel, Jonathan 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 4:1, Jonathan 1 Samuel 4:1

Compare: 1 Samuel with Jonathan 1 Samuel, Hebrew Bible - Targum < >

Notes and References

"... The Masoretic text of 1 Samuel 4:1 states: “And the word of Samuel was to all Israel.” Targum Jonathan 1 Samuel 4:1 reads “And the word of Samuel was pleasing to all Israel” in order to avoid the notion of an analogy of Samuel’s word to God’s word. (The Septuagint of 1 Samuel 4:1 differs totally: “And it happened in those days that the allophyles mustered for war against Israel.” The translator “seeks to exculpate the Israelites and [to] place the fault with the Philistines”) In the Septuagint, this passage is missing. Both changing and omission have a common concern: One does not want to confuse the word of Samuel with the word of God ..."

Meiser, Martin The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (p. 73) Mohr Siebeck, 2022

* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.

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