2tnHeb “the Philistines.” The translation has substituted the pronoun “they” to avoid redundancy.
3tnHeb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4tnHeb “heavy.”
5tnHeb “and they found him, the ones who shoot with the bow, and he was in pain from the ones shooting.”
6tnHeb “so these uncircumcised ones might not come and abuse me.”
7tnHeb “all his house.” This is probably to be understood as a general summary statement. It could include other males in Saul’s household besides his three sons, cf. 1 Sam 31:6. If it refers only to the male members of his household who would have stood in succession to the throne (cf. NLT, “bringing his dynasty to an end,”) even here there is an exception, since one of Saul’s sons, Eshbaal (or “Ishbosheth” in 2 Sam 2:8) was not killed in the battle and became king over Israel, which he ruled for two years (2 Sam 2:10) until he was assassinated by Rechab and Baanah (2 Sam 4:5-6). The tribe of Judah never acknowledged Ishbosheth as king; instead they followed David (2 Sam 2:10).
8tnHeb “they”; the referent (the army) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9tn Or “god.” The Hebrew term may be translated as singular or plural depending on the context.
10tnHeb “arose and carried away the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons.”
11tnHeb “their bones.”
12tnHeb “and Saul died because of his unfaithfulness by which he acted unfaithfully against the Lord, concerning the word of the Lord which he did not keep, also to Saul, a ritual pit to seek.” The text alludes to the incident recorded in 1 Sam 28. The Hebrew term אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב (ba’alat-’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. A. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew áo‚b,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.
13tnHeb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.