2tn Heb “the Philistines.” The translation has substituted the pronoun “they” to avoid redundancy.

3tn Heb “his”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

4tn Heb “heavy.”

5tn Heb “and they found him, the ones who shoot with the bow, and he was in pain from the ones shooting.”

6tn Heb “so these uncircumcised ones might not come and abuse me.”

7tn Heb “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).

8tn Heb “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.

10tn Heb “arose and carried away the corpse of Saul and the corpses of his sons.”

11tn Heb “their bones.”

12tn Heb “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.

13tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.