2tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).

3tn Heb “mourned after”; NIV “mourned and sought after”; KJV, NRSV “lamented after”; NAB “turned to”; NCV “began to follow…again.”

4tn Heb “the Ashtarot” (plural; also in the following verse). The words “images of” are supplied for clarity.

sn The Semitic goddess Astarte was associated with love and war in the ancient Near East. The presence of Ashtarot in Israel is a sign of pervasive pagan and idolatrous influences; hence Samuel calls for their removal. See 1 Sam 31:10, where the Philistines deposit the armor of the deceased Saul in the temple of the Ashtarot, and 1 Kgs 11:5, 33; 2 Kgs 23:13, where Solomon is faulted for worshiping the Ashtarot.

5tn Following imperatives, the jussive verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

6tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

7tn Heb “said.”

8tn Heb “judged”; NAB “began to judge”; TEV “settled disputes among.”

9tn Heb “don’t stop.”

10tc The LXX reads “your God” rather than the MT’s “our God.”

11tn After the negated jussive, the prefixed verbal form with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose/result.

12tn Heb “a lamb of milk”; NAB “an unweaned lamb”; NIV “a suckling lamb”; NCV “a baby lamb.”

13tn Heb “approached for battle against Israel.”

14tn Heb “before.”

15tn Cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT “Jeshanah.”

16sn The name Ebenezer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר) means “stone of help” in Hebrew (cf. TEV); NLT adds the meaning parenthetically after the name.

17tn Heb “hand.”

18tn Heb “judged” (also in v. 17).

19map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

20tn Or perhaps “settled disputes for” (cf. NLT “would hear cases there”; NRSV “administered justice there”).