Samantha Joo, ««Trembled Like Him»: Reassessment of 1 Sam 13,7b», Vol. 91 (2010) 433-440
Commentaries and translations have traditionally translated the preposition, rx), in 1 Sam 13,7b (wyrx) wdrx M(h) as either modifying the subject or indicating the «back» of Saul. However, the preposition is better explained as «following and imitating» so that the army trembled like Saul. Since Saul was afraid of the Philistines, his fear infects the army, which scatters from him. Therefore, Saul, according to the Davidic court historian, is an ineffective military leader.
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“ TREMBLED LIKE HIM †: REASSESSMENT 1 SAM 13,7B
OF
verb occurs by itself without any preposition 7. Therefore some translations
have actually linked the preposition to the subject of the clause, μ[h (“ the
people â€) :
And all the troops with him were quaking with fear. (NIV)
And all the people followed him trembling. (NRSV)
Similarly, JPS comments that the meaning is uncertain but translates:
And the rest of the people rallied to him in alarm.
And others have tried to make sense of the preposition with the verb:
With all the army trembling behind him. (McCarter) 8
While all the troops went trembling after him. (Tsumura) 9
Even the Lucian recension of the LXX provides a distinct translation.
It appears to reflect the Hebrew wyrjam and is translated, “the people
forsook him trembling†10. Rather than reflect a different Hebrew Vorlage,
the Lucian recension may actually reveal an effort to translate the
awkward phrase.
Based on a nuanced translation of the preposition, rja, however, the
phrase may reflect a different reading which may perhaps point to a flaw
in Saul’s character. The preposition usually denotes the direction toward
the hinder part when it is used with verbs “expressing or implying
m o t i o n †11. Therefore, it is translated as “after†in the genitive.
Consequently, one “goes after†(rja Èlh), “pursues after†(rja πdr), or
“ fornicate after†(rja hnz) someone/something. However, the verb, “to
tremble â€, is not a verb of motion but reflects a mental or physical reaction
to fear. And none of the verbs with that sense occur with the preposition
rja 12. Therefore, one could not “tremble after†or behind someone unless
indicating the hinter location which most translations seem to follow. The
When the verb does occur with a preposition, it occurs with l[ (Isa
7
66,2), la (Isa 66,5), and b (Ezra 9,4, 10,3). All these late texts use the
preposition to indicate the object causing the trembling, specifically the word
of God. The people are to tremble at the word of God.
MCCARTER, I Samuel, 224.
8
D. TSUMURA, The First Book of Samuel (NICOT ; Grand Rapids, MI
9
2006) 340.
The Lucian Greek has the following reading, ejesthsan apo opisuen
ߥ ß ù¶
10
aytoy. The preposition, apo, shows the direction “away from†the subject of
ߘ ߥ
the genitive. See S.R. DRIVER, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography
of the Books of Samuel with an Introduction on Hebrew Palaeography and the
Ancient Versions and Facsimiles of Inscriptions and Maps (Oxford 21913) 100.
BDB, 29.
11
None of the verbs for fear/shudder (πna/πnath, πxq/πxqth, s[b, μ[z, π[z
12
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