And Saul said: it will be more natural in some languages to say that Saul “asked.” And where direct quotations are less common, it may be better to translate this as indirect discourse: “Saul asked the young man whose son he was.”

David refers to his father as your servant, but this should not be taken to mean that Jesse worked directly for Saul. Rather the meaning is that he was a faithful subject of King Saul. Contemporary English Version translates the meaning with “a loyal Israelite.”

Jesse the Bethlehemite: see verse 12. Other possible translations include “Jesse of Bethlehem” (Revised English Bible and New American Bible) or “Jesse, from the town of Bethlehem.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .