The passive formulation Blessed be you may be made active by saying “May God bless you” or “I pray that God will bless you.”

My son David: see verse 17.

Do many things: literally “doing you will do” or “to do you will do.” This may be taken to mean that significant activity will be attempted. And in certain languages the verb succeed is difficult to translate. The basic meaning of the verb is “to be able.” The same word is used elsewhere for being victorious in battle (17.9). The idea is the effective accomplishment of whatever is undertaken. In Revised English Bible the two verbs are translated “you will do great things and be triumphant.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “you shall achieve and you shall prevail.” Others take the two verbs together to mean “in whatever you undertake, you will certainly succeed.”

His place: that is, “his palace” (Nueva Biblia Española).

If indirect discourse is preferred, the following model may prove helpful to translators:

• Saul wished God’s blessing on David and told him that he would do well in whatever he decided to do. Then David went on his way and Saul went back to his house.

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 .