David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men: as in the previous verse, the structure of the Hebrew focuses on David but includes his men as well. Of course this does not mean that David, all of his troops, and their families lived in the same compound with the king of Gath. Good News Translation, in fact, omits the words with Achish. The sense is that both Achish and all of David’s men lived in the same city.

Ahino-am of Jezreel: see the comments on 25.43.

Abigail of Carmel: see the comments on 25.3. The word order in Hebrew is literally “and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite [feminine].” The Masoretic Text calls Abigail “the Carmelite.” According to the Septuagint, Nabal is called the Carmelite; and this is the basis for those translations such as New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible that say “Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel.”

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 .