Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageThe women sang back and forth to each other: 'Saul has struck down his thousands—but David his tens of thousands!'
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThe women who were dancing called out to one another: 'Sha'ul has struck down his thousands, and Dawid his tens of thousands!'
KJV
King James VersionAnd the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAnd as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”
Footnotes
The antiphonal song uses the classic Hebrew device of ascending stepped parallelism—alafim (אֲלָפִים, thousands) rising to revavot (רְבָבֹות, tens of thousands). This is standard victory-hymn hyperbole, not a precise tally; the point is relative honour. Saul, however, hears the stepped intensification as a political ranking, which exposes the fragility of his security. The refrain will echo twice more in 1 Samuel (21:11; 29:5), becoming a prophetic chorus narrating David's inevitable ascent. FOG Message adds the contrastive 'but' to let the fatal sting register on a modern ear.