pu.qah denotes the heart’s potential staggering in a warning against bloodshed and self-deliverance.

The term denotes a potential staggering of heart in the warning that avoiding needless bloodshed and self-deliverance will leave no such burden.

1. A staggering of heart to be avoided · dominant

   In 1 Samuel 25:31, the feminine singular absolute noun occurs in the phrase concerning what will not be a staggering or stumbling of heart to the lord. The APB renders the clause, “this will not be a staggering or a stumbling of heart to my lord,” alongside warnings about blood poured out without cause and saving himself by his own hand.

   1 Samuel 25:31

In the Anselm Project Bible: In 1 Samuel 25:31, the APB presents the clause as “a staggering or a stumbling of heart.” The precise contribution of the term within that paired English wording cannot be isolated with certainty.