1 Samuel 21:15
in 1 Samuel 21Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
KJV
Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
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This verse in 1 Samuel 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseShall this fellow come into my house? - I will not take into my service a man who is liable to so grievous a disease. Chandler, who vindicates David’s feigning himself, mad, concludes thus: “To deceive the deceiver is in many instances meritorious, in none criminal. And what so likely to deceive as the very reverse of that character which they had so misconstrued? He was undone as a wise man, he had a chance to escape as a madman; he tried, and the experiment succeeded.” I confess I can neither feel the force nor the morality of this.
This site's exposition
So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands
on 1 Samuel 21:13-15
David "feigned madness," scratching on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard, and Achish turns him away as insane. The older writers weigh the deception, some reading it as a sinful shift of weak faith, others as a lesser evil that cost no life.
This site's exposition
Am I in need of madmen
Gill hears a dry joke in the king's question, as if the house of Achish had madmen enough already. Clarke quotes Chandler, who praised David for deceiving the men of Gath with feigned madness. Clarke finds neither force nor morality in it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4 · Written before 99.
proposed
Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Mad men - It is highly probable, Achish was aware, that this madness was counterfeit. But being desirous to preserve David, he speaks as if he thought it real.
5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
6 ), he pretended to his servants that he really thought he was mad, and therefore had reason to question whether it was David or no; or, if it were, they need not fear him, what harm could he do them now that his reason had departed from him? They suspected that Achish was inclined to entertain him: "Not I," says he.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Have I need of madmen?.... Or fools, do I want them? have not I enough of them already at my court? I want wise men, and not fools and madmen.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֲסַ֤ר | chasar | lacking of | H2638 → | |
| מְשֻׁגָּעִים֙ | meshugaim | madmen | H7696 → | 7 times |
| אָ֔נִי | ʾani | [am] I? | H589 → | 874 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֲבֵאתֶ֣ם | havetem | you have brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶ֔ה | zeh | this one | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לְהִשְׁתַּגֵּ֖עַ | lehishtagea' | to behave like a madman | H7696 → | 7 times |
| עָלָ֑י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הֲזֶ֖ה | hazeh | ¿ this one | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| יָב֥וֹא | yavo' | will he come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּיתִֽי׃ ס | beiti | house my | H1004 → | 2046 times |
חֲסַ֤רlacking of
chasarH2638 →
מְשֻׁגָּעִים֙madmen
meshugaimH7696 →7 times
אָ֔נִי[am] I?
ʾaniH589 →874 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הֲבֵאתֶ֣םyou have brought
havetemH935 →2568 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶ֔הthis one
zehH2088 →1180 times
לְהִשְׁתַּגֵּ֖עַto behave like a madman
lehishtagea'H7696 →7 times
עָלָ֑יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
הֲזֶ֖ה¿ this one
hazehH2088 →1180 times
יָב֥וֹאwill he come
yavo'H935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּיתִֽי׃ סhouse my
beitiH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.