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1 Samuel 21:8

in 1 Samuel 21

Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business was urgent.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thy hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

KJV

And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

There was not a sword to be found about the tabernacle but the sword of Goliath, which was laid up behind the ephod, as a monument of the glorious victory David obtained over him. Probably David had an eye to that when he asked the priest to help him with a sword; for, that being mentioned, O! says he, there is none like that, give it to me,

This site's exposition

Is there not a spear or sword on hand here

on 1 Samuel 21:8-9

David asks for "a spear or sword". The only sword at the sanctuary is Goliath’s, "wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod" since chapter 17. David answers, "There is none like it; give it to me," and the boy who fought with no sword takes up the giant’s.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

But David said to Ahimelech, "If you have a spear or a sword here at hand, etc." The Savior urges the apostles to train their listeners not only to learn but also to teach the word of life, by which He Himself can conquer the …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And David said unto Ahimelech,....

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לַאֲחִימֶ֔לֶךְto Ahimelech

    laachimelekhH288 →16 times

  • וְאִ֛יןand where?

    veinH371 →

  • יֶשׁ־there

    yesh-H3426 →140 times

  • פֹּ֥הhere

    pohH6311 →82 times

  • תַֽחַת־under

    tachat-H8478 →505 times

  • יָדְךָ֖hand your

    yadekhaH3027 →1618 times

  • חֲנִ֣ית[is] a spear

    chanitH2595 →47 times

  • אוֹ־or

    ʾov-H176 →321 times

  • חָ֑רֶבa sword

    charevH2719 →413 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • גַם־both

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • חַרְבִּ֤יsword my

    charbiH2719 →413 times

  • וְגַם־<and> as well as

    vegam-H1571 →769 times

  • כֵּלַי֙weapons my

    kelaiH3627 →325 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • לָקַ֣חְתִּיI took

    lakachtiH3947 →966 times

  • בְיָדִ֔יin hand my

    veyadiH3027 →1618 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • הָיָ֥הit was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • דְבַר־[the] matter of

    devar-H1697 →1440 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • נָחֽוּץ׃ סurgent

    nachutzH5169 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 21 →

This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Samuel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 21 →