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1 Samuel 26:14

in 1 Samuel 26

And David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner, “Will you not answer me, Abner?” “Who calls to the king?” Abner replied.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

KJV

And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

This verse in 1 Samuel 26

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Then David . . . stood on the top of an hill afar off . . . and cried to the people--(See on Jud 9:7). The extraordinary purity and elasticity of the air in Palestine enable words to be distinctly heard that are addressed by a speaker from the top of one hill to people on that of another, from which it is separated by a deep intervening ravine.

This site's exposition

Then David crossed to the other side and stood atop the mountain at a distance

on 1 Samuel 26:13-16

From a mountain across a wide gulf, David calls out to Abner and the camp. He shames the general as worthy of death for the watch he failed. Henry reads the distance David keeps as mercy that rests on God and need not stand near enough to be struck back.

This site's exposition

Who calls to the king?

Abner's reply guards the king's dignity even while the king lies unguarded. Matthew Henry suggests Abner held David too cheap to fear and so set no proper watch. David calls to Abner first, the man answerable for Saul's safety.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And Abner answered and said: Who are you that cries out? etc. The Pharisees and scribes responded, not recognizing the disciples of Jesus, who cried out teaching the people, and disturbed the kingdom of the Jews, as if by the shedding of Christ's blood, convicting …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And David cried unto the people,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"It is I," says David, and then he upbraids him with his sleeping when he should have been upon his guard. Perhaps Abner, looking upon David as a despicable enemy and one that there was no danger from, had neglected to set a watch; however, he himself ought to have been more wakeful.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he called out

    vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times

  • דָוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָעָ֗םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וְאֶל־and to

    veel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַבְנֵ֤רAbner

    ʾavnerH74 →63 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • נֵר֙Ner

    nerH5369 →17 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הֲל֥וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תַעֲנֶ֖הwill you answer

    taanehH6030 →331 times

  • אַבְנֵ֑רO Abner

    ʾavnerH74 →63 times

  • וַיַּ֤עַןand he answered

    vaiyaanH6030 →331 times

  • אַבְנֵר֙Abner

    ʾavnerH74 →63 times

  • וַיֹּ֔אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • מִ֥יwho?

    miH4310 →423 times

  • אַתָּ֖ה[are] you

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • קָרָ֥אתָ[who] you have called out

    karataH7121 →733 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ פthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

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

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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.

This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.