1 Chronicles 29:14
in 1 Chronicles 29But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
KJV
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 29
Commentary
6 notes on this verseOf thine own have we given thee - “For from thy presence all good comes, and of the blessings of thy hands have we given thee.” - Targum.
This site's exposition
But who am I
on 1 Chronicles 29:14-15
David's question turns the whole offering back to its source, of thine own have we given thee, so that even willing generosity is credited to God rather than to the givers. Verse 15 states the doctrine plainly, we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers, and Adam Clarke reads the shadow of that verse as the ordinary word for something continually declining and passing, not a poetic flourish. The assembly that has just poured out gold and silver by the thousand talents owns in the same breath that it possesses nothing of its own to give.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, (1.) It is a great instance of the power of God's grace in us to be able to do the work of God willingly. He works both to will and to do; and it is in the day of his power that his people are made willing, Ps. cx. (2.) We must give God all the glory of all the good that is at any time done by ourselves or others.
): Who am I, and what is my people? David was the most honourable person, and Israel the most honourable person, then in the world; yet thus does he speak of himself and them, as unworthy the divine cognizance and favour.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But who am I,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Wherefore David blessed the Lord--This beautiful thanksgiving prayer was the effusion overflowing with gratitude and delight at seeing the warm and widespread interest that was now taken in forwarding the favorite project of his life.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Now who am I and who are my people that we should gather up strength to donate that we exerted ourselves to donate so much with this donation, and it is not ours, but all is from You, and You imparted a little to us.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And now, our God, we give thanks to you for what You have imparted to us of Your good.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִ֨י | vekhi | and that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | [am] I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וּמִ֣י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| עַמִּ֔י | ʾami | [is] people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נַעְצֹ֣ר | na'tzor | we will retain | H6113 → | 47 times |
| כֹּ֔חַ | koach | strength | H3581 → | 126 times |
| לְהִתְנַדֵּ֖ב | lehitnadev | to make a contribution | H5068 → | 17 times |
| כָּזֹ֑את | kazot | like this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִמְּךָ֣ | mimekha | [is] from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַכֹּ֔ל | hakol | <the> everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| וּמִיָּדְךָ֖ | umiyadekha | and from hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| נָתַ֥נּוּ | natanu | we have given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to you |
וְכִ֨יand that
vekhiH3588 →4482 times
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
אֲנִי֙[am] I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וּמִ֣יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
עַמִּ֔י[is] people my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
נַעְצֹ֣רwe will retain
na'tzorH6113 →47 times
כֹּ֔חַstrength
koachH3581 →126 times
לְהִתְנַדֵּ֖בto make a contribution
lehitnadevH5068 →17 times
כָּזֹ֑אתlike this
kazotH2063 →603 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מִמְּךָ֣[is] from you
mimekhaH4480 →1188 times
הַכֹּ֔ל<the> everything
hakolH3605 →5413 times
וּמִיָּדְךָ֖and from hand your
umiyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
נָתַ֥נּוּwe have given
natanuH5414 →2011 times
לָֽךְ׃to you
lakh
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
it leads to
- John 3:27
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
- Matthew 7:11
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- John 3:27
Through
Romans 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15–17
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Colossians 1:15–17
Through
2 Corinthians 3:5Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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.