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1 Samuel 21:11

in 1 Samuel 21

But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

KJV

And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

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This verse in 1 Samuel 21

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

King of the land - Of Canaan. They call him king, either more generally for the governor, the most eminent captain and commander, or, as the king elect, the person designed to be king: for, by this time, the fame of Saul's rejection, and David's destination to the kingdom, was got abroad among the Israelites, and from them, probably to the Philistines.

This site's exposition

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath

on 1 Samuel 21:10-12

David flees to Achish king of Gath, Goliath’s own city, carrying the sword of its champion. The servants of Achish greet him with Israel’s song, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands," the words that turned Saul against him at 18:7. David is "very much afraid of Achish," and the titles of Psalms 34 and 56 set those psalms in this scene.

This site's exposition

Is this not David, the king of the land

The servants of Achish call David king of the land. Barnes reads it as the title the Philistines gave their own lords. Wesley thinks news of Saul's rejection and of David's choosing as the next king had reached Gath, so the men of Achish saw in him the coming king of Israel.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

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 Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Is this not David, the king of the land? etc. The scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish kingdom, serving wickedness badly, said: "See that we gain nothing; behold, the whole world has gone after him" (John XII), to whom they sang in choirs, saying: "Hosanna, …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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

And the servants of Achish said unto him,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Is not this he that has triumphed over the Philistines? witness that burden of the song which was so much talked of, Saul has slain his thousands, but David, this very man, his ten thousands.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The king of the land - The Philistines gave him the title which their own lords bore.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Is this not Dovid, the king of the land. They said to Achish, "There was a stipulation between us: 'If he will be able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves.' 10 Above:9.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 21:12:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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. 6 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

19 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּand they said

    vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times

  • עַבְדֵ֤י[the] servants of

    ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times

  • אָכִישׁ֙Achish

    ʾakhishH397 →21 times

  • אֵלָ֔יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • הֲלוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • זֶ֥ה[is] this

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • דָוִ֖דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הֲל֣וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • לָזֶ֗הof this [one]

    lazehH2088 →1180 times

  • יַעֲנ֤וּdo people sing

    yaanuH6030 →331 times

  • בַמְּחֹלוֹת֙with <the> dances

    vamecholotH4246 →8 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הִכָּ֤הhe has struck down

    hikahH5221 →499 times

  • שָׁאוּל֙Saul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • בַּאֲלָפָ֔יו<on> thousands his

    baalafovH505 →505 times

  • וְדָוִ֖דand David

    vedavidH1732 →999 times

  • בְּרִבְבֹתָֽיו׃<on> ten thousands his

    berivotavH7233 →16 times

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

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 29:5Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”7 works1 Samuel 18:7And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”7 worksPsalms 56:1–13Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.4 works1 Chronicles 14:8When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went out to face them.4 works1 Samuel 16:1Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”3 worksJohn 9:8At this, his neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging began to ask, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”2 works

The walk

7 stops

Each 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

    1 Samuel 16:1

    Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending…

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 15:23

      For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”

    • 2 Kings 9:1

      Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

    • Psalms 78:68–71

      But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.

    • 1 Samuel 15:35

      And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

    • 1 Samuel 15:26

      “I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”

  • Through

    1 Samuel 29:5

    Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 27:14

      If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.

    • 1 Samuel 18:6–7

      As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and…

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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.

Read on in 1 Samuel 21 →