1 Samuel 21:14
in 1 Samuel 21Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
KJV
Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
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This verse in 1 Samuel 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
feigned himself mad in their hands
on 1 Samuel 21:13-15
David changes his behavior and feigns madness in front of the men of Gath, scrabbling on the doors of the gate and letting spittle run down his beard, since no other way out of the city presents itself. Achish reads it as genuine and turns him away rather than harm him, asking his servants why they brought him a madman at all. The older writers weigh the deception honestly: some read it as a sinful shift born of weak faith, matching the lie at Nob, while others call it a lesser evil that cost no one their life. Psalm 34's title places its writing at this scene, in words close to this verse's own, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech, using a throne name for the same king called Achish here.
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 Medieval Church1 voice
And Achish said, "Have you seen the man who is insane," etc.? David, indeed, suspected by the Gittites due to his reputation for virtues, industriously imitated the actions of one who was mad, so that he might be thought to be possessed and, pitied by …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
Then said Achish to his servants, lo, you see the man is mad,....
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָכִ֖ישׁ | ʾakhish | Achish | H397 → | 21 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲבָדָ֑יו | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| תִרְאוּ֙ | tiru | you see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מִשְׁתַּגֵּ֔עַ | mishtagea' | behaving like a madman | H7696 → | 7 times |
| לָ֛מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תָּבִ֥יאוּ | taviu | do you bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֵלָֽי׃ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אָכִ֖ישׁAchish
ʾakhishH397 →21 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עֲבָדָ֑יוservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
הִנֵּ֤הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
תִרְאוּ֙you see
tiruH7200 →1300 times
אִ֣ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מִשְׁתַּגֵּ֔עַbehaving like a madman
mishtagea'H7696 →7 times
לָ֛מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
תָּבִ֥יאוּdo you bring
taviuH935 →2568 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
אֵלָֽי׃to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Ecclesiastes 7:7Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Exodus 23:8
Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Proverbs 17:23
A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
- Deuteronomy 28:33–34
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- 1 Samuel 8:3
But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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.