1 Samuel 21:3

Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present.

ASV

Now therefore what is under thy hand? give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatsoever there is present.

YLT

and now, what is there under thy hand? five loaves give into my hand, or that which is found.'

DBT

And now what is under thy hand? give me five loaves in my hand, or what may be found.

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Commentary voices

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Voices4

On this verse

Even if they accuse, yet Christ excuses, and he makes the souls that he wishes, that follow him, similar to David, who ate the loaves of proposition outside of the law—for even then he foresaw in his mind the prophetic mysteries of a new grace.

Ambrose of Milan· On Isaac and the Soul, 6.56, 397patristic

Related commentary

Now therefore what is under thine hand?.... Meaning, what food had he in his house? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand; to take with him, for him and his servants in such a place: or what there is present; or to be found (g) in the tabernacle; if not five loaves, two, or three, or four, or what food soever he had by him. (g) הנמצא "quicquid inveneris", V. L, "inventum", Montanus; "quicquid inventum fuerit", Tigurine version.

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

People should be free with their faithful ministers. David was a man of great faith and courage, and yet now both failed him, and he fell thus foully through fear and cowardice, and both owing to the weakness of his faith. Had he trusted God aright, he would not have used such a sorry sinful shift as this for his own preservation.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Travelling was then troublesome, when men generally carried their provisions with them in kind, having little money and no public houses, else David would not now have had to seek for bread. It seems David had known the seed of the righteous begging bread occasionally, but not constantly, Ps. xxxvii.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

Voices on this verse

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Rabbinic commentary

How the Hebraic tradition has read this verse — and Marcus Brown’s own reading of it.

Cross-references

7 linked verses

The verses this one reaches7

Luke 6:3
Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Matthew 12:3
Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
Mark 2:25
Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
1 Samuel 21:4
“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”
Isaiah 3:6
A man will seize his brother within his father’s house: “You have a cloak—you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of rubble.”
Judges 9:29
If only this people were under my authority, I would remove Abimelech; I would say to him, ‘Muster your army and come out!’”
Genesis 47:15
When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our funds have run out!”

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

1 Samuel — The transition from judges to monarchy. Samuel rises as prophet-judge; Israel demands a king; Saul rises and is rejected; David is anointed in obscurity and flees across the wilderness. Three lives overlapping — the prophetic-judicial-royal handoff.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Traditionally Samuel (with additions after his death by Nathan and Gad — cf. 1 Chr 29:29)
Date: Events c. 1050–1010 BC; compilation during the early monarchy

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Samuel 21:4
“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”
leads to
- Matthew 12:3–4
  Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- Exodus 19:15
  “Be prepared for the third day,” he said to the people. “Do not draw near to a woman.”
- Exodus 25:30
  And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.
- 1 Corinthians 7:5
  Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack…
Through
Isaiah 3:6
A man will seize his brother within his father’s house: “You have a cloak—you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of rubble.”
leads to
- Isaiah 4:1
  In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothes. Just let us be called by your name. Take away…
- John 6:15
  Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.
- Judges 11:6–8
  “Come,” they said, “be our commander, so that we can fight against the Ammonites.”
Through
Judges 9:29
If only this people were under my authority, I would remove Abimelech; I would say to him, ‘Muster your army and come out!’”
leads to
- 2 Samuel 15:4
  And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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