1 Samuel 25:10
in 1 Samuel 25But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants now-a-days that break away every man from his master.
KJV
And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
⋯
This verse in 1 Samuel 25
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their protection creates a claim for some kind of tribute, in the shape of supplies of food and necessaries, which is usually given with great good will and gratitude; but when withheld, is enforced as a right. Nabal's refusal, therefore, was a violation of the established usages of the place.
This site's exposition
spake to Nabal according to all those words
on 1 Samuel 25:9-11
Nabal's answer turns contempt into a question, Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse, the same scornful shape David used of Goliath at 17:26, now aimed back at him by a man safe behind his own flocks. Nabal's charge that David is a runaway servant breaking from his master lands ironically, since David did leave Saul's service, not as a deserter but fleeing the javelin Saul had already thrown at him twice within his own house. Matthew Henry reads Nabal's reasoning as the common error of the wealthy, that a man may do what he likes with what is his own, when in truth all possession is stewardship under God.
This site's exposition
Who is this son of Jesse
Adam Clarke calls the refusal unjust and insulting. Nabal's own servant gives the same verdict at verse 17, calling his master a scoundrel nobody can speak to. The man who scorns David's name is judged by his own household first.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Answering, however, Nabal spoke to David's young men, etc. The foolish leaders of the Jews, responding to the disciples of Christ preaching to them, said: We are disciples of Moses, but this man we do not know where he comes from (John IX). And the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Nabal answered David's servants, and said,....
But this, he thinks, will justify him in keeping i t all to himself, and giving David none; for may he not do what he will with his own? Whereas we mistake if we think we are absolute lords of what we have and may do what we please with it. No, we are but stewards, and must use it as we are directed, remembering it is not our own, but his that entrusted us with it.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Who is David? - Nabal’s answer shows the surliness of his disposition. It was unjust to refuse so reasonable a request; and the manner of the refusal was highly insulting. It is true what his own servants said of him, He is such a son of Belial that one cannot speak to him, 1Sa 25:17.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Who is Dovid. Of what importance is he that I should give him mine? Is he not descended from Rus the Moavite? 10 And as such, Novol questioned Dovid’s right to the throne. See Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin:3.
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֨עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| נָבָ֜ל | naval | Nabal | H5037 → | 22 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדֵ֤י | ʾavdei | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| דָוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיֹּ֔אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| דָוִ֖ד | david | [is] David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וּמִ֣י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | [is] [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשָׁ֑י | yishai | Jesse | H3448 → | 42 times |
| הַיּוֹם֙ | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| רַבּ֣וּ | rabu | they are many | H7231 → | |
| עֲבָדִ֔ים | ʾavadim | servants | H5650 → | 799 times |
| הַמִּתְפָּ֣רְצִ֔ים | hamitparetzim | who break away | H6555 → | 49 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | each one | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֥י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֲדֹנָֽיו׃ | ʾadonav | master<s> his | H113 → | 333 times |
וַיַּ֨עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
נָבָ֜לNabal
navalH5037 →22 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדֵ֤י[the] servants of
ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times
דָוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיֹּ֔אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
דָוִ֖ד[is] David
davidH1732 →999 times
וּמִ֣יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
בֶן־[is] [the] son of
ven-H1121 →4930 times
יִשָׁ֑יJesse
yishaiH3448 →42 times
הַיּוֹם֙this day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
רַבּ֣וּthey are many
rabuH7231 →
עֲבָדִ֔יםservants
ʾavadimH5650 →799 times
הַמִּתְפָּ֣רְצִ֔יםwho break away
hamitparetzimH6555 →49 times
אִ֖ישׁeach one
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מִפְּנֵ֥יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
אֲדֹנָֽיו׃master<s> his
ʾadonavH113 →333 times
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
1 Kings 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 20:1
Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 20:1
Through
1 Samuel 22:2And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Psalms 72:12–14
For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.
- 1 Samuel 30:6
And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
- 1 Samuel 25:13
And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
- 1 Samuel 30:22–24
but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for…
- Matthew 11:28
Through
Judges 9:28Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? You are to…
it leads to
- Genesis 34:2
When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
- Genesis 34:6
Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.
- Genesis 34:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonEarly monarchyNabalThe wealthy fool of Carmel — "as his name is, so is he" — who repaid David's protection with insult; his heart died within him whe…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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.