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1 Samuel 25:13

in 1 Samuel 25

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage.

KJV

And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

This verse in 1 Samuel 25

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

David’s men turned around and went back

on 1 Samuel 25:12-13

David's answer is immediate: every man straps on his sword. Henry and Keil and Delitzsch mark this as the first time David moves to shed blood on his own account. Between the sparings of Saul in chapters 24 and 26, the restraint here has to come from someone else.

This site's exposition

while two hundred stayed with the supplies

The two hundred left set a pattern the book returns to at 30:24, where David rules that those who guard the baggage share the spoil. Gill notes the young men had come back expecting David to avenge the affront. The order to strap on swords answers that expectation at once.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Then David said to his men, Let each one gird on his sword, etc. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, can indeed be understood; with which the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (Ephes. VI), was girded …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And about four hundred men followed David, etc. Whoever could be found perfect in prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice followed the Lord to the office of preaching. Moreover, others, content with the twin perfection of charity, preferred to live quietly with those they had won …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And David said unto his men,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

And Dovid too, girded his sword. From here [we learn] that we commence, in cases involving capital punishment, from the less significant first.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 25:13:1, 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

26 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.

  • וַיֹּאמֶר֩and he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִ֨דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לַאֲנָשָׁ֜יוto men his

    laanashavH582 →566 times

  • חִגְר֣וּ׀gird on

    chigruH2296 →44 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חַרְבּ֗וֹsword his

    charboH2719 →413 times

  • וַֽיַּחְגְּרוּ֙and they girded on

    vaiyachgeruH2296 →44 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חַרְבּ֔וֹsword his

    charboH2719 →413 times

  • וַיַּחְגֹּ֥רand he girded on

    vaiyachgorH2296 →44 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • דָּוִ֖דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חַרְבּ֑וֹsword his

    charboH2719 →413 times

  • וַֽיַּעֲל֣וּ׀and they went up

    vaiyaaluH5927 →890 times

  • אַחֲרֵ֣יafter

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • דָוִ֗דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • כְּאַרְבַּ֤עabout four

    kearba'H702 →318 times

  • מֵאוֹת֙hundred<s>

    meotH3967 →581 times

  • אִ֔ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וּמָאתַ֖יִםand two hundred

    umatayimH3967 →581 times

  • יָשְׁב֥וּthey remained

    yashevuH3427 →1079 times

  • עַל־with

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַכֵּלִֽים׃the baggage<s>

    hakelimH3627 →325 times

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

The walk

8 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

    Proverbs 19:2

    Even zeal is no good without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 21:5

      The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

    • Proverbs 29:20

      Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

    • Philippians 1:9

      And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,

    • Ecclesiastes 7:9

      Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.

    • Isaiah 28:16

      So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

  • Through

    Proverbs 25:8

    do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:25

      Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and…

    • Proverbs 17:14

      To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.

    • Proverbs 18:6

      A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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.

This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Samuel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.