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1 Samuel 25:20

in 1 Samuel 25

As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it was so, as she rode on her ass, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that, behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.

KJV

And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 25

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

She came down - and David - came down - David was coming down Mount Paran; Abigail was coming down from Carmel. - Calmet.

This site's exposition

came down by the covert of the hill

on 1 Samuel 25:20-22

Abigail comes down one path as David comes down another, and the two meet by what providence alone timed. David's own words in verse 21 show the size of what he intends, an oath sworn in the coarse idiom of the day, cursing himself if he leaves alive by morning any male of Nabal's household, a formula used elsewhere in Samuel when a man binds himself to an act. The chapter records David's grievance honestly, that he had kept Nabal's flocks safe for nothing and been repaid evil for good, but the oath itself goes further than the grievance justifies.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Therefore, when he had ascended the donkey, etc. When the Synagogue confessed to all that it had served a foolish sense until then, and descended to the beginnings of the Christian faith, which starting from the infirmity of the Lord's incarnation, usually leads to the …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); but with all possible expressions of complaisance and respect she humbly begs his favour, and solicits him to pass by the offence. Her demeanour was very submissive: She bowed herself to the ground before David (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

And it was so, as she rode on the ass,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The covert of the hill - Probably a defile or glen, literally a “secret place,” as in 1Sa 19:2. She was riding down into this glen from one side, while David and his men were descending the opposite hill. It is perhaps mentioned that she came by this “secret place,” because she chose this path to escape the observation of her husband or of anyone else.

The words behind it

15 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.

  • וְהָיָ֞הand it was

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • הִ֣יא׀she

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • רֹכֶ֣בֶת[was] riding

    rokhevetH7392 →78 times

  • עַֽל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַחֲמ֗וֹרthe donkey

    hachamorH2543 →96 times

  • וְיֹרֶ֙דֶת֙and [was] going down

    veyoredetH3381 →381 times

  • בְּסֵ֣תֶרin [the] cover of

    beseterH5643 →

  • הָהָ֔רthe mountain

    haharH2022 →546 times

  • וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!

    vehinehH2009 →843 times

  • דָוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַאֲנָשָׁ֔יוand men his

    vaanashavH582 →566 times

  • יֹרְדִ֖ים[were] going down

    yoredimH3381 →381 times

  • לִקְרָאתָ֑הּto meet her

    likratahH7122 →139 times

  • וַתִּפְגֹּ֖שׁand she met

    vatifgoshH6298 →

  • אֹתָֽם׃<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

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

Related verses

1 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.

2 Kings 4:24Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.”2 works

The walk

4 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

    2 Kings 4:24

    Then she saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Drive onward; do not slow the pace for me unless I tell you.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 13:23

      And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him.

    • 1 Kings 13:13

      So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it

    • Exodus 4:20

      So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

    • 1 Samuel 25:19–20

      and said to her young men, “Go ahead of me. I will be right behind you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 25 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 25 →