1 Samuel 25:34
in 1 Samuel 25Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.
KJV
For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFurther, we are taught at considerable length by other texts of Scripture, too, that we neither should nor can fulfill everything that we decide upon whether with tranquil or upset mind. In them we frequently read that holy men or angels or even almighty God himself altered the things that they had promised. For blessed David determined with the promise of an oath and said, "May God do this and add more to the enemies of David if, of all that belongs to Nabal, I leave one male until morning."
This site's exposition
which sent thee this day to meet me
on 1 Samuel 25:32-34
David answers with a threefold blessing, on the Lord who sent Abigail, on her advice, and on Abigail herself, naming plainly what he had been about to do, coming to shed blood and to avenge himself with his own hand. He credits her intervention as the Lord's own providence rather than mere good fortune, seeing in a stranger's counsel what he could not see in his own anger. Verse 34 makes the oath's scale explicit one more time, that but for her haste not a male of Nabal's household would have survived the morning, so the chapter does not let the reader forget how close the outcome came.
This site's exposition
if you had not come quickly to meet me
John Cassian cites David's oath against Nabal as proof that a vow sworn in anger should be set aside. Matthew Henry measures the mercy by how near David came to shedding blood. Only Abigail's quick coming kept every male of Nabal's house alive.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He speaks of the danger of his falling into it as very imminent: " Except thou hadst hasted, the bloody execution had been done." The nearer we were to the commission of sin the greater was the mercy of a seasonable restraint-- Almost gone ( Ps. lxxiii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
For in very deed, as the Lord God of Israel liveth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
At all events, it was the means of opening his eyes to the moral character of the course on which he had been impetuously rushing; and in accepting her present, he speaks with lively satisfaction as well as gratitude to Abigail, for having relieved him from bloodshed.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאוּלָ֗ם | veulam | and but | H199 → | |
| חַי־ | chai- | [by] [the] life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | of Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מְנָעַ֔נִי | menaani | he has restrained me | H4513 → | |
| מֵהָרַ֖ע | mehara' | from doing harm to | H7489 → | 107 times |
| אֹתָ֑ךְ | ʾotakh | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כִּ֣י׀ | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לוּלֵ֣י | lulei | if not | H3884 → | |
| מִהַ֗רְתְּ | mihart | you had made haste | H4116 → | 68 times |
| וַתָּבֹאת֙ | vatavoti | and you had come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לִקְרָאתִ֔י | likrati | to meet me | H7122 → | 139 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| נוֹתַ֧ר | notar | he has been left | H3498 → | 106 times |
| לְנָבָ֛ל | lenaval | to Nabal | H5037 → | 22 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| א֥וֹר | ʾor | [the] light of | H216 → | 121 times |
| הַבֹּ֖קֶר | haboker | the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| מַשְׁתִּ֥ין | mashtin | [one who] urinates | H8366 → | |
| בְּקִֽיר׃ | bekir | on a wall | H7023 → | 75 times |
וְאוּלָ֗םand but
veulamH199 →
חַי־[by] [the] life
chai-H2416 →498 times
יְהוָה֙of Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מְנָעַ֔נִיhe has restrained me
menaaniH4513 →
מֵהָרַ֖עfrom doing harm to
mehara'H7489 →107 times
אֹתָ֑ךְ<obj.> you
ʾotakhH853 →10935 times
כִּ֣י׀if
kiH3588 →4482 times
לוּלֵ֣יif not
luleiH3884 →
מִהַ֗רְתְּyou had made haste
mihartH4116 →68 times
וַתָּבֹאת֙and you had come
vatavotiH935 →2568 times
לִקְרָאתִ֔יto meet me
likratiH7122 →139 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
נוֹתַ֧רhe has been left
notarH3498 →106 times
לְנָבָ֛לto Nabal
lenavalH5037 →22 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
א֥וֹר[the] light of
ʾorH216 →121 times
הַבֹּ֖קֶרthe morning
habokerH1242 →214 times
מַשְׁתִּ֥ין[one who] urinates
mashtinH8366 →
בְּקִֽיר׃on a wall
bekirH7023 →75 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 Samuel 25:26Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 18:32
The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?” And the Cushite replied, “May what has become of the young man happen to the enemies of my lord the king and…
- Romans 12:19–20
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did…
- Psalms 18:47–48
the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,
- 1 Samuel 25:33–34
Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.
- 2 Samuel 18:32
Through
1 Samuel 25:18Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 16:1
When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a…
- Proverbs 6:4–5
Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
- 2 Samuel 16:1
Through
1 Samuel 11:11The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the…
it leads to
- Judges 7:16
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
- Judges 7:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 17.25.5-6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.