1 Samuel 25:8
in 1 Samuel 25Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ask thy young men, and they will tell thee: wherefore let the young men find favor in thine eyes; for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thy hand, unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
KJV
Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhatsoever cometh to thine hand - As thou art making a great feast for thy servants, and I and my men, as having essentially served thee, would naturally come in for a share were we present; send a portion by my ten young men, for me and my men, that we also may rejoice with you. Certainly this was a very reasonable and a very modest request. This mode of address is not unfrequent among the Hindoos: “O father, fill the belly of thy son; he is in distress.”
This site's exposition
we hurt them not
on 1 Samuel 25:7-8
David's servants state a genuine claim rather than a threat, for his men guarded Nabal's shepherds by night and day and took nothing, and the request for whatever comes to hand at shearing time follows a real custom of the region, where those who protected a flockmaster's herds could expect a share of shearing-time provision. Jamieson Fausset and Brown note that withholding such support broke an established usage of the district, so Nabal's coming refusal is not mere rudeness to strangers but the breaking of a debt his own servants knew was owed.
This site's exposition
we have come on the day of a feast
David signs himself your son, and Adam Clarke calls the whole request reasonable and modest. Matthew Henry notes what the restraint had cost. The men who gathered to David at 22:2 were in distress and debt, and keeping them from Nabal's flocks took steady command.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Now therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes, etc. Because, they say, you teach the people, which is to intellectually shear the flock, ensure that even the disciples of Christ preaching may find in you the grace of faith and good action. …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Ask thy young men, and they will show thee,....
Yet, considering the character of David's men, men in distress, and debt, and discontented, and the scarcity of provisions in his camp, it was not without a great deal of care and good management that they were kept from plundering.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁאַ֨ל | sheal | ask | H7592 → | 171 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נְעָרֶ֜יךָ | neareikha | own young men your | H5288 → | 239 times |
| וְיַגִּ֣ידוּ | veyagidu | so they may tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָ֗ךְ | lakh | to <the> you | ||
| וְיִמְצְא֨וּ | veyimtzeu | and let them find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| הַנְּעָרִ֥ים | hanearim | the young men | H5288 → | 239 times |
| חֵן֙ | chen | favor | H2580 → | 69 times |
| בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָ | beeineikha | in view your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| י֥וֹם | yom | a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| ט֖וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| בָּ֑נוּ | banu | we have come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| תְּנָה־ | tenah- | give ! | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| נָּ֗א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֵת֩ | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תִּמְצָ֤א | timtza' | it will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| יָֽדְךָ֙ | yadekha | hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָ | laavadeikha | to servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וּלְבִנְךָ֖ | ulevinkha | and to son your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לְדָוִֽד׃ | ledavid | to David | H1732 → | 999 times |
שְׁאַ֨לask
shealH7592 →171 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נְעָרֶ֜יךָown young men your
neareikhaH5288 →239 times
וְיַגִּ֣ידוּso they may tell
veyagiduH5046 →370 times
לָ֗ךְto <the> you
lakh
וְיִמְצְא֨וּand let them find
veyimtzeuH4672 →455 times
הַנְּעָרִ֥יםthe young men
hanearimH5288 →239 times
חֵן֙favor
chenH2580 →69 times
בְּעֵינֶ֔יךָin view your
beeineikhaH5869 →887 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
י֥וֹםa day
yomH3117 →2304 times
ט֖וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
בָּ֑נוּwe have come
banuH935 →2568 times
תְּנָה־give !
tenah-H5414 →2011 times
נָּ֗אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֵת֩<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר[that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תִּמְצָ֤אit will find
timtza'H4672 →455 times
יָֽדְךָ֙hand your
yadekhaH3027 →1618 times
לַעֲבָדֶ֔יךָto servants your
laavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
וּלְבִנְךָ֖and to son your
ulevinkhaH1121 →4930 times
לְדָוִֽד׃to David
ledavidH1732 →999 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 24:11See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. See and know that there is no evil or rebellion…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 26:20
So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts…
- 1 Samuel 23:14
And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- 1 Samuel 23:23
Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out…
- 1 Samuel 26:20
Through
Esther 9:19This is why the rural Jews, who live in the villages, observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting. It is a holiday for sending gifts…
it leads to
- Esther 8:17
In every province and every city, wherever the king’s edict and decree reached, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many of the people of the land themselves…
- Nehemiah 8:10–12
Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve,…
- Revelation 11:10
And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them, and will celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Esther 9:22
as the days on which the Jews gained rest from their enemies and the month in which their sorrow turned to joy and their mourning into a holiday. He wrote that these were to…
- Deuteronomy 16:14
And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Esther 8:17
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson Fausset and 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.