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1 Samuel 26:14

in 1 Samuel 26

And David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner, “Will you not answer me, Abner?” “Who calls to the king?” Abner replied.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

KJV

And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

This verse in 1 Samuel 26

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Then David . . . stood on the top of an hill afar off . . . and cried to the people--(See on Jud 9:7). The extraordinary purity and elasticity of the air in Palestine enable words to be distinctly heard that are addressed by a speaker from the top of one hill to people on that of another, from which it is separated by a deep intervening ravine.

This site's exposition

stood on the top of an hill afar off

on 1 Samuel 26:13-16

From a hill with a wide ravine between them, close enough for a voice to carry in that clear air but far enough to be safe, David wakes the camp with one question, Answerest thou not, Abner? He shames the captain of the guard by name, calling him and his men worthy to die for the one watch they failed, then holds up the proof, the king's own spear and the cruse that stood at his head. The distance David keeps even now, after showing he could have closed it forever, answers Abishai's counsel from a few verses earlier: mercy resting on God does not need to stand near enough to be struck back.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

And Abner answered and said: Who are you that cries out? etc. The Pharisees and scribes responded, not recognizing the disciples of Jesus, who cried out teaching the people, and disturbed the kingdom of the Jews, as if by the shedding of Christ's blood, convicting …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And David cried unto the people,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

"It is I," says David, and then he upbraids him with his sleeping when he should have been upon his guard. Perhaps Abner, looking upon David as a despicable enemy and one that there was no danger from, had neglected to set a watch; however, he himself ought to have been more wakeful.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he called out

    vaiyikra'H7121733 times

  • דָוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732999 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הָעָ֗םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • וְאֶל־and to

    veel-H4135510 times

  • אַבְנֵ֤רAbner

    ʾavnerH7463 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H11214930 times

  • נֵר֙Ner

    nerH536917 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • הֲל֥וֹא¿ not

    halo'H38085168 times

  • תַעֲנֶ֖הwill you answer

    taanehH6030331 times

  • אַבְנֵ֑רO Abner

    ʾavnerH7463 times

  • וַיַּ֤עַןand he answered

    vaiyaanH6030331 times

  • אַבְנֵר֙Abner

    ʾavnerH7463 times

  • וַיֹּ֔אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • מִ֥יwho?

    miH4310423 times

  • אַתָּ֖ה[are] you

    ʾatahH8591094 times

  • קָרָ֥אתָ[who] you have called out

    karataH7121733 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ פthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

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

About 1 Samuel

This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.