1 Samuel 27:8
in 1 Samuel 27Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David and his men went up, and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those nations were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
KJV
And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 27
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Geshurites bordered upon the Philistines, and lived in the mountainous district which terminates the desert on the northeast (marginal reference). They were a different tribe, or, at least, a different branch of it, from the Geshurites who lived on the northeast border of Bashan, and were Arameans 2Sa 15:8. The Gezrites, or Gerzites, may be connected with those who gave their name to Mount Gerizim.
This site's exposition
the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites
on 1 Samuel 27:8-9
The raids strike the Geshurites, the Gezrites and the Amalekites, and the third name reaches back to the war Exodus 17 swore against Amalek and Deuteronomy 25 commanded blotted out, the same war chapter 15 left unfinished when Saul spared Agag and the best of the flock. Barnes places these tribes on the desert border toward Egypt, old inhabitants of the land rather than late arrivals, and distinguishes them from other clans bearing similar names elsewhere in the record. David leaves neither man nor woman alive and takes the sheep, oxen, asses and camels for spoil, and Adam Clarke calls it a complete extirpation of the people struck.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And David and his men went up, etc. Upon the rock, Egypt sounds darkness. Therefore, the Church was growing through the steadfastness of Christ's disciples, and was rescuing souls from pagan rites, which, following the examples of not new but ancient men, had clung to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The service paid itself, for they carried off abundance of spoil, which served for the subsistence of David's forces. Yet we cannot acquit him of dissimulation with Achish in the account he gave him of this expedition. (1.) David, it seems, was not willing that he should know the truth, and therefore spared none to carry tidings to Gath (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And David and his men went up,....
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֤עַל | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַֽאֲנָשָׁ֔יו | vaanashav | and men his | H582 → | 566 times |
| וַֽיִּפְשְׁט֛וּ | vaiyifshetu | and they made raids | H6584 → | 43 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַגְּשׁוּרִ֥י | hageshuri | the Geshurite[s] | H1651 → | |
| וְהַגִּזְרִ֖י | vehagirzi | and the Gizrite[s] | H1511 → | |
| וְהָעֲמָלֵקִ֑י | vehaamalki | and the Amalekite[s] | H6003 → | 12 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֵ֜נָּה | henah | they | H2007 → | |
| יֹשְׁב֤וֹת | yoshevot | [were] dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מֵֽעוֹלָ֔ם | meolam | [is] from antiquity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| בּוֹאֲךָ֥ | boakha | coming you | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שׁ֖וּרָה | shurah | Shur towards | H7793 → | |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אֶ֥רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיַּ֤עַלand he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
וַֽאֲנָשָׁ֔יוand men his
vaanashavH582 →566 times
וַֽיִּפְשְׁט֛וּand they made raids
vaiyifshetuH6584 →43 times
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַגְּשׁוּרִ֥יthe Geshurite[s]
hageshuriH1651 →
וְהַגִּזְרִ֖יand the Gizrite[s]
vehagirziH1511 →
וְהָעֲמָלֵקִ֑יand the Amalekite[s]
vehaamalkiH6003 →12 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הֵ֜נָּהthey
henahH2007 →
יֹשְׁב֤וֹת[were] dwelling
yoshevotH3427 →1079 times
הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מֵֽעוֹלָ֔ם[is] from antiquity
meolamH5769 →438 times
בּוֹאֲךָ֥coming you
boakhaH935 →2568 times
שׁ֖וּרָהShur towards
shurahH7793 →
וְעַד־and to
vead-H5704 →1261 times
אֶ֥רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Joshua 16:10But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 9:16
Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 1:29
Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
- Deuteronomy 7:1–2
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations…
- Joshua 17:13
However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.
- 1 Kings 9:21
their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
- 1 Kings 9:16
Through
Joshua 13:2This is the land that remains:
it leads to
- Joshua 13:11
also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 3:3
his second was Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; his third was Absalom, the son of Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 13:11
Through
Judges 1:29Ephraim also failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer; so the Canaanites continued to dwell among them in Gezer.
it leads to
- Joshua 16:10
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.
- Joshua 16:10
About 1 Samuel

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
