1 Samuel 28:2
in 1 Samuel 28David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.” “Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David said to Achish, Therefore thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of my head for ever.
KJV
And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 28
Commentary
8 notes on this verseSurely thou shalt know what thy servant can do - This was another equivocal answer; and could only be understood by his succeeding conduct. It might imply what he could do in favor of the Philistines against Israel; or in favor of Israel against the Philistines. Achish understood it in the former sense; and therefore he said to David, I will make thee keeper of my head for ever; i.e., Thou shalt be captain of my life-guards.
This site's exposition
Know thou assuredly
on 1 Samuel 28:1-2
David has been living among the Philistines since chapter 27, and Achish now calls in the debt: Saul's rival is ordered into battle against Saul's own nation. David's answer at verse 2, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do, commits to nothing while sounding like consent, and Achish hears only what he wants to hear. The king rewards the ambiguity by naming David keeper of his head for ever, captain of his own bodyguard.
This site's exposition
know what your servant can do
Albert Barnes sets this answer beside 29:8, where David again protests to Achish in guarded words. Adam Clarke says Achish could know the meaning only from what David did afterward. Chapter 29 settles it when the Philistines send him home.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And David said to Achis: Now you will know, etc. It is clear according to the letter, because David, promising aid to the king, also promises to be his guardian, whether in the battle or after the victory. But according to the spiritual sense, the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And David said to Achish, surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do,....
The Israelites prepare to receive them, and Saul their king makes the devil his privy-counsellor, and thereby fills the measure of his iniquity. The despairing condition which Saul was in,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do--This answer, while it seemed to express an apparent cheerfulness in agreeing to the proposal, contained a studied ambiguity--a wary and politic generality. Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever--or, "my life"; that is, "captain of my bodyguard," an office of great trust and high honor.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou shalt know ... - David dissembled (compare also 1Sa 29:8), hoping, no doubt, that something would happen to prevent his fighting against his king and country. Keeper of mine head - Captain of his bodyguard.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אָכִ֔ישׁ | ʾakhish | Achish | H397 → | 21 times |
| לָכֵן֙ | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תֵדַ֔ע | teda' | you will know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה | yaaseh | he will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָכִישׁ֙ | ʾakhish | Achish | H397 → | 21 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| דָּוִ֔ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שֹׁמֵ֧ר | shomer | a watchman | H8104 → | 468 times |
| לְרֹאשִׁ֛י | leroshi | of head my | H7218 → | 599 times |
| אֲשִֽׂימְךָ֖ | ʾasimekha | I will make you | H7760 → | 584 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיָּמִֽים׃ פ | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אָכִ֔ישׁAchish
ʾakhishH397 →21 times
לָכֵן֙<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
תֵדַ֔עyou will know
teda'H3045 →945 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יַעֲשֶׂ֖הhe will do
yaasehH6213 →2628 times
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָservant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אָכִישׁ֙Achish
ʾakhishH397 →21 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
דָּוִ֔דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שֹׁמֵ֧רa watchman
shomerH8104 →468 times
לְרֹאשִׁ֛יof head my
leroshiH7218 →599 times
אֲשִֽׂימְךָ֖I will make you
ʾasimekhaH7760 →584 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיָּמִֽים׃ פthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 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
Romans 12:9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:14
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- 1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
- 1 Timothy 1:5
The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.
- 1 John 3:18–20
Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.
- 1 Peter 3:10–11
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
- Psalms 34:14
Through
1 Samuel 27:10who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”
it leads to
- Judges 1:16
Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live…
- 1 Chronicles 2:9
The sons who were born to Hezron: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.
- 1 Chronicles 2:25
The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron:
- Judges 1:16
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.