2 Samuel 23:15
in 2 Samuel 23David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!
KJV
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth–lehem, which is by the gate!
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This verse in 2 Samuel 23
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhat I say is excessive, unless I confirm these things from testimonies of sacred Scripture. The Law of the Old Testament certainly forbids coveting another's wife, but it does not punish a king for commanding brave deeds of soldiers, or for desiring water. And we all know that David, pierced by the sword of concupiscence, both coveted and took away another man's wife. Fitting scourges followed his fault, and he corrected the evil he had perpetrated through the lamentations of penance.
This site's exposition
came to David in the harvest time
on 2 Samuel 23:13-17
The scene is set in the outlaw years, the cave of Adullam, with a Philistine garrison holding Bethlehem and their troop camped in the valley of Rephaim, the valley that bears the giants' name. David speaks a longing for the water of his home well and three men treat it as an order, breaking through the host to draw it. He will not drink what cost blood to fetch and pours it out unto the LORD, the only offering fit for a devotion that great, and the older writers read the scene as the measure of what his men would do for him unasked.
This site's exposition
near the gate of Bethlehem
Matthew Henry places the scene at harvest, with David longing for the water he drank as a boy in Bethlehem. John Wesley hears a wish with no order in it. Albert Barnes reports a cistern north of Bethlehem that monks called the well of David.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And certainly when we are disturbed at this very anger because it has stolen upon us against our brother, and we angrily cast out its deadly suggestions and do not permit it to maintain its noxious lair in the recesses of our heart. To be angry in this latter way is also taught us by that prophet who so eradicated this from his mind that he did not even want to take revenge on his own enemies, who had in fact been handed over to him by God, when he said, "Be angry and do not sin." For when he wanted water from a well in Bethlehem and had been brought it by strong men from the midst of enemy troops, he at once poured it out on the ground and, angrily extinguishing his wanton and passionate desire in this way, he offered it as a libation to the Lord, rejecting his yearning and desire with the words "May the Lord be gracious to me, lest I do this. Shall I drink the blood of those men who went out and the danger of their souls?"
The Medieval Church1 voice
A fish is caught by being enticed with a hook. A bird falls into a net while trying to get food. Animals that are tough by nature's endowment fall into a pit from desire to eat, and what nature does not soften, food deceives. Therefore, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And David longed, and said,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty: oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say (y).
Said - Being hot and thirsty, he expresses how acceptable a draught of that water would be to him; but was far from desiring, or expecting that any of his men should hazard their lives to procure it.
It was harvest-time; the weather was hot; he was thirsty; perhaps good water was scarce, and therefore he earnestly wished, "O that I could but have one draught of the water of the well of Bethlehem!" With the water of that well he had often refreshed himself when he was a youth, and nothing now will serve him but that, though it is almost impossible to come at it.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A cistern of deep, clear, cool water, is called by the monks, David’s Well, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of Bethlehem. Possibly the old well has been filled up since the town was supplied with water by the aqueduct.
The water of the well of Bethlehem - This was David’s city, and he knew the excellence of the water which was there; and being near the place, and parched with thirst, it was natural for him to wish for a draught of water out of that well. These three heroes having heard it, though they received no command from David, broke through a company of the Philistines, and brought away some of the water. When brought to David he refused to drink it: for as the men got it at the hazard of their lives, he considered it as their blood, and gave thereby a noble instance of self-denial. There is no evidence that David had requested them to bring it; they had gone for it of their own accord, and without the knowledge of David.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And a contingent of Pesishtim was then in Beis Lechem. The [Pelishtim] army was camped in the Rephoim valley and they had sent a contingent to Beis Lechem.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְאַוֶּ֥ה | vaiyitaveh | and he desired | H183 → | |
| דָוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִ֚י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יַשְׁקֵ֣נִי | yashkeni | will he give to drink me | H8248 → | |
| מַ֔יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִבֹּ֥אר | mibor | from [the] well of | H877 → | |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1035 → | 82 times |
| לֶ֖חֶם | lechem | -lehem | H1035 → | 82 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּשָּֽׁעַר׃ | bashaar | [is] at the gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
וַיִּתְאַוֶּ֥הand he desired
vaiyitavehH183 →
דָוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
מִ֚יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יַשְׁקֵ֣נִיwill he give to drink me
yashkeniH8248 →
מַ֔יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
מִבֹּ֥ארfrom [the] well of
miborH877 →
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1035 →82 times
לֶ֖חֶם-lehem
lechemH1035 →82 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּשָּֽׁעַר׃[is] at the gate
bashaarH8179 →374 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
Isaiah 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
it leads to
- Joel 2:28
And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- John 7:37–39
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 2:17
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Isaiah 59:21
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your…
- Proverbs 1:23
If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
- Joel 2:28
Through
John 4:10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
it leads to
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 4:14
Through
John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
it leads to
- John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 7:38–39
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
- John 6:35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 34; John Cassian, INSTITUTES 8.8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Leander of Seville, THE TRAINING OF NUNS 13; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The Second Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).