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2 Samuel 3:35

in 2 Samuel 3

Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And all the people came to cause David to eat bread while it was yet day; but David sware, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or aught else, till the sun be down.

KJV

And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.

This verse in 2 Samuel 3

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

if I taste bread, or ought else

on 2 Samuel 3:35-37

David fasts publicly until sundown and swears the same self-cursing oath Abner used at verse 9, so do God to me and more also, and the people read his refusal to eat as proof of a grief they could not have staged for him. Spurgeon preached the episode as the moment Joab's treachery first compromised a reign otherwise marked by justice, and the chapter records the verdict the fast was meant to earn: all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to slay Abner.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

It was then the custom of great mourners to refrain for the time from bodily refreshments, as ch. i. How incongruous is it then to turn the house of mourning into a house of feasting! This respect which David paid to Abner was very pleasing to the people and satisfied them that he was not, in the least, accessory to the murder (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

David's Wives and Children. 1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker. 2 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v1-3

And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

To eat meat ... - Fasting was a sign of the deepest mourning 2Sa 1:12. The fast lasted until the sun was set.

The words behind it

28 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.

  • וַיָּבֹ֣אand it came

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H36055413 times

  • הָעָ֗םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • לְהַבְר֧וֹתto make to eat

    lehavrotH12626 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • דָּוִ֛דDavid

    davidH1732999 times

  • לֶ֖חֶםbread

    lechemH3899298 times

  • בְּע֣וֹדwhile still

    beodH5750490 times

  • הַיּ֑וֹם<the> day

    haiyomH31172304 times

  • וַיִּשָּׁבַ֨עand he swore an oath

    vaiyishava'H7650186 times

  • דָּוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732999 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • כֹּ֣הthus

    kohH3541577 times

  • יַעֲשֶׂה־may he do

    yaaseh-H62132628 times

  • לִּ֤יto <the> me

    li

  • אֱלֹהִים֙God

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • וְכֹ֣הand thus

    vekhohH3541577 times

  • יֹסִ֔יףmay he add

    yosifH3254212 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH35884482 times

  • אִם־except

    ʾim-H5181069 times

  • לִפְנֵ֧י<to> before

    lifneiH64402123 times

  • בֽוֹא־goes

    vo'-H9352568 times

  • הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁthe sun

    hashemeshH8121134 times

  • אֶטְעַם־I will taste

    ʾetam-H2938

  • לֶ֖חֶםbread

    lechemH3899298 times

  • א֥וֹor

    ʾoH176321 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H36055413 times

  • מְאֽוּמָה׃anything

    meumahH3972

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

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 16:7

    No food will be offered to comfort those who mourn the dead; not even a cup of consolation will be given for the loss of a father or mother.

    it leads to

    • Hosea 9:4

      They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 24:17

      Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”

    • Deuteronomy 26:14

      I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God;…

  • Through

    Ruth 1:17

    Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 3:17

      “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”

    • 1 Kings 2:23

      Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.

    • 2 Samuel 19:13

      And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”

    • 2 Kings 6:31

      He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

    • 1 Kings 20:10

      Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2420, The King Can Do No Wrong; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.