1 Samuel 21:11

And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
servants	עַבְדֵ֤י 'av.Dei	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct
Achish	אָכִישׁ֙ 'a.Khish	H397	Akish · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֨אמְר֜וּ vai.Yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
David	דָוִ֖ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
king	מֶ֣לֶךְ Me.lekh	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
land	הָאָ֑רֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
sing	יַעֲנ֤וּ ya.'a.Nu	H6030	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
him	זֶ֥ה zeh	H2088	the masculine demonstrative pronoun · demonstrative particle
dances	בַמְּחֹלוֹת֙ va.me.cho.lOt	H4246	a dance · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Saul	שָׁאוּל֙ sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
slain	הִכָּ֤ה hi.Kah	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thousands	בַּאֲלָפָ֔יו ba.'a.la.fov	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · preposition + noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
David	וְדָוִ֖ד ve.da.Vid	H1732	David · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
thousands	בְּרִבְבֹתָֽיו be.ri.vo.Tav	H7233	abundance (in number) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 29:5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
Psalms 56:1-13 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
1 Samuel 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with…
1 Samuel 18:7-8 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 21:10–end

David, though king elect, is here an exile - designed to be master of vast treasures, yet just now begging his bread - anointed to the crown, and yet here forced to flee from his country. Thus do God's providences sometimes seem to run counter to his promises, for the trial of his people's faith, and the glorifying of his name, in the accomplishment of his counsels, notwithstanding the difficulties that lay in the way. Here is, 1. David's flight into the land of the Philistines, where he hoped to be hid, and to remain undiscovered in the court or camp of Achish king of Gath, Sa1 21:10. Israel's darling is necessitated to quit the land of Israel, and he that was the Philistine's great enemy (…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 21:10

AT GATH HE FEIGNS HIMSELF MAD. (Sa1 21:10-15) David . . . fled . . . to Achish the king of Gath--which was one of the five principalities of the Philistines. In this place his person must have been known, and to venture into that country, he their greatest enemy, and with the sword of Goliath in his hand, would seem to have been a perilous experiment; but, doubtless, the protection he received implies that he had been directed by the divine oracle. Achish was generous (Sa1 27:6). He might wish to weaken the resources of Saul, and it was common in ancient times for great men to be harbored by neighboring princes.

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 21:10

Went to Achish the king of Gath - This was the worst place to which he could have gone: it was the very city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he now wore; and he soon found, from the conversation of the servants of Achish, that his life was in the most imminent danger in this place.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 21:11

And the servants of Achish said unto him,.... Who knew who David was, and perceiving that he was respected by Achish: is not this David the king of the land? of the land of the Philistines; so some render the words, "the king of this land" (q); which belongs unto him for his conquest of Goliath; for this was what was proposed by him, that whoever was the conqueror should possess the kingdom; and seeing it belongs to him, O Achish, why dost thou admit him to court? thou wilt be driven from the throne, and we shall be his servants, and not thine (r): but rather they mean the king of the land of Israel, having heard that he was anointed king by Samuel, and was to succeed Saul; or rather, they…

The Church Fathers

Is this not David, the king of the land? etc. The scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish kingdom, serving wickedness badly, said: "See that we gain nothing; behold, the whole world has gone after him" (John XII), to whom they sang in choirs, saying: "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David, Hosanna in the highest!" (Matt. XXI; Mark XI). Whom his faithful ones glorify with harmonious exultation, bearing him on high, because more are called to merit the denarius of heavenly life through his teaching than through ours are summoned to observe the commands of the law.
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abimelech — My father a king, or father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian kings. (1.) The Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. 20:1-18). By an…
Achish — Angry, perhaps only a general title of royalty applicable to the Philistine kings. (1.) The king with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in the…
Dance — Found in Judg. 21:21, 23; Ps. 30:11; 149:3; 150:4; Jer. 31:4, 13, etc., as the translation of hul, which points to the whirling motion of Oriental sacred dances. It is the rendering of a word…
Gath — A wine-vat, one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (Josh. 13:3) on which the ark brought calamity (1 Sam. 5:8, 9; 6:17). It was famous also as being the birthplace or residence of Goliath (1…
Judges, Book of — Is so called because it contains the history of the deliverance and government of Israel by the men who bore the title of the “judges.” The book of Ruth originally formed part of this book, but about…
Achish · David es — David es
Dancing · 11:34;21:19-21; — 11:34;21:19-21;
Deception · .David feigns madness — .David feigns madness
Gath · David takes refuge at — David takes refuge at
Philistines · .Achish — .Achish

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Samuel 21:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 21:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 21:10

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 21:10

John Gill on 1 Samuel 21:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 21:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 21:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 21:10

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 21:10

John Gill on 1 Samuel 21:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 21:10-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 21:11

Rashi on 1 Samuel 21:10