1 Samuel 29:3

1 Samuel 29:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?
• New International Version (NIV)The commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me I have found no fault in him to this day."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”

Context of 1 Samuel 29:3

1The Philistine army put up their tents at Aphek. The Israelites made their camp near the spring of water at Jezreel. 2The Philistine rulers marched out with their groups of soldiers. They were in groups of 100 soldiers and 1,000 soldiers. David and his men were marching with King Achish at the back of the army. The Philistine leaders asked, ‘Why are these Hebrew people here?’ Achish said to them, ‘This is David. He was the servant of Israel's King Saul. But he came to me more than a year ago. Since he turned against King Saul and came to me, he has always been faithful to me.’ 4But the Philistine leaders were angry with Achish. They said to him, ‘Send David back to the town that you gave to him. He must not go with us to fight the battle. He might turn against us and become our enemy. Then he would start to kill our own soldiers. That would make his master, Saul, very happy! 5Remember who this man David is! The Israelites sing this about him when they dance: “Saul has killed thousands of his enemies. And David has killed tens of thousands of his enemies.” ’

1 Samuel 29:3 word by word

וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ שָׂרֵ֣י פְלִשְׁתִּ֔ים מָ֖ה הָעִבְרִ֣ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אָכִ֜ישׁ אֶל־שָׂרֵ֣י פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים הֲלֽוֹא־זֶ֨ה דָוִ֜ד עֶ֣בֶד׀ שָׁא֣וּל מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר הָיָ֤ה אִתִּי֙ זֶ֤ה יָמִים֙ אוֹ־זֶ֣ה שָׁנִ֔ים וְלֹֽא־מָצָ֤אתִי בוֹ֙ מְא֔וּמָה מִיּ֥וֹם נָפְל֖וֹ עַד־הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
• of the Philistinesפְּלִשְׁתִּיpelishtîy · PhilistineH6430
• these Hebrewsעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
• And Achishאָכִישׁ'âkîysh · AchishH397
• not this Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• the servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• of Saulשָׁאוּלshâ'ûl · SaulH7586
• the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• which hath been with me these daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• or these yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• and I have foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• no faultמְא֫וּמָהme'ûmâh · anythingH3972
• in him sinceיוֹםyôm · day: todayH3117
• he fellנָפַלnâphal · to fall: desertingH5307

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 29:3

• 1 Samuel 27:7David lived in the country of the Philistines for one year and four months.
• 1 Samuel 25:28I am your servant. Please forgive me for any sin. I know that the Lord will always choose someone from your family to be Israel's king. The Lord will do that because you fight battles on his behalf. I pray that you will not do any evil thing in your whole life.
• Daniel 6:5Then these men said to each other, ‘We cannot find anything that Daniel does wrong in his work. We must find something that he does to obey the laws of his God.’
• John 19:6When the leaders of the priests and their officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him for yourselves and kill him on a cross. I can find no reason why I should punish him.’
• Romans 12:17If someone has done bad things against you, do not do bad things back to them. Try to live in a good way so that people will respect you. They will see that you do good things.
• 1 Peter 3:16But when you tell them, be kind and polite. Do only what you know is right. Then those people will see that you live in a good way because you believe in Christ. When they say bad things against you they will become ashamed.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 29:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3These days, or these years - I suppose these words to mark no definite time, and may be understood thus: "Is not this David, who has been with me for a considerable time?"Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3He fell unto me - The regular word for deserting and going over to the other side. See Jeremiah 37:13; Jeremiah 38:19.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3the servant of King Saul of Israel: To Achish, David appeared to be a valuable defector (someone who had left his former king). The other Philistine rulers were suspicious. They feared that David was a spy who planned to attack them from inside their defenses. found no fault in him: This was the first of three times Achish defended David (see also 1 Samuel 29:6, 9). However, David had been deceiving Achish the entire time (see 1 Samuel 27:1–12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. these days, or these years--He had now been with the Philistines a full year and four months (1Sa 27:7), and also some years before. It has been thought that David kept up a private correspondence with this Philistine prince, either on account of his native generosity, or in the anticipation that an asylum in his territories would sooner or later be needed.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 29:3

• Hebrew
• Integrity

In the dictionaries

• David
• Israel
• Philistines
• Saul
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Paul, Saul
• Achish
• Fault
• Lords of the Philistines

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings