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 Philistines assembled all their troops at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel. 2When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish. The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time? I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!” 4But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and said to him, “Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don’t let him go down with us into the battle, for he might become our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men? 5Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his tens of thousands’?”

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 27:7The length of time that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year and four months.
• 1 Samuel 25:28Please forgive the sin of your servant, for the Lord will certainly establish the house of my lord, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord. May no evil be found in you all your days!
• Daniel 6:5So these men concluded, “We won’t find any pretext against this man Daniel unless it is in connection with the law of his God.”
• John 19:6When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said, “You take him and crucify him! Certainly I find no reason for an accusation against him!”
• Romans 12:17Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people.
• 1 Peter 3:16Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

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