1 Samuel 25:6

6 Then say this: 'Long life to you,^[a] and peace to you, to your family, and to all that is yours.

1 Samuel 25:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:6

And thus shall ye say to him that liveth [in prosperity]
That lives, while others, as David and his men, might be rather said to starve than live; they lived in great meanness, but he in great abundance, and therefore in a capacity to give to others, and particularly to relieve them: or the sense is, they should say to him, "thus" shall it be, or may it be "for life": for the time of life, for the year to come; at this time next year, at next sheep shearing, mayest thou be in as great prosperity then as now, and even all the days of thy life:

peace [be] both to thee, and peace [be] to thine house, and peace [be]
unto all that thou hast;
that is, all prosperity to thy person in soul and body, to thy family, wife, children and servants, and let the same attend thy estate, cattle, farms, fields, vineyards, and all that belong to thee; and wish for a blessing on him, and his, and all that were his, or he had; a more extensive one could not well be made.

1 Samuel 25:6 In-Context

4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep,

5 so David sent 10 young men instructing them, "Go up to Carmel, and when you come to Nabal, greet him in my name.

6 Then say this: 'Long life to you, and peace to you, to your family, and to all that is yours.

7 I hear that you are shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let [my] young men find favor with you, for we have come on a feast day. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.' "

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit To life