1 Samuël 25:7

7 En nu, ik heb gehoord, dat gij scheerders hebt; nu, de herders, die gij hebt, zijn bij ons geweest; wij hebben hun geen smaadheid aangedaan, en zij hebben ook niets gemist al de dagen, die zij te Karmel geweest zijn.

1 Samuël 25:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:7

And now I have heard that thou hast shearers
Men employed in shearing his sheep, which was a time of feasting and gladness, and therefore David sent his young men to him at this time with his compliments upon it; and in order to obtain what he intended by this message to him, he observes the favours he and his men had done to his servants, and the advantages which they had received from them:

now thy shepherds which were with us;
feeding their sheep near the wilderness of Paran, which was not far from Carmel and Maon:

we hurt them not;
by taking any of their sheep and lambs from them, or by abusing, beating them, or giving them ill language; or "did not put them to shame" ^F24, by denying them anything they asked of them, which was in their power to grant, nor mocked and scoffed at them, and jeered them on account of their occupation:

neither was there ought missing unto them;
they did not steal a sheep or lamb from them, as was common for soldiers to do; nor did they suffer any of the Arabs, that dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, to rob them, who lived upon plunder, or any of the wild beasts to hurt them, as much as in them lay; so careful were they of them, and were a wall unto them by night and day, as Nabal's servants owned, ( 1 Samuel 25:16 ) ; and this was the case,

all the while they were in Carmel;
or in the fields, ( 1 Samuel 25:15 ) ; which were joining to the wilderness of Paran.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 (Mwnmlkh al) "non affecimus verccundia eos", Montanus; so some in Vatablus.

1 Samuël 25:7 In-Context

5 Zo zond David tien jongelingen; en David zeide tot de jongelingen: Gaat op naar Karmel, en als gij tot Nabal komt, zo zult gij hem in mijn naam naar den welstand vragen;

6 En zult alzo zeggen tot dien welvarende: Vrede zij u, en uw huize zij vrede, en alles, wat gij hebt, zij vrede!

7 En nu, ik heb gehoord, dat gij scheerders hebt; nu, de herders, die gij hebt, zijn bij ons geweest; wij hebben hun geen smaadheid aangedaan, en zij hebben ook niets gemist al de dagen, die zij te Karmel geweest zijn.

8 Vraag het uw jongelingen, en zij zullen het u te kennen geven. Laat dan deze jongelingen genade vinden in uw ogen, want wij zijn op een goeden dag gekomen; geef toch uw knechten, en uw zoon David, hetgeen uw hand vinden zal.

9 Toen de jongelingen van David gekomen waren, en in Davids naam naar al die woorden tot Nabal gesproken hadden, zo hielden zij stil.