2 Samuel 23:15

15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

2 Samuel 23:15 in Other Translations

15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!

15 And David said longingly, "Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!"

15 David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.”

15 David had a sudden craving and said, "Would I ever like a drink of water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem!"

15 David was extremely thirsty and said, "If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!"

2 Samuel 23:15 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 23:15

And David longed, and said
It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty:

oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem,
which [is] by the gate!
which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say ^F25. It is said to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the road {z}; and that there is now near Rachel's grave a good rich cistern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets, and a line, as usual in those countries ^F1; but Mr. Maundrell ^F2 says it is a well, or rather a cistern, supplied only with rain, without any excellency in its waters to make them desirable; but it seems, he adds, David's spirit had a further aim. Some think he meant by this to get Bethlehem out of the hands of the Philistines, and obtain the possession of it; others, as Jarchi, that he intended to ask some question of the sanhedrim that sat there; and others, that his desire was after the law of God, called waters, as in ( Isaiah 55:1 ) ; and some Christian writers, both ancient and modern ^F3, are of opinion, that not literal but spiritual water was desired by him, and that he thirsted after the coming of the Messiah, to be born at Bethlehem, and the living water which he only can give, ( John 4:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 363.
F26 Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 52. p. 204.
F1 Rauwolff's Travels, part 3. p. 317, 318.
F2 Journey from Aleppo p. 90.
F3 Ambros. Apolog. David l. 1. c. 7. gloss. ordinar. & Schmidt in loc. Pfeiffer. Difficil. Loc. Script. cent. 2. loc. 91. Horn. Dissert. de desiderio David. sect. 10.

2 Samuel 23:15 In-Context

13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief warriors came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

16 So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD.

17 “Far be it from me, LORD, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.