2 Samuel 3:35

35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

2 Samuel 3:35 in Other Translations

35 And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.

35 Then all the people came to persuade David to eat bread while it was yet day. But David swore, saying, "God do so to me and more also, if I taste bread or anything else till the sun goes down!"

35 David had refused to eat anything on the day of the funeral, and now everyone begged him to eat. But David had made a vow, saying, “May God strike me and even kill me if I eat anything before sundown.”

35 They all came then to David, trying to get him to eat something before dark. But David solemnly swore, "I'll not so much as taste a piece of bread, or anything else for that matter, before sunset, so help me God!"

35 Then they came to urge David to eat bread while it was still day, but David took an oath: "May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!"

2 Samuel 3:35 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 3:35

And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while
it was yet day
The custom was to bury in the daytime, and after the funeral was over to provide and send in food to the relations of the deceased, and come and eat with them; as was also the usage with the Greeks and Romans ^F23; (See Gill on Jeremiah 16:5) and (See Gill on Jeremiah 16:7); and kings themselves used to attend those feasts; for the Jews say ^F24,

``when they cause him (the king) to eat, all the people sit upon the ground, and he sits upon the bed;''

but in this case David refused to eat with them:

David sware, saying, so do God to me, and more also;
may the greatest evils, and such as I care not to mention, befall me; and even more and worse than I can think of and express:

if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down;
perhaps the funeral was in the morning, as funerals with the Jews generally now are; for otherwise if it was now towards evening, his abstinence from food till that time would not have seemed so much, nor required much notice, and still less an oath.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Vid. Kirchman. de Funer. Roman, l. 4. c. 5. & 6.
F24 Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 3.) David de Pomis ut supra. (Lexic. fol. 119. 4.)

2 Samuel 3:35 In-Context

33 The king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner have died as the lawless die?

34 Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before the wicked.” And all the people wept over him again.

35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

36 All the people took note and were pleased; indeed, everything the king did pleased them.

37 So on that day all the people there and all Israel knew that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.

Cross References

• 1. S Ruth 1:17; 1 Samuel 3:17
• 2. S 1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12; 2 Samuel 12:17; Jeremiah 16:7