1 Samuel 25:11

11 Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

1 Samuel 25:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:11

Shall I then take my bread, and my water
Which include all food and liquors, everything eatable and drinkable; and "water" may be particularly mentioned, because very scarce in the wilderness, and so precious; though the Septuagint version has "wine" instead of "water":

and my flesh which I have killed for my shearers;
whether oxen, or sheep, or lambs, as there might be of each sort, for an entertainment made on such an occasion:

and give [it] unto men whom I know not whence they [be]?
which is another argument Abarbinel makes use of that he meant not David, but his men only, because he did not know who and from whence they were.

1 Samuel 25:11 In-Context

9 When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited.

10 But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.

11 Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

12 So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words.

13 And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men strapped on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.