1 Samuel 25:13

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.

1 Samuel 25:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 25:13

And David said unto his men
Provoked to the last degree to have such a rude churlish answer returned to such a civil and humble message as he had sent:

gird you on every man his sword;
and prepare to march and chastise Nabal for his insolence:

and they girded on every man his sword;
in obedience to David, and in vindication of his honour and their own:

and David also girded on his sword;
in order to march at the head of them, fired with indignation at the affront given him:

and there went up after David about four hundred men;
out of the six hundred he had with him, ( 1 Samuel 23:13 ) ;

and two hundred abode by the stuff;
the baggage in their camp; the Targum is, they

``were left to watch the vessels;''

the things necessary for their use, for the dressing of their food, their bedding

1 Samuel 25:13 In-Context

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.

14 Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed at them.

15 Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.