1 Samuel 25:11

11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers , and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?

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 And when David's young men came , they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased .
10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said , Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers , and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David's young men turned their way, and went again , and came and told him all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

Footnotes 1

The King James Version is in the public domain.