1 Samuel 25:11

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

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 spoke 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 are many servants nowadays who break away every man from his master.

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

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 stayed by the supplies.