1-Samuel - 22:14



14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, "Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is taken into your council, and is honorable in your house?

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Samuel 22:14.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?
And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son in law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house?
And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and has access to thy secret council, and is honourable in thy house?
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, which is the king's son in law, and is taken into thy council, and is honourable in thine house?
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in thy house?
And Ahimelech answereth the king and saith, 'And who among all thy servants is as David, faithful, and son-in-law of the king, and hath turned aside unto thy council, and is honoured in thy house?
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all your servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house?
Then Ahimelech answering said to the king, Who among all your servants is so true to you as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is a captain of your armed men, and has a place of honour in your house?
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said: 'And who among all thy servants is so trusted as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and giveth heed unto thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house?
And responding to the king, Ahimelech said: "But who among all your servants is as faithful as David? And he is the son-in-law of the king, and he goes forth at your order, and he is a glory within your house.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Goeth at thy bidding - Better, "has access to thy (private) audience," or council (compare 2-Samuel 23:23, margin).

And who is so faithful - The word נאמן neeman, which we here translate faithful, is probably the name of an officer. See the note on Numbers 12:7.

Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said,.... First with respect to David, and then with regard to himself; with respect to David as follows:
and who is so faithful amongst thy servants as David; I considered him, as if he should say, as a servant of thine, upon an errand of thine, and doing thy business; and as a faithful one, none more so, and as such I valued and regarded him, not as a rebel to thee, having no such thought of him:
which is the king's son in law; who has behaved himself so well, and thou hast entertained such an opinion of him, as to take him into thy family, and marry thy daughter to him; wherefore showing him favour, and doing him honour, was doing honour to thee and thy family, and surely there can be no blame in that:
and goeth at thy bidding; has always been ready to execute thy commands, and obey thine orders, let them be what they will; as to go out against an enemy, and fight Saul's battles for him:
and is honourable in thine house? behaved honourably there, and highly esteemed by all, as well as had the honour bestowed upon him to be the king's son-in-law, and made captain of a thousand; and therefore who could think that showing respect to such a man could be deemed treason and conspiracy, or he be thought to be a traitor to the king? and then with respect to himself he answers,

And said - He doth not determine the difference between Saul and David; nor affirm what David now was: but only declared what David formerly had been, and what he was still, for anything he knew to the contrary.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


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