Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—
Parallel translations
- WEB They found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink.
- KJV And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
- NKJV Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.
- NASB Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.
- NLT Along the way they found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David's men find a collapsed Egyptian in the field and give him food and water. An act of mercy to a stranger becomes the key to victory.
Overview
The abandoned Egyptian, left to die by his Amalekite master, is shown unexpected kindness by David's company. This small mercy, given without knowing its value, becomes God's providential means of locating the raiders. It illustrates how the Lord weaves ordinary compassion into his larger purposes of deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 23:7Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
- Rom 12:20–21On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
- Deut 15:7–11If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.
- Prov 25:21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
- Luke 10:36–37Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
- Matt 25:35For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 30:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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