VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Chronicles 11:16-19

¹⁶ And David [was] then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison [was] then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that [is] at the gate! ¹⁸ And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David: but David would not drink [of] it, but poured it out to the LORD, ¹⁹ And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹⁶ And David [was] then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison [was] then at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that [is] at the gate! ¹⁸ And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David: but David would not drink [of] it, but poured it out to the LORD, ¹⁹ And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹⁶ At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” ¹⁸ So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD, ¹⁹ saying, “Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

WEB World English Bible

¹⁶ David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁷ David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ¹⁸ The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh, ¹⁹ and said, “My God forbid it me, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?” For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.

ASV American Standard Version

¹⁶ And David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. ¹⁷ And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate! ¹⁸ And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto Jehovah, ¹⁹ and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹⁶ and David is then in the fortress, and the station of the Philistines is then in Beth-Lehem, ¹⁷ and David longeth, and saith, ‘Who doth give me to drink water from the well of Beth-Lehem, that is at the gate!’ ¹⁸ And the three break through the camp of the Philistines, and draw water from the well of Beth-Lehem, that is at the gate, and bear and bring in unto David, and David hath not been willing to drink it, and poureth it out to Jehovah, ¹⁹ and saith, ‘Far be it from me, by my God, to do this; the blood of these men do I drink with their lives? for with their lives they have brought it;’ and he was not willing to drink it; these things did the three mighty ones.

Surrounding context — 1 Chronicles 11

13 He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

14 And they set themselves in the midst of [that] parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved [them] by a great deliverance.

15 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.

16 And David [was] then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison [was] then at Bethlehem.

17 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that [is] at the gate!

18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David: but David would not drink [of] it, but poured it out to the LORD,

19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

20 And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew [them], and had a name among the three.

21 Of the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained not to the [first] three.

22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.

Read the whole chapter → · About 1 Chronicles →

Topics connected to this verse

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on 1 Chronicles 11:16-19

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →