VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Samuel 21:10-15

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said unto him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? ¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. ¹⁴ Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore [then] have ye brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this [fellow] to play the mad man in my presence? shall this [fellow] come into my house?

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said unto him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? ¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. ¹⁴ Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore [then] have ye brought him to me? ¹⁵ Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this [fellow] to play the mad man in my presence? shall this [fellow] come into my house?

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹⁰ That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. ¹¹ But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” ¹² Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”

WEB World English Bible

¹⁰ David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing one to another about him in dances, saying, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?’” ¹² David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ He changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. ¹⁴ Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? ¹⁵ Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

ASV American Standard Version

¹⁰ And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹ And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands? ¹² And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³ And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. ¹⁴ Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me? ¹⁵ Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹⁰ And David riseth and fleeth on that day from the face of Saul, and cometh in unto Achish king of Gath; ¹¹ and the servants of Achish say unto him, ‘Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, ‘Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?’ ¹² And David layeth these words in his heart, and is exceedingly afraid of the face of Achish king of Gath, ¹³ and changeth his behaviour before their eyes, and feigneth himself mad in their hand, and scribbleth on the doors of the gate, and letteth down his spittle unto his beard. ¹⁴ And Achish saith unto his servants, ‘Lo, ye see a man acting as a madman; why do ye bring him in unto me? ¹⁵ A lack of madmen have I, that ye have brought in this one to act as a madman by me! doth this one come in unto my house?’

Surrounding context — 1 Samuel 21

7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul [was] there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name [was] Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that [belonged] to Saul.

8 And David said unto Ahimelech, And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.

9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it [is here] wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take [it]: for [there is] no other save that here. And David said, [There is] none like that; give it me.

10 And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore [then] have ye brought him to me?

15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this [fellow] to play the mad man in my presence? shall this [fellow] come into my house?

Read the whole chapter → · About 1 Samuel →

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on 1 Samuel 21:10-15

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

Compare commentaries →