1 Samuel 17:29

Bishop's Bible

And Dauid sayde: And what haue I nowe done? is there not a cause?

Parallel Translations

Update Bible Version
And David said, What have I done now? Is there not a cause?

New Living Translation
"What have I done now?" David replied. "I was only asking a question!"

English Revised Version
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

New Century Version
David asked, "Now what have I done wrong? Can't I even talk?"

New English Translation
David replied, "What have I done now? Can't I say anything?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And David said, What have I now done? [Is there] not a cause?

World English Bible
David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

Amplified Bible
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a [harmless] question?"

English Standard Version
And David said, "What have I done now? Was it not but a word?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Dauid seide, What haue Y do? Whether it is not a word?

Young's Literal Translation
And David saith, `What have I done now? is it not a word?'

Berean Standard Bible
"What have I done now?" said David. "Was it not just a question?"

Contemporary English Version
"Now what have I done?" David answered. "Can't I even ask a question?"

American Standard Version
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

Bible in Basic English
And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word?

Complete Jewish Bible
David said, "What have I done now? I only asked a question."

Darby Translation
And David said, What have I now done? Was it not laid upon me?

Easy-to-Read Version
David said, "What did I do now? I didn't do anything wrong! I was only talking."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And David said: 'What have I now done? Was it not but a word?'

King James Version (1611)
And Dauid saide, What haue I now done? Is there not a cause?

New Life Bible
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"

New Revised Standard
David said, "What have I done now? It was only a question."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Dauid sayde, What haue I nowe done? Is there not a cause?

George Lamsa Translation
And David said, What have I done now? Behold, I was just talking.

Good News Translation
"Now what have I done?" David asked. "Can't I even ask a question?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And David said, What have I done, now? Was there not, a cause?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to speak?

Revised Standard Version
And David said, "What have I done now? Was it not but a word?"

Christian Standard Bible®
“What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.”

Hebrew Names Version
David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

King James Version
And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

Lexham English Bible
David replied, "What have I done now? I merely asked a question!

Literal Translation
And David said, What have I done now? Was it not but a word?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Dauid answered: What haue I downe now? Is there not an occasion?

THE MESSAGE
"What is it with you?" replied David. "All I did was ask a question." Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.

New American Standard Bible
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"

New King James Version
And David said, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"

Legacy Standard Bible
But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a word?"

Contextual Overview

¹² Dauid was the sonne of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem Iuda, named Isai, which had eyght sonnes, & this man was taken for an olde man in the dayes of Saul. ¹³ And the three eldest sonnes of Isai went, and folowed Saul to the battell: And the names of his three sonnes that went to battaile, were: Eliab the eldest, and the next Abinadab, and the thyrd Samma: ¹⁴ And Dauid was the leaste. And the three eldest, went after Saul. ¹⁵ Dauid also went, and departed from Saul, to feede his fathers sheepe at Bethlehem. ¹⁶ And the Philistine came foorth in the morning and euening, and continued fourtie dayes. ¹⁷ And Isai sayd vnto Dauid his sonne: Take for thy brethren an Epha of this partched corne, & these ten loaues, and runne to the hoast to thy brethren. ¹⁸ And cary these ten freshe cheeses vnto the captayne, and loke howe thy brethren fare, and set out their pledge. ¹⁹ And Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fyghtyng with the Philistines. ²⁰ And Dauid rose vp early in ye morning, and left the sheepe with a keper, & toke, and went as Isai had commaunded him, and came within the compasse of the hoast: And the hoast went out in array, and shouted in the battaile. ²¹ For Israel and the Philistines had put them selues in array armie against armie.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 15:1, Acts 11:2-4, 1 Corinthians 2:15, 1 Peter 3:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:26 - What 1 Samuel 26:18 - what have I 1 Samuel 29:8 - But what have 1 Chronicles 27:18 - Elihu Esther 4:14 - for such a time Psalms 131:1 - my heart Matthew 26:8 - they John 12:4 - one

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And David said, what have I now done?.... That is criminal and blameworthy; as if he should say, I have only expressed an indignation against this uncircumcised Philistine, and a concern for the glory of God, and the honour of the people of Israel:

[is there] not a cause? either for his coming to the camp, being sent by his father; or of his expressing himself with indignation at the Philistine's defiance of the armies of Israel. Some take the sense to be, that he had done nothing, he had not committed any fact; it was mere words what he had said, he had attempted nothing, and therefore there was no reason to bear so hard upon him; to this purpose is the Targum,

"what have I done as yet? is it not a word "only" which I have spoken?''

but the former sense seems best.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Is there not a cause? - i. e., is not Saul’s promise, and the insolence of Goliath, a sufficent cause for what I am about to do?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 17:29. Is there not a cause? — הלוא דבר הוא halo dabar hu. I believe the meaning is what several of the versions express: I have spoken but a word. And should a man be made an offender for a word?