2 Samuel 23:15

King James Version

And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
David was extremely thirsty and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!”

Hebrew Names Version
David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beit-Lechem, which is by the gate!

English Standard Version
And David said longingly, "Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!"

New Century Version
David had a strong desire for some water. He said, "Oh, I wish someone would get me water from the well near the city gate of Bethlehem!"

New English Translation
David was thirsty and said, "How I wish someone would give me some water to drink from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate!"

Amplified Bible
And David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"

New American Standard Bible
And David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Dauid longed, and said, Oh, that one would giue me to drinke of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"

Contemporary English Version
and he was very thirsty. He said, "I wish I had a drink from the well by the gate at Bethlehem."

Complete Jewish Bible
David had a craving and said, "I wish someone could give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Beit-Lechem!"

Darby Translation
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is in the gate!

Easy-to-Read Version
David was thirsty for some water from his hometown, so he said, "Oh, if only I could have some water from that well by the gate in Bethlehem."

George Lamsa Translation
And David longed for water and said, O that one would give me a drink of water from the great well which is in the city of Beth-lehem!

Good News Translation
David grew homesick and said, "How I wish someone would bring me a drink of water from the well by the gate at Bethlehem!"

Lexham English Bible
David said longingly, "Oh that someone would bring me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate."

Literal Translation
And David longed, and said, Who shall give me drink from the water of the well of Bethlehem beside the gate?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Dauid was desyrous, and sayde: Wolde God yt some man wolde fetch me a drynke of water out of the well at Bethleem vnder the gate.

American Standard Version
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!

Bible in Basic English
And David, moved by a strong desire, said, If only someone would give me a drink of water from the water-hole of Beth-lehem, by the doorway into the town!

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Dauid longed, & saide: Oh that I had of the water that is in the wel by the gate of Bethlehem for to drynke.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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!'

King James Version (1611)
And Dauid longed, and said, Oh that one would giue mee drinke of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And David longed, and said, Who will give me water to drink out of the well that is in Bethleem by the gate? now the band of the Philistines was then in Bethleem.

English Revised Version
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!

Berean Standard Bible
David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Dauid desiride water of the lake, and seide, If ony man wolde yyue to me drynk of watir of the cisterne, which is in Bethleem, bisidis the yate.

Young's Literal Translation
and David longeth and saith, `Who doth give me a drink of the water of the well of Beth-Lehem, which [is] by the gate?'

Update Bible Version
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!

Webster's Bible Translation
And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which [is] by the gate!

World English Bible
David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

New King James Version
And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"

New Living Translation
David remarked longingly to his men, "Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem."

New Life Bible
David had a desire and said, "If only someone would give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Bethlehem!"

New Revised Standard
David said longingly, "O that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And David longed, and said, - Who will give me to drink water out of the well of Bethlehem, that is within the gate?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a drink of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate.

Revised Standard Version
And David said longingly, "O that some one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!"

Contextual Overview

⁸ These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. ⁹ And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away: ¹⁰ He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil. ¹¹ And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory. ¹³ And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! ¹⁶ And the three mighty men 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: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord . ¹⁷ And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord , that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

longed: Numbers 11:4, Numbers 11:5, Psalms 42:1, Psalms 42:2, Psalms 63:1, Psalms 119:81, Isaiah 41:17, Isaiah 44:3, John 4:10, John 4:14, John 7:37

Bethlehem: Bethlehem signifies the "house of bread," and the place was likewise noted for excellent water. There Christ was born, who is the "bread of life," and who also gives us the "water of life." "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 12:20 - I will Joshua 19:15 - Bethlehem 1 Kings 21:16 - Ahab rose up 1 Chronicles 11:17 - longed Proverbs 25:25 - cold John 4:7 - Give Romans 1:11 - I long

Cross-References

Exodus 30:13
This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord .

Exodus 30:15
The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord , to make an atonement for your souls.

Ezekiel 45:12
And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs: twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, fifteen shekels, shall be your maneh.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And David longed, and said,.... It being harvest time, the summer season, and hot weather, and he thirsty:

oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem,

which [is] by the gate! which he was well acquainted with, being his native place; and which might make it the more desirable, as well as its waters might be peculiarly cool and refreshing, and very excellent, as Kimchi suggests. This well was about a mile from Bethlehem, now called David's well, as some travellers say y. It is said to be a very large well, with three mouths, and lies a little out of the road z; and that there is now near Rachel's grave a good rich cistern, which is deep and wide; wherefore the people that go to dip water are provided with small leathern buckets, and a line, as usual in those countries a; but Mr. Maundrell b says it is a well, or rather a cistern, supplied only with rain, without any excellency in its waters to make them desirable; but it seems, he adds, David's spirit had a further aim. Some think he meant by this to get Bethlehem out of the hands of the Philistines, and obtain the possession of it; others, as Jarchi, that he intended to ask some question of the sanhedrim that sat there; and others, that his desire was after the law of God, called waters, as in Isaiah 55:1; and some Christian writers, both ancient and modern c, are of opinion, that not literal but spiritual water was desired by him, and that he thirsted after the coming of the Messiah, to be born at Bethlehem, and the living water which he only can give, John 4:10.

y Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 363. z Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 52. p. 204. a Rauwolff's Travels, part 3. p. 317, 318. b Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 90. c Ambros. Apolog. David l. 1. c. 7. gloss. ordinar. & Schmidt in loc. Pfeiffer. Difficil. Loc. Script. cent. 2. loc. 91. Horn. Dissert. de desiderio David. sect. 10.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A cistern of deep, clear, cool water, is called by the monks, David’s Well, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of Bethlehem. Possibly the old well has been filled up since the town was supplied with water by the aqueduct.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 23:15. The water of the well of Bethlehem — This was David's city, and he knew the excellence of the water which was there; and being near the place, and parched with thirst, it was natural for him to wish for a draught of water out of that well. These three heroes having heard it, though they received no command from David, broke through a company of the Philistines, and brought away some of the water. When brought to David he refused to drink it: for as the men got it at the hazard of their lives, he considered it as their blood, and gave thereby a noble instance of self-denial. There is no evidence that David had requested them to bring it; they had gone for it of their own accord, and without the knowledge of David.