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Tuesday, September 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

1 Samuel 27:12

Achish believed David and thought to himself, "By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - David;   Falsehood;   Philistines;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Philistia, philistines;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Achish;   Old Testament;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Eternity;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Achish;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Abhor;   Abimelech;   Alliance;   Philistines;   Zebah and Zalmunna;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
Hebrew Names Version
Akhish believed David, saying, He has made his people Yisra'el utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.
King James Version
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
Lexham English Bible
And Achish trusted David, saying, "He has made himself utterly hated among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever."
English Standard Version
And Achish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant."
New Century Version
So Achish trusted David and said to himself, "David's own people, the Israelites, now hate him very much. He will serve me forever."
New English Translation
So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, "He is really hated among his own people in Israel! From now on he will be my servant."
Amplified Bible
Achish believed David, saying, "He has certainly become hated by his people in Israel; so he will always be my servant."
New American Standard Bible
So Achish believed David, saying, "He has undoubtedly made himself repulsive among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And Achish beleeued Dauid, saying, He hath made his people of Israel vtterly to abhorre him: therefore he shalbe my seruant for euer.
Legacy Standard Bible
So Achish believed David, saying, "He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever."
Contemporary English Version
But Achish trusted David and thought, "David's people must be furious with him. From now on he will have to take orders from me."
Complete Jewish Bible
And Akhish believed him; he said, "David has caused his own people Isra'el to despise him utterly; he will be my servant forever."
Darby Translation
And Achish trusted David, saying, He has made himself utterly odious among his people Israel; and he shall be my servant for ever.
Easy-to-Read Version
Achish began to trust David and said to himself, "Now David's own people hate him. The Israelites hate him very much. Now he will serve me forever."
George Lamsa Translation
And Achish believed David, saying, He has surely displeased his people Israel; therefore he has become my servant for ever.
Good News Translation
But Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life."
Literal Translation
And Achish trusted David, saying, Surely he has made himself to be hated among his people in Israel, and has become my servant forever.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore Achis gaue credence vnto Dauid, and thoughte: he hath made him selfe stynke before his people of Israel, therfore shal he be my seruaunt for euer.
American Standard Version
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
Bible in Basic English
And Achish had belief in what David said, saying, He has made himself hated by all his people Israel, and so he will be my servant for ever.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Achis beleued Dauid, saying: He hath made his people Israel vtterly to abhorre him, & therefore he shalbe my seruaunt for euer.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Achish believed David, saying: 'He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.'
King James Version (1611)
And Achish beleeued Dauid, saying, Hee hath made his people Israel vtterly to abhorre him, therefore hee shall be my seruant for euer.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
So David had the full confidence of Anchus, who said, He is thoroughly disgraced among his people in Israel and he shall be my servant for ever.
English Revised Version
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
Berean Standard Bible
So Achish trusted David, thinking, "Since he has made himself repugnant to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Achis bileuyde to Dauid, and seide, Forsothe he wrouyte many yuelis ayens his puple Israel, therfor he schal be euerlastynge seruaunt to me.
Young's Literal Translation
And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'
Update Bible Version
And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel completely to abhor him; therefore he shall be my slave forever.
Webster's Bible Translation
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
World English Bible
Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.
New King James Version
So Achish believed David, saying, "He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever."
New Life Bible
And Achish believed David, saying, "He has made the people of Israel hate him. So he will become my servant forever."
New Revised Standard
Achish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Achish believed in David, saying, - He hath made himself, odious, unto his own people, unto Israel, therefore shall he be my servant all his life long.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
Revised Standard Version
And A'chish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself utterly abhorred by his people Israel; therefore he shall be my servant always."
THE MESSAGE
Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, "He's made himself so repugnant to his people that he'll be in my camp forever."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
So Achish believed David, saying, "He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever."

Contextual Overview

8 David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times. 9 David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish. 10 "Where did you make your raid today?" Achish would ask. And David would reply, "Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites." 11 No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines. 12 Achish believed David and thought to himself, "By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

utterly to abhor: Heb. to stink, 1 Samuel 13:4, Genesis 34:30

Reciprocal: Exodus 5:21 - to be abhorred Exodus 21:6 - for ever 1 Samuel 28:1 - thou shalt go 2 Samuel 10:6 - stank 2 Samuel 16:21 - then shall 2 Samuel 17:20 - They be gone 1 Chronicles 19:6 - odious

Cross-References

Genesis 9:25
Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: "May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives."
Genesis 25:27
As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.
Genesis 27:21
Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau."
Genesis 27:22
So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's," Isaac said.
Genesis 27:36
Esau exclaimed, "No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?"
Deuteronomy 27:18
‘Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.' And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.'
Job 12:16
Yes, strength and wisdom are his; deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
Jeremiah 48:10
Cursed are those who refuse to do the Lord 's work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
Malachi 1:14
"Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "and my name is feared among the nations!
2 Corinthians 6:8
We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Achish believed David,.... As he would have him understand his story; imposing upon him by ambiguous terms, insinuating he had been against the southern parts of Judah, when he had been against foreign nations that lay to the south of Judah:

saying, he hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; they shall never forgive him the destruction of their cities, and the inhabitants of them, and the plunder of their goods and cattle; his name will be had in the utmost detestation and abhorrence, and he must never return thither any more:

therefore he shall be my servant for ever: would be glad to continue with him as a servant, and be obliged to serve him faithfully and truly, since his own people, and even those of his own tribe, would never more receive him; it being, as he understood it, the south of Judah that he had been plundering.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 27:12. He hath made his people - utterly to abhor him — This deception, which Dr. Delaney says "did harm to nobody, and to the account of which he is at an utter loss what degree of guilt to charge," imposed upon Achish, had the most direct tendency to make him imagine himself secure, while in the utmost danger; and to have a faithful friend and able ally in David, while he was the veriest enemy he could possibly have. Shame on him who becomes the apologist of such conduct! As to Dr. Chandler, he should know that no lie is of the truth, and that all falsity is an abomination to the Lord.


 
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