the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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1 Samuel 25:22
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Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
So and more: Nothing can justify this conduct of David, which was rash, unjust, and cruel in the extreme. David himself condemns it, and thanks God for being prevented from executing this evil - 1 Samuel 25:32-34. 1 Samuel 3:17, 1 Samuel 14:44, 1 Samuel 20:13, 1 Samuel 20:16, Ruth 1:17
if I leave: 1 Samuel 25:34
any that pisseth: etc. This seems to have been a proverbial expression among the Israelites; and may with the utmost propriety be read "any male." 1 Kings 14:10, 1 Kings 16:11, 1 Kings 21:21, 2 Kings 9:8
Reciprocal: Leviticus 5:4 - to do evil 1 Samuel 25:37 - had told him 2 Samuel 3:9 - So do God 2 Samuel 12:5 - David's 2 Kings 6:31 - God do so Proverbs 15:1 - grievous Ecclesiastes 7:9 - hasty Matthew 14:9 - the oath's 1 Corinthians 13:4 - vaunteth not itself
Cross-References
Gill's Notes on the Bible
So and more also do God unto the enemies of David,.... Give them as much health and prosperity, as much wealth and riches, as Nabal has, and much more:
if I leave of all that [pertain] to him, by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall; which is generally understood of a dog, that he, would not leave him so much as a dog: but it is better, with Ben Gersom, to interpret it of the males in his house, himself, his sons, and servants; and so the Targum paraphrases it of reasonable creatures, of such
"that know knowledge,''
or are knowing and understanding creatures; it seems to have been towards the evening; of the day when David was marching towards Nabal's house, designing to fall upon him and his, amidst their jollity that night, and cut them all off before morning. This must be imputed to the sudden and violent passion David was thrown into when off his guard, through the necessity he was in, the disappointment he met with, and the opprobrious language he was treated with; but in this his conduct was not as it used to be, and as it was towards Saul his enemy. Nor is his rage and passion to be vindicated, or the rash vow he made to destroy Nabal and his family; his crime, though great, yet not to be published with death; his ingratitude and insolence deserved resentment, but were not capital crimes worthy of death, and especially of the destruction of his whole family; the Jews indeed make him to be guilty of treason, in that he knew that David was anointed king, and yet both abused him, and disobeyed his commands, and therefore being guilty of overt acts of treason, he and his were deserving of death; but David was not yet king.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The concluding phrase denotes the utter destruction of a family, and is rightly explained to mean “every male,” perhaps with the idea, “down to the very meanest member of the household.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Samuel 25:22. So and more also do God — Nothing can justify this part of David's conduct. Whatever his provocation might have been, he had suffered, properly speaking, no wrongs; and his resolution to cut off a whole innocent family, because Nabal had acted ungenerously towards him, was abominable and cruel, not to say diabolic. He who attempts to vindicate this conduct of David is, at least constructively, a foe to God and truth. David himself condemns this most rash and unwarrantable conduct, and thanks God for having prevented him from doing this evil, 1 Samuel 25:32, c.
Any that pisseth against the wall. — This expression certainly means either men or dogs, and should be thus translated, if I leave-any male and this will answer both to men and dogs, and the offensive mode of expression be avoided. I will not enter farther into the subject: Bochart and Calmet have done enough, and more than enough; and in the plainest language too.