the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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Contemporary English Version
1 Samuel 24:3
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- CondensedParallel Translations
When Saul came to the sheep pens along the road, a cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave,
He came to the sheep pens by the way, where was a cave; and Sha'ul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
He came to the sheep pens beside the road, and a cave was there. Then Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost part of the cave.
And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
Saul came to the sheep pens beside the road. A cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were hiding far back in the cave.
He came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave. Saul went into it to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave.
On the way he came to the sheepfolds where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the cave's innermost recesses.
And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
And hee came to the sheepecoates by the way where there was a caue, & Saul went in to do his easement: and Dauid and his men sate in the inward parts of the caue.
And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
Sha'ul took three thousand men chosen from all Isra'el and went searching for David and his men on the cliffs where the mountain goats are.
And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave.
Saul came to some sheep pens beside the road. There was a cave near there, so Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were deep inside that same cave.
And he came to the sheepfolds on the way where there was a cave; and Saul went into the cave and lay down there; and David and his men were staying on the slope of the cave.
He came to a cave close to some sheep pens by the road and went in to relieve himself. It happened to be the very cave in which David and his men were hiding far back in the cave.
And on the way he came in to the folds of the flock. And there was a cave. And Saul went in to cover his feet. And David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.
And whan he came to the shepe foldes by ye waye, there was a caue, and Saul wente in to couer his fete. But Dauid and his men sat behinde within the caue.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow.
And he came to the sheepe coates by the way, where there was a caue, & Saul went in to do his easement: And Dauid and his men remayned in the inward partes of the caue.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
And hee came to the sheepe coates by the way, where was a caue, and Saul went in to couer his feete: and Dauid and his men remained in the sides of the caue.
And he took with him three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in front of Saddaeem.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
Soon Saul came to the sheepfolds along the road, where there was a cave, and he went in to relieve himself. And David and his men were hiding in the recesses of the cave.
And he cam to the fooldis of scheep, that offriden hem silf to the wei goere. And there was a denne, in to which denne Saul entride, that he schulde purge the wombe; forsothe Dauid and hise men weren hid in the ynnere part of the denne.
and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there [is] a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding.
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
And he came to the sheep-cotes by the way, where [was] a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
He came to the sheep pens by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were abiding in the innermost parts of the cave.
So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.)
At the place where the road passes some sheepfolds, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself. But as it happened, David and his men were hiding farther back in that very cave!
He came to the places where the sheep were kept on the way. There was a cave there, and Saul went in to get rid of his body waste. Now David and his men were sitting farther back in the cave.
He came to the sheepfolds beside the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
And he came into the sheep-folds by the way, there, being a cave, which Saul entered, to cover his feet, - David and his men, in the hinder part of the cave, having taken up their abode.
(24-4) And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.
And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the sheepcotes: Caves in the rocks, in which it is still common for shepherds and their flocks to lodge. Dr. Pococke observes, "Beyond the valley - of Tekoa there is a very large grotto, which the Arabs call El-Maamah, a hiding place: the high rocks on each side of the valley are almost perpendicular; and the way to the grotto is by a terrace formed in the rock, which is very narrow. There are two entrances into it; we went by the farthest, which leads by a narrow passage into a very large grotto, the rock being supported by natural pillars; the top of it rises in several places like domes; the grotto is perfectly dry. There is a tradition, that the people of the country, to the number of 30,000, retired into this grotto, to avoid a bad air. This place is so strong, that one would imagine it to be one of the strong holds of En-gedi, to which David and his men fled from Saul, and possibly it may be that very cave in which he cut off Saul's skirt; for David and his men might, with good ease, lie hid there and not be seen by him." Travels, vol. ii. P. 1. p. 41.
and Saul: Psalms 141:6
to cover: Judges 3:24
David: Psalms 57:1, Psalms 142:1,*titles
Reciprocal: Joshua 10:16 - in a cave 1 Samuel 13:6 - in caves 2 Samuel 17:9 - he is hid Psalms 17:11 - compassed Jeremiah 41:9 - because of Gedaliah Ezekiel 33:27 - in the caves Jonah 1:5 - the sides
Cross-References
The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.
and said to Abram: "I bless you in the name of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
Abram answered: The Lord God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him
Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner."
in the name of the Lord , who rules heaven and earth, that you won't choose a wife for my son Isaac from the people here in the land of Canaan.
Instead, go back to the land where I was born and find a wife for him from among my relatives."
and I'll ask one of them for a drink. If she gives me a drink and then offers to get some water for my camels, I'll know she is the one you have chosen and that you have kept your promise to my master.
While he was still praying, a beautiful unmarried young woman came by with a water jar on her shoulder. She was Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Abraham's brother Nahor and his wife Milcah. Rebekah walked past Abraham's servant, then went over to the well, and filled her water jar. When she started back,
Abraham's servant ran to her and said, "Please let me have a drink of water."
After he had finished, she said, "Now I'll give your camels all the water they want." She quickly poured out water for them, and she kept going back for more, until his camels had drunk all they wanted.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where [was] a cave,.... For the sheep to be led into at noon, to shelter them from the heat: such was the cave of Polyphemus, observed by Bochart z, in which sheep and goats lay down and slept; :-;
and Saul went in to cover his feet; the Targum is, to do his necessaries; and so Josephus a; and the Jewish commentators generally understand it of easing nature; and as the eastern people used to wear long and loose garments, these, when they performed such an action, they used in modesty to gather them close about them, that no part of the body, their feet, and especially the parts of nature which should be concealed, might be seen; but the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "and there he lay" or "slept"; which suggest, that his going into the cave was in order to take some sleep and rest, when it was usual to cover the feet, both to prevent taking cold, and the private parts of the body being exposed to view; and this accounts better for Saul not hearing David's men in the cave, and for his being insensible of David's cuttings off the skirt of his garment, and best agrees with the use of the phrase in Judges 3:24; the only place besides this in which it is used; Judges 3:24- :;
and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave; unseen and unobserved by Saul, even six hundred of them; nor need this seem strange, since in those parts of the world there were caves exceeding large, made so either by nature or art. Vansleb b speaks of a cave in Egypt so extraordinary large, that, without hyperbole, a thousand horses might there draw up in battle array, and of another larger than that; and Strabo says c, that towards Arabia and Iturea are mountains difficult to be passed, and in which are deep caves, one of which would hold four thousand men: and as the mouths of these caves were generally narrow, and the further parts of them large, and also dark, persons at the entrance of them could be seen, when those in the more remote parts could not; and this cave is said to be extremely dark d; which accounts for Saul's being seen when he came into the cave, whereas David and his men could not be seen by him.
z Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 45. col. 467, 468. a Antiqu. l. 6. c. 13. sect. 4. b Relation of a Voyage, p. 227. c Geograph. l. 16. p. 520. d Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, ch. 51. p. 199.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Remained in the sides - Rather, “were in the sides of the cave dwelling or abiding there.” Some of these caverns are very deep and spacious. Any one near the mouth of the cave would be visible, but those in the recesses would be quite in the dark and invisible, especially if the incident occurred at night. Psalms 67:1-7, according to the title, was composed on this occasion.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Samuel 24:3. The sheep-cotes — Caves in the rocks, in which it is common, even to the present time, for shepherds and their flocks to lodge. According to Strabo there are caverns in Syria, one of which is capable of containing four thousand men: Ὡν ἑν και τετρακισχιλιους ανθρωπους δεξασθαι δυναμενον; lib. xvi. p. 1096. Edit. 1707.
Saul went in to cover his feet — Perhaps this phrase signifies exactly what the Vulgate has rendered it, ut purparet ventrem. The Septuagint, the Targum, and the Arabic understand it in the same way. It is likely that, when he had performed this act of necessity, he lay down to repose himself, and it was while he was asleep that David cut off the skirt of his robe. It is strange that Saul was not aware that there might be men lying in wait in such a place; and the rabbins have invented a most curious conceit to account for Saul's security: "God, foreseeing that Saul would come to this cave, caused a spider to weave her web over the mouth of it, which, when Saul perceived, he took for granted that no person had lately been there, and consequently he entered it without suspicion." This may be literally true; and we know that even a spider in the hand of God may be the instrument of a great salvation. This is a Jewish tradition, and one of the most elegant and instructive in their whole collection.
David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. — This is no hyperbole; we have not only the authority of Strabo as above mentioned, but we have the authority of the most accurate travellers, to attest the fact of the vast capacity of caves in the East.
Dr. Pococke observes: "Beyond the valley (of Tekoa) there is a very large grotto, which the Arabs call El Maamah, a hiding place; the high rocks on each side of the valley are almost perpendicular, and the way to the grotto is by a terrace formed in the rock, which is very narrow. There are two entrances into it; we went by the farthest, which leads by a narrow passage into a large grotto, the rock being supported by great natural pillars; the top of it rises in several parts like domes; the grotto is perfectly dry. There is a tradition that the people of the country, to the number of thirty thousand, retired into this grotto to avoid a bad air. This place is so strong that one would imagine it to be one of the strong holds of En-gedi, to which David and his men fled from Saul; and possibly it may be that very cave in which he cut off Saul's skirt, for David and his men might with great ease lie hid there and not be seen by him." - Pococke's Travels, vol. ii., part 1, p. 41.
