1 Samuel 21:11

The NET Bible®

The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying, ‘Saul struck down his thousands, But David his tens of thousands'?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But Achish’s servants said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Don’t they sing about him during their dances:

Hebrew Names Version
The servants of Akhish said to him, "Isn't this David the king of the land? Didn't they sing one to another about him in dances, saying, 'Sha'ul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?'"

King James Version
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Lexham English Bible
The servants of Achish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Is it not for this one that they sang in the dances, saying, ‘Saul killed his thousands, but David his ten thousands?'"

English Standard Version
And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

New Century Version
But the servants of Achish said to him, "This is David, the king of the Israelites. He's the man they dance and sing about, saying: ‘Saul has killed thousands of his enemies, but David has killed tens of thousands.'"

Amplified Bible
The servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing in praise of this one as they danced, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"

New American Standard Bible
But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the seruants of Achish said vnto him, Is not this Dauid the King of the land? did they not sing vnto him in daunces, saying, Saul hath slayne his thousand, and Dauid his ten thousande?

Legacy Standard Bible
But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying,‘Saul has struck his thousands,And David his ten thousands'?"

Contemporary English Version
The officers of King Achish were also there, and they asked Achish, "Isn't David a king back in his own country? Don't the Israelites dance and sing, ‘Saul has killed a thousand enemies; David has killed ten thousand enemies'?"

Complete Jewish Bible
The same day, David took flight from Sha'ul and went to Akhish king of Gat.

Darby Translation
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Easy-to-Read Version
Achish's officers said, "Isn't this David, the king of the land of Israel? He is the one the Israelites sing about. They dance and sing this song about him: "Saul has killed thousands of enemies, but David has killed tens of thousands."

George Lamsa Translation
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land of Israel? Did not the daughters of Israel sing to one another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?

Good News Translation
The king's officials said to Achish, "Isn't this David, the king of his country? This is the man about whom the women sang, as they danced, ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David has killed tens of thousands.'"

Literal Translation
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David the king of the land? Is it not of this one they sang in dances, saying, Saul killed his thousands, and David his myriads?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Achis seruauntes sayde vnto him: This is Dauid the kynge of the londe, of whom they sunge in the daunse, and sayde: Saul hath smytten his thousande, but Dauid his ten thousande.

American Standard Version
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

Bible in Basic English
And the servants of Achish said to him, Is not this David, the king of the land? did they not make songs about him in their dances, saying, Saul has put to death thousands, and David tens of thousands?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the seruauntes of Achis sayde vnto him: Is not this Dauid the king of the land? Dyd they not sing vnto him in daunses, saying: Saul hath slayne his thousand, and Dauid his ten thousand?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.

King James Version (1611)
And the seruants of Achish sayd vnto him, Is not this Dauid the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him in daunces, saying, Saul hath slaine his thousands, and Dauid his ten thousands?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the servants of Anchus said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did not the dancing women begin the son to him, saying, Saul has smitten his thousand, and David his ten thousands?

English Revised Version
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Berean Standard Bible
But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the seruauntis of Achis seiden to hym, whanne thei hadden seyn Dauid, Whether this is not Dauid, kyng of the lond? Whether thei sungen not to hym bi queeris, and seiden, Saul smoot a thousynde, and Dauid smoot ten thousynde?

Young's Literal Translation
and the servants of Achish say unto him, `Is not this David king of the land? is it not of this one they sing in dances, saying, `Saul smote among his thousands, and David among his myriads?'

Update Bible Version
And the slaves of Achish said to him, Isn't this David the king of the land? didn't they sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?

Webster's Bible Translation
And the servants of Achish said to him, [Is] not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

World English Bible
The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David the king of the land? Didn't they sing one to another about him in dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?'"

New King James Version
And the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying: 'Saul has slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands'?" 1 Samuel 18:7 ">[fn]

New Living Translation
But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. "Isn't this David, the king of the land?" they asked. "Isn't he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

New Life Bible
The servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to each other about him as they danced, saying, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

New Revised Standard
The servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not, this, David, king of the land? Was it not, of this man, that they kept responding in the dances, saying, Saul, hath smitten his, thousands, but, David, his, tens of thousands?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?

Revised Standard Version
And the servants of A'chish said to him, "Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?"

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ So on that day David arose and fled from Saul. He went to King Achish of Gath. ¹¹ The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one that they sing about when they dance, saying, ‘Saul struck down his thousands, But David his tens of thousands'?" ¹² David thought about what they said and was very afraid of King Achish of Gath. ¹³ He altered his behavior in their presence. Since he was in their power, he pretended to be insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting his saliva run down his beard. ¹⁴ Achish said to his servants, "Look at this madman! Why did you bring him to me? ¹⁵ Do I have a shortage of fools, that you have brought me this man to display his insanity in front of me? Should this man enter my house?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the servants: Psalms 56:1, *title

the king: 1 Samuel 16:1, 1 Samuel 18:7, 1 Samuel 18:8, 1 Samuel 29:5

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 14:8 - And when John 9:8 - Is not

Cross-References

Genesis 17:18
Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live before you!"

Genesis 21:1
The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.

Genesis 21:2
So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

2 Samuel 18:33
The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, "My son, Absalom! My son, my son, Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!"

Matthew 10:37
"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Hebrews 12:11
Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the servants of Achish said unto him,.... Who knew who David was, and perceiving that he was respected by Achish:

[is] not this David the king of the land? of the land of the Philistines; so some render the words, "the king of this land" q; which belongs unto him for his conquest of Goliath; for this was what was proposed by him, that whoever was the conqueror should possess the kingdom; and seeing it belongs to him, O Achish, why dost thou admit him to court? thou wilt be driven from the throne, and we shall be his servants, and not thine r: but rather they mean the king of the land of Israel, having heard that he was anointed king by Samuel, and was to succeed Saul; or rather, they called him so because he led out the armies of Israel as their general, and being victorious was more respected than even Saul was; for they had heard what the women sung in their songs as follows:

did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? which are the burden of their song, 1 Samuel 18:7; and from whence the servants of Achish concluded, that he was in greater authority or honour, and in greater esteem than Saul their king was.

q מלך הארץ "rex hujus regionis", Vatablus. r Vid. Jarchium & Jesaiam in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king of the land - The Philistines gave him the title which their own lords bore.