1 Samuel 25:21
New International Version
David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.

New Living Translation
David had just been saying, “A lot of good it did to help this fellow. We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen. But he has repaid me evil for good.

English Standard Version
Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.

Berean Standard Bible
Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

King James Bible
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

New King James Version
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good.

New American Standard Bible
Now David had said, “It is certainly for nothing that I have guarded everything that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing has gone missing of all that belonged to him! For he has returned me evil for good.

NASB 1995
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

NASB 1977
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now David had said, “Surely for a lie I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has returned me evil for good.

Amplified Bible
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have protected and guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing of all that belonged to him; and he has repaid me evil for good.

Christian Standard Bible
David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
David had just said, “I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness for nothing. He was not missing anything, yet he paid me back evil for good.

American Standard Version
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David said: “For nothing we protected everything that he had in the wilderness, and we did not allow a thing to be lost of all that he had, and he paid us evil for the sake of good

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And David said, Perhaps I have kept all his possessions in the wilderness that he should wrong me, and we did not order the taking anything of all his goods; yet he has rewarded me evil for good.

Contemporary English Version
David had just been saying, "I surely wasted my time guarding Nabal's things in the desert and keeping them from being stolen! I was good to him, and now he pays me back with insults.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

English Revised Version
Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
David had thought, "I guarded this man's stuff in the desert for nothing! Not one of his possessions was missing. Yet, he has paid me back with evil when I was good to him.

Good News Translation
David had been thinking, "Why did I ever protect that fellow's property out here in the wilderness? Not a thing that belonged to him was stolen, and this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him!

International Standard Version
Now David had said, "Surely it was for nothing that I protected everything that belonged to this man in the wilderness, and nothing was missing of all that belonged to him. But he has repaid me with evil for good!

JPS Tanakh 1917
Now David had said: 'Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him; and he hath returned me evil for good.

Literal Standard Version
And David said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this [one] has in the wilderness, and nothing has been looked after of all that he has, and he turns back to me evil for good;

Majority Standard Bible
Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good.

New American Bible
David had just been saying: “Indeed, it was in vain that I guarded all this man’s possessions in the wilderness, so that nothing of his was missing. He has repaid good with evil.

NET Bible
Now David had been thinking, "In vain I guarded everything that belonged to this man in the desert. I didn't take anything from him. But he has repaid my good with evil.

New Revised Standard Version
Now David had said, “Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good.

New Heart English Bible
Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good.

Webster's Bible Translation
(Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this man hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

World English Bible
Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has returned me evil for good.

Young's Literal Translation
And David said, 'Only, in vain I have kept all that this one hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Abigail Intercedes for Nabal
20As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them. 21Now David had just finished saying, “In vain I have protected all that belonged to this man in the wilderness. Nothing that belongs to him has gone missing, yet he has paid me back evil for good. 22May God punish David, and ever so severely, if I let one of Nabal’s men survive until morning.”…

Cross References
1 Samuel 25:7
Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel.

1 Samuel 25:15
Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them.

1 Samuel 25:20
As Abigail came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming down toward her, and she met them.

Psalm 109:5
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Proverbs 17:13
If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.


Treasury of Scripture

Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he has requited me evil for good.

Surely

1 Samuel 25:13
And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

Job 30:8
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

Psalm 37:8
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

he hath requited

Genesis 44:4
And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

Psalm 35:12
They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.

Psalm 38:20
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Jump to Previous
Belonged Care David Desert Evil Kept Loss Missed Missing Paid Pertained Property Requited Surely Use Useless Vain Waste Watching Wilderness
Jump to Next
Belonged Care David Desert Evil Kept Loss Missed Missing Paid Pertained Property Requited Surely Use Useless Vain Waste Watching Wilderness
1 Samuel 25
1. Samuel dies
2. David in Paran sends to Nabal
10. Provoked by Nabal's rudeness, he minds to destroy him
14. Abigail understanding thereof
18. takes a present
23. and by her wisdom
32. pacifies David
36. Nabal hearing thereof, dies
39. David takes Abigail and Ahinoam to be his wives
44. Michal is given to Phalti














(21) Now David had said.--This verse and the following (22nd) must be understood as a kind of parenthesis in the narrative. They express what David felt, and, as it were, his justification in his own mind for the violent and vengeful act he was about to carry out. The argument was, Nabal had returned indeed evil for good. For a long time David's band had guarded faithfully his vast scattered flocks, and had preserved them safely, and now, when he asked a small favour in return, the churl repaid him by throwing in his teeth the taunt that he was a rebel and a runaway slave.

Verses 21, 22. - David justifies his fierce anger by referring to the services he had rendered Nabal, and which had been requited so shabbily. For the phrase so do God unto the enemies of David see on 1 Samuel 20:16. A superstitious feeling probably lay at the root of this substitution of David's enemies for himself when thus invoking a curse.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now David
וְדָוִ֣ד (wə·ḏā·wiḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

had just
אַךְ֩ (’aḵ)
Adverb
Strong's 389: A particle of affirmation, surely

finished saying,
אָמַ֗ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“In vain
לַשֶּׁ֨קֶר (laš·še·qer)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8267: Deception, disappointment, falsehood

I have protected
שָׁמַ֜רְתִּי (šā·mar·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

that
אֲשֶׁ֤ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

belonged to this man
לָזֶה֙ (lā·zeh)
Preposition-l | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

in the wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר (bam·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

so that nothing
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

was missed
נִפְקַ֥ד (nip̄·qaḏ)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6485: To visit, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit

of all
מִכָּל־ (mik·kāl)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

that
אֲשֶׁר־ (’ă·šer-)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

[belongs] to him,
ל֖וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

yet he has paid me back
וַיָּֽשֶׁב־ (way·yā·šeḇ-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

evil
רָעָ֖ה (rā·‘āh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

for
תַּ֥חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

good.
טוֹבָֽה׃ (ṭō·w·ḇāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good


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OT History: 1 Samuel 25:21 Now David had said Surely in vain (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 25:20
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