Bible Strands
1 Samuel 16:20
And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat and sent them to Saul with his son David.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesse sends his son David to King Saul, delivering a loaded donkey carrying bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat after Saul’s messengers requested David’s service.
The words — חֲמ֥וֹר (chamor) translates to a donkey, and נֹ֣אד (nod) denotes a leather skin-bottle used to carry the wine.
The thread — The text records Jesse’s material provision to facilitate David’s court entry, which aligns with the pattern in 1 Samuel 10:27 where bringing gifts marks acceptance of leadership, and reflects the principle in Proverbs 18:16 that gifts open doors before great men.
Why it lands — The passage states the concrete arrangement that moves David from pasture to palace, requiring the reader to observe how tangible provision functioned as the mechanism for royal advancement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 10:27 But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.
- Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift opens doors for him, and brings him before great men.
- 1 Samuel 17:18 Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them.
- Genesis 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
- 1 Samuel 25:18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five butchered sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys
- 2 Samuel 16:1 When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth was there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.