Bible Strands
1 Samuel 27:9
Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator describes David’s military campaigns while he is hiding in Philistine territory under King Achish’s protection. The account details his systematic raids on neighboring peoples and his subsequent reports to Achish.
The words — The Hebrew יְחַיּ֖ה (ye.chai.Yeh) means “he let live,” paired with אִ֣ישׁ ('ish) “a man” and אִשָּׁ֑ה ('i.Shah) “a woman” to emphasize total annihilation. This lexical choice underscores the completeness of the destruction David ordered.
The thread — The command to leave no survivors echoes the earlier divine mandate to devote the Amalekites to destruction (1 Samuel 15:3). The geographical markers also recall the ancient border regions near Shur and Egypt (Genesis 16:7; Genesis 25:18).
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of David’s tactical deception and the brutal reality of ancient warfare. It requires the reader to observe how survival in a hostile land depends on both military ruthlessness and calculated falsehoods.
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 David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 15:3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
- Genesis 16:7 Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.
- Genesis 25:18 Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
- Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.
- Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,
- Joshua 6:21 With the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
- 1 Samuel 15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.