Bible Strands
2 Samuel 3:35
Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses the people immediately after Abner’s death. The crowd urges him to eat while it is still day, but he responds with a binding oath.
The words — לֶ֖חֶם (lechem) means “bread,” and בְּ/ע֣וֹד (be'od) translates to “while still.” These terms mark the specific condition of David’s refusal to consume food.
The thread — The text links this fast to the evening mourning in 2 Samuel 1:12 and the elders’ failed attempts to feed the king in 2 Samuel 12:17. These passages record leaders delaying meals during periods of grief.
Why it lands — The passage records David’s public vow to fast until sunset, establishing a formal boundary for royal mourning. It asks the reader to note how grief is structured through spoken oaths and communal observation rather than private emotion.
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 when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:12 They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
- 2 Samuel 12:17 The elders of his household stood beside him to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat anything with them.
- Ruth 1:17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
- Jeremiah 16:7 No food will be offered to comfort those who mourn the dead; not even a cup of consolation will be given for the loss of a father or mother.
- Judges 20:26 Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.
- Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”
- 1 Samuel 3:17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
- 2 Samuel 3:9 May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
- Ezekiel 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.