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Grow With Me

1 Samuel 25:32–33

David thanks Abigail for keeping him from avenging himself

32David said to Abigail, “Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!

33Blessed be your discernment, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from entering into guilt of blood and from saving myself with my own hand.

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In its context

30And when YHWH does for my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and commands you to be leader over Israel,

31this shall not be to you a stumbling block or an offense of heart for my lord: to have shed blood without cause or for my lord to have saved himself. And when YHWH does good to my lord, remember your servant.”

…

34For indeed, as YHWH lives, the Elohim of Israel, who has kept me back from harming you, if you had not hurried and come to meet me, surely there would not have been left to Nabal, by the light of morning, so much as one who urinates against a wall.”

35David received from her hand what she had brought him, and to her he said, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and granted your request.”

Read all of 1 Samuel 25

Its words in the original

  • יֹּאמֶרyomer· say

    Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".

  • דָּוִדdavid· David

    David, youngest son of Jesse, of Bethlehem; the second king of Israel. The name means "beloved."

  • אֲבִיגַלavigal· Abigail

    Abigail: the name of two women; best known is the wife of Nabal, a woman of good understanding, who later became David's wife (1 Samuel 25); the other is a sister of David (1 Chronicles 2:16). It means "my father rejoices".

  • בָּרוּךְbaruch· bless, kneel

    Bless. When God blesses, he gives good: life, children, fruit, prosperity. When a person "blesses God", he gives him nothing: he praises and thanks him. Between people, it is wishing the other the good that comes from God; also greet. The root also means kneel.

  • יְהוָהyehva· YHWH

    The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.

  • אֱלֹהֵיelohe· Elohim, God, gods

    The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.

  • יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel

    Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.

  • שְׁלָחֵshelache· send, stretch out

    Send; stretch out (the hand); let go, send away, set free.

  • יּוֹםyom· day

    Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").

  • קְרָאתִkerati· happen, meet

    Happen, befall someone; meet with something.

  • טַעְמֵtame· taste; judgment

    Taste. In other passages, good judgment, discretion.

  • כְּלִתִkeliti· hold back, restrain

    Hold back, restrain, withhold; keep someone from doing something, prevent.

  • בּוֹאbo· come, go in, bring

    Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.

  • דָמִיםdamim· blood

    Blood. In the Bible blood stands for life; "shed blood" is to kill; "bloodguilt" is guilt for killing.

  • הֹשֵׁעַhoshea· save

    Save: deliver someone from danger or from an oppressor. From this root come the names Joshua and Jesus.

  • יָדִyadi· hand, power

    Hand. Figuratively, power or control ("into the hand of" = into the power of); also side, part, or share. Also a projecting piece, such as a tenon.

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