King James Version

1 Samuel 21:4

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

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Hebrew

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In the Hebrew text this line is 1 Samuel 21:5.

וַיַּ֨עַןvayaanand shoutעָנָהconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and shout”, the next action in the storyH6030properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announcegive account, afflict (by mistake for H6031 (עָנָה)), (cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for H6031 (עָנָה)), cry, hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, [idiom] scholar, (give a) shout, sing (together by course), speak, testify, utter,…הַכֹּהֵ֤ןhakohenthe priestכֹּהֵןdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the priest”, the ordinary formH3548literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman)chief ruler, [idiom] own, priest, prince, principal officer.אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).דָּוִד֙davidDavidדָּוִדnoun, proper name — “David”H1732David, the youngest son of JesseDavid.וַיֹּ֔אמֶרvayomerand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…אֵֽיןeynelseאַיִןparticle, negative — “else”H369a non-entity; generally used as a negative particleelse, except, fail, (father-) less, be gone, in(-curable), neither, never, no (where), none, nor, (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past, un(-searchable), well-nigh, without. Compare H370 (אַיִן).לֶ֥חֶםlechembreadלֶחֶםnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “bread”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3899food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it)(shew-) bread, [idiom] eat, food, fruit, loaf, meat, victuals.חֹ֖לcholprofaneחֹלnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “profane”, the ordinary formH2455properly, exposed; hence, profanecommon, profane (place), unholy.אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).תַּ֣חַתtachatwithתַּחַתpreposition — “with”H8478the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.as, beneath, [idiom] flat, in(-stead), (same) place (where...is), room, for...sake, stead of, under, [idiom] unto, [idiom] when...was mine, whereas, (where-) fore, with.יָדִ֑יyadihandיָדnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “hand”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3027a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),([phrase] be) able, [idiom] about, [phrase] armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, [idiom] bounty, [phrase] broad, (broken-) handed, [idiom] by, charge, coast, [phrase] consecrate, [phrase] creditor, custody, debt, dominion, […כִּֽיkiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…אִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…לֶ֤חֶםlechembreadלֶחֶםnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “bread”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3899food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it)(shew-) bread, [idiom] eat, food, fruit, loaf, meat, victuals.קֹ֨דֶשׁ֙qodeshconsecratedקֹדֶשׁnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “consecrated”, the ordinary formH6944a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctityconsecrated (thing), dedicated (thing), hallowed (thing), holiness, ([idiom] most) holy ([idiom] day, portion, thing), saint, sanctuary.יֵ֔שׁyeshareיֵשׁparticle, demonstrative — “are”H3426there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be, as may suit the connection)(there) are, (he, it, shall, there, there may, there shall, there should) be, thou do, had, hast, (which) hath, (I, shalt, that) have, (he, it, there) is, substance, it (there) was, (there) were, ye will, thou wilt, wouldest.אִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…נִשְׁמְר֥וּnishmervbewardשָׁמַרverb, niphal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “beward”, a completed actionH8104properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.beward, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep(-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch(-man).הַנְּעָרִ֖יםhanarimthe boyנַעַרdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the boy”, the ordinary formH5288(concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescence; by implication, a servant; also (by interch. of sex), a girl (of similar latitude in age)babe, boy, child, damsel (from the margin), lad, servant, young (man).אַ֥ךְakhonlyאַךְparticle, affirmation — “only”H389a particle of affirmation, surely; hence (by limitation) onlyalso, in any wise, at least, but, certainly, even, howbeit, nevertheless, notwithstanding, only, save, surely, of a surety, truly, verily, [phrase] wherefore, yet (but).מֵאִשָּֽׁהmeishahfrom eachאִשָּׁהpreposition, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “from each”, the ordinary formH802a woman(adulter) ess, each, every, female, [idiom] many, [phrase] none, one, [phrase] together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

(21-5) And the priest answered David, and said: 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.

Young’s Literal Translation

And the priest answereth David, and saith, 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the youths have been kept only from women.'

World English Bible

The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”

Darby Translation

And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women.

Douay-Rheims

And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

(21-5) And the priest answered David, and said: 'There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.'

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the priest answered David, and said, There are no common loaves under my hand, for I have none but holy loaves: if the young men have been kept at least from women, then they shall eat them .

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἱερεὺς τῷ Δαυὶδ, καὶ εἶπεν, οὔκ εἰσιν ἄρτοι βέβηλοι ὑπὸ τὴν χεῖρά μου, ὅτι ἀλλʼ ἢ ἄρτοι ἅγιοί εἰσιν· εἰ πεφυλαγμένα τὰ παιδάριά ἐστι πλὴν ἀπὸ γυναικὸς, καὶ φάγεται.