1 Samuel 30:8

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

David inquired of Yahweh, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake [them], and shall without fail recover [all].

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַגְּדוּד

gᵉdûwd

H1416

“the · troop”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 33× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 49:19

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1413

TWOT: 313a

a band, troop, marauding band - marauding band, raiding band - troop, band (of divisions of army) - foray, raid

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

17: words
11: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַגְּדוּד troop H1416 occurs in 29 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

10 verbs
3 nouns
1 pronoun
2 prepositions
1 conjunction

Verb forms

וַיִּשְׁאַ֨ל Qal · Sequential Imperfect
לֵאמֹ֔ר Qal · Infinitive Construct
אֶרְדֹּ֛ף Qal · Imperfect
הַֽאַשִּׂגֶ֑נּוּ Hiphil · Imperfect
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
רְדֹ֔ף Qal · Imperative
הַשֵּׂ֥ג Hiphil · Infinitive Absolute
תַּשִּׂ֖יג Hiphil · Imperfect
וְהַצֵּ֥ל Hiphil · Infinitive Absolute
תַּצִּֽיל Hiphil · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הַֽאַשִּׂגֶ֑נּוּ to overtake H5381 ×3
לֵאמֹ֔ר to say H559 ×2
אֶרְדֹּ֛ף to pursue H7291 ×2
וְהַצֵּ֥ל to rescue H5337 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 31 words from the Hebrew and 36 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 17 Hebrew tokens and 26 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Samuel 30:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Samuel 30:18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives.
1 Samuel 23:2 Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go and strike these Philistines? Yahweh said to David, Go, and strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.
Proverbs 3:5–6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, And don't lean on your own understanding.
2 Samuel 5:19 David inquired of Yahweh, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? will you deliver them into my hand? Yahweh said to David, Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand.
2 Samuel 5:23 When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, You shall not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.
Psalms 91:15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
Judges 20:23 The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until even; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? Yahweh said, Go up against him.
1 Samuel 23:4 Then David inquired of Yahweh yet again. Yahweh answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.

Psalms 50:15 Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
1 Samuel 23:10–12 Then said David, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
Numbers 27:21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.
Judges 20:18 The children of Israel arose, and went up to Bethel, and asked counsel of God; and they said, Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin? Yahweh said, Judah [shall go up] first.
Judges 20:28 and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days), saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? Yahweh said, Go up; for tomorrow I will deliver him into your hand.
1 Samuel 28:6 When Saul inquired of Yahweh, Yahweh didn't answer him, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
1 Samuel 14:37 Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he didn't answer him that day.
1 Samuel 28:15–16 Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disquieted me, to bring me up? Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Samuel 30:8 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיִּשְׁאַ֨ל דָּוִ֤ד בַּֽיהוָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אֶרְדֹּ֛ף אַחֲרֵ֥י הַגְּדוּד הַזֶּ֖ה הַֽאַשִּׂגֶ֑נּוּ וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ רְדֹ֔ף כִּֽי הַשֵּׂ֥ג תַּשִּׂ֖יג וְהַצֵּ֥ל תַּצִּֽיל

David inquired of Yahweh, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake them? He answered him, Pursue; for you shall surely overtake [them], and shall without fail recover [all].

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Samuel 30:8 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἐπιἐρωτάω δαυίδ διά ὁ κύριος λέγω εἰ καταδιώκω ὀπίσω ὁ γεδδουρ οὗτος εἰ καταλαμβάνω αὐτός καί εἶπον αὐτός καταδιώκω ὅτι καταλαμβάνω καταλαμβάνω καί ἐκαἱρέω ἐκἔρχομαι

And David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? and he said to him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and you shall surely rescue the captives.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וּשְׁאֵיל דָוִד בְּמֵימְרָא דַייָ לְמֵימָר אֶרְדוֹף בָּתַר מַשְׁרִיתָא הָדָא הֲאַדְבְּקִינֵיהּ וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ רְדוֹף אֲרֵי אַדְבֵּיק תַּדְבֵיק וְשֵׁיזָבָא תְּשֵׁיזֵיב:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 1 Samuel 30:8 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

1Sa 30:8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake [them], and without fail recover [all].

Ver. 8. Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them.] The mouth and ears of God, shut to Saul, are open to David. "Then shall ye return and discern," &c. {Mal 3:18}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

1Sa 30:8. He answered — Before God answered more slowly and gradually, 1Sa 23:11-12; but now he answers speedily, and fully at once, because the business required haste. So gracious is our God, that he considers even the degree of our necessities, and accommodates himself to them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

30:8 Unlike Saul (28:6), David inquired of the Lord successfully (see 23:9-12; 2 Sam 2:1; 5:19, 23).

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Though God seem to leave us for a time, yet if we trust in him, we shall be sure to find comfort.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

8. inquired at] = inquired of. Cp. Gen_24:57.

pursue … overtake] Cp. Exo_15:9.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And David inquired of the Lord,.... That is, by Abiathar, who reported his questions to the Lord in his name:

saying, shall I pursue after this troop? the large company of the Amalekites, as it appears by what follows they were:

shall I overtake them? two questions are here put together, and answers returned to them, contrary to a notion of the Jews; See Gill on Sa1 23:11,

and he answered him, pursue; which respects the first question:

for thou shall surely overtake them; which is an answer to the second question, and a full one, giving full assurance of overtaking; to which is added more than what was inquired about:

and without fail recover all; their wives, sons, and daughters, and the spoil that was taken; or "in delivering thou shall deliver" (p), out of the hands of the Amalekites, whatsoever they had taken.

(p) "eruendo erues", Pagninus, Montanus; "eripiendo erepturus es", Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Before God answered more slowly and gradually, 1Sa 23:1,12, but now he answers speedily and fully at once, because the business here required more haste. So gracious is our God, that he considers even the degree of other necessities, and accommodates himself to them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

He answered - Before, God answered more slowly and gradually, chap. xxiii, 11, 12, but now he answers speedily, and fully at once, because the business required haste. So gracious is our God, that he considers even the degree of our necessities, and accommodates himself to them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 17 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is gᵉdûwd (“troop”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “troop” (gᵉdûwd) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Genesis 49:19, which shares the word «troop», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to overtake” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיִּשְׁאַ֨ל» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 17 Hebrew ↔ 26 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 16 words in this verse.
“to overtake” occurs 3× in this single verse.
11 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 17 words in this verse.