Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Chronicles 11:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The KJV word means danger or risk to life, not a game or abstract challenge. In 1 Chronicles 11:19, “jeopardy” belongs to the complete movement “Three risk their lives for Bethlehem water.”
Read It With
- 1 Chronicles 11:15–19
Read 1 Chronicles 11:19 with 11:15–19. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the relationships and outcome summarized here: Three warriors break through enemy lines for David's expressed longing, but David pours out the water because their lives were placed at risk.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Three risk their lives for Bethlehem water,” 1 Chronicles 11:19 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The scene interrupts heroic accumulation by refusing to consume a costly act of loyalty as a royal entitlement. 1 Chronicles 11:10–14 has just established this prior movement: Jashobeam and Eleazar represent warriors who support David's kingdom, stand in a barley field, and receive a deliverance credited to the LORD. Together those details explain why “Three risk their lives for Bethlehem water” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 1 Chronicles 11:15–19 together
Why these verses belong together: 1 Chronicles 11:15–19 forms the complete movement “Three risk their lives for Bethlehem water”: Three warriors break through enemy lines for David's expressed longing, but David pours out the water because their lives were placed at risk.
Verse 15. 15 Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
Verse 16. 16 And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Beth-lehem.
Verse 17. 17 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that is at the gate!
Verse 18. 18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
Verse 19. 19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.
Follow the Context
- Three warriors break through enemy lines for David's expressed longing, but David pours out the water because their lives were placed at risk.
- The scene interrupts heroic accumulation by refusing to consume a costly act of loyalty as a royal entitlement.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“jeopardy”
In plain language: The KJV word means danger or risk to life, not a game or abstract challenge.
In 1 Chronicles 11:19, “jeopardy” belongs to the complete movement “Three risk their lives for Bethlehem water.”
Why it matters: This wording materially sharpens the passage-specific meaning or boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Chronicles 11:19 does not permit the wording “And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. David's refusal does not praise reckless orders, romanticize combat risk, or teach leaders to test loyalty through danger.
What Remains True
Leadership is accountable for truth, justice, lives, land, and labor; remembered calling or success does not erase harm or remove correction. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Three warriors break through enemy lines for David's expressed longing, but David pours out the water because their lives were placed at risk. In 1 Chronicles 11:19, the concrete line “And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood….” In leadership decisions, publish the evidence, hear affected people, separate office from immunity, and build consent, review, correction, and remedy into the work. This response follows from the unit's own movement: Three warriors break through enemy lines for David's expressed longing, but David pours out the water because their lives were placed at risk.
Teach It Back
Explain why 1 Chronicles 11:19 explains David's refusal as unwillingness to consume the men's life-risk. Use 11:15–19, paraphrase “And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Chronicles 11:15–19 — Three risk their lives for Bethlehem waterSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The relation between David's wish and the warriors' initiative is not fully stated; responsible reading must not invent a command or erase the power imbalance.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 1 Chronicles 11:15–19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:15–19
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 1 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 1 Chronicles 11:15–19, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗