Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Samuel 30:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Asks his allegiance and hears he is an abandoned Egyptian servant of an Amalekite.
They find an Egyptian in the field and give him bread, water, figs, and raisins before they ask
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15
The line at 1 Samuel 30:13 asks his allegiance and hears he is an abandoned Egyptian servant of an Amalekite. Its place in 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15 matters because David's men find a sick Egyptian, give food and water before questioning, learn his Amalekite master's abandonment and the raid's scope, and promise safety before he guides them.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This detail follows the unit's opening pressure and prepares its outcome: 1 Samuel 30:13 asks his allegiance and hears he is an abandoned Egyptian servant of an Amalekite. Its value is contextual, not slogan-like.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: David's men find a sick Egyptian, give food and water before questioning, learn his Amalekite master's abandonment and the raid's scope.
- Developing movement or outcome: promise safety before he guides them.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
First Samuel 30:13 does not stand alone from 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15: it asks his allegiance and hears he is an abandoned Egyptian servant of an Amalekite. Aid should not be made conditional on usefulness, the Egyptian is not reducible to intelligence, and his nationality does not define loyalty or worth.
What Remains True
Asks his allegiance and hears he is an abandoned Egyptian servant of an Amalekite. Within 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15, this contribution supports the unit's enduring claim: The durable responsibility is to protect people from detached uses of this scene while retaining its warranted claim: David's men find a sick Egyptian, give food and water before questioning, learn his Amalekite master's abandonment and the raid's scope, and promise safety before he guides them.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Samuel 30:13's precise role in 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15. Include the first historical horizon, material uncertainty, one person or cost a leader-centered reading could obscure, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15 — Care for an abandoned Egyptian yields crucial intelligenceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The man's testimony drives the plot but is preserved only through this encounter; his demand for protection exposes vulnerability under enslavement.
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 displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 30:11–30:15; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 30:11–30:15
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
Species and Ethnicity in 1 Samuel 15
Suzanna Millar
Bible and Critical Theory 19.1-2, 2023
Supports: One intersectional reading of constructed and unstable ethnicity; modern categories are not treated as exact ancient identities.
Exact location: Millar, 'Species and Ethnicity in 1 Samuel 15,' Bible and Critical Theory 19.1–2 (2023), pp. 1–22, especially pp. 1–4
Open source ↗scholarly monograph frontmatter and table of contents
The Theology of the Book of Samuel
John Goldingay
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Exact location: Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 21:1[2]–2 Samuel 1:27, pp. 111–140
Open source ↗scholarly monograph abstract and contents
Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel
Rachelle Gilmour
Oxford University Press, 2021 online; 2022 print
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Exact location: Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 30:11–30:15, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Open source ↗