Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Samuel 30:26 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 26. 26And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Sends spoil portions to Judahite elders as a present.
David sends portions to the elders of Judah, his friends
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Samuel 30:26–30:31. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Samuel 30:26–30:31
1 Samuel 30:26–30:31 supplies the necessary frame for verse 30:26. Here the narrator sends spoil portions to Judahite elders as a present, within this larger movement: David sends portions of recovered spoil to Judahite elders and a wide network of places where he and his men had moved.
Why This Verse Appears Here
At verse 30:26, the scene sends spoil portions to Judahite elders as a present. That movement matters to “David distributes gifts through Judah's towns” while the unit's uncertainty and ethical boundary continue to govern application.
What Remains True
Sends spoil portions to Judahite elders as a present. Within 1 Samuel 30:26–30:31, this contribution supports the unit's enduring claim: A responsible reader preserves both the unit's stated movement and its ethical limit. Gift-giving does not make political patronage pure, establish entitlement to war goods, or authorize modern territorial claims from the place list.
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 30:26–30:31 — David distributes gifts through Judah's townsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 30:26–30:31, 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 30:26–30:31; 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 30:26–30:31
Open source ↗