📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 11:17
What does 1 Chronicles 11:17 mean?
"David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”"
— 1 Chronicles 11:17 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
They stood in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines; and Yahweh saved them by a great victory.
Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was in Bethlehem at that time.
David longed, and said, “Oh that one would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; but David would not drink any of it, but poured it out to Yahweh,
and said, “My God forbid me, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy?” For they risked their lives to bring it. Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.
Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.
Explanation
This verse captures a brief, deeply human moment in the life of King David. While hiding from the Philistines in the stronghold near the cave of Adullam, David is overcome with a wave of nostalgia and thirst—not just physical thirst, but a longing for something familiar and precious from home. He voices a wish, almost to himself, for water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, his hometown. It's the kind of offhand, wistful remark a person might make when far from home and under stress, not necessarily a command or expectation that anyone would act on
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