The Meaning of 1 Samuel 25:17 Explained

1 Samuel 25:17

KJV: Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.

YLT: And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he is too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'

Darby: And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him.

ASV: Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow, that one cannot speak to him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now therefore know  and consider  what thou wilt do;  for evil  is determined  against our master,  and against all his household:  for he [is such] a son  of Belial,  that [a man] cannot speak  to him. 

What does 1 Samuel 25:17 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Samuel 25:2-17 - A Rich Man's Churlishness
This Carmel was a city in the mountains of Judah, ten miles south of Hebron. See Joshua 15:55. Though a descendant of Caleb, Nabal had none of that hero's spirit. He had great wealth, but little wit. Today the Arab tribe which guards the shepherd or caravan, or restrains itself from plundering, expects some acknowledgment. It was unfair that the rich sheep-master should take all the advantage and make no return, and altogether too bad to cap injustice with a coarse jest. Nabal's shepherds were quite explicit in their testimony to the benefits they had received, 1 Samuel 25:7; 1 Samuel 25:15-16. His jibes and churlishness justified the general estimate entertained by those who knew him best.
For David to take the sword to avenge the insult stands out in striking contrast to Him who, "when He was reviled, reviled not again." Revenge for an insult where one has personally suffered has no place in Christ's teaching, and is separated by a whole heaven from the magisterial use of the sword referred to in Romans 13:4. In after-years, David must have been very thankful for the interposition, through Abigail, of God's grace that arrested his hand. See Romans 12:17. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 25

1  Samuel dies
2  David in Paran sends to Nabal
10  Provoked by Nabal's rudeness, he minds to destroy him
14  Abigail understanding thereof
18  takes a present
23  and by her wisdom
32  pacifies David
36  Nabal hearing thereof, dies
39  David takes Abigail and Ahinoam to be his wives
44  Michal is given to Phalti

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 25:17 mean?

Therefore now know and consider what you will do for is determined harm against our master and against all his household for he [is such] - a scoundrel that [one] cannot speak to him
וְעַתָּ֗ה דְּעִ֤י וּרְאִי֙ מַֽה־ תַּעֲשִׂ֔י כִּֽי־ כָלְתָ֧ה הָרָעָ֛ה אֶל־ אֲדֹנֵ֖ינוּ וְעַ֣ל כָּל־ בֵּית֑וֹ וְהוּא֙ בֶּן־ בְּלִיַּ֔עַל מִדַּבֵּ֖ר אֵלָֽיו

וְעַתָּ֗ה  Therefore  now 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
דְּעִ֤י  know 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
וּרְאִי֙  and  consider 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Imperative, feminine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
תַּעֲשִׂ֔י  you  will  do 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person feminine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
כָלְתָ֧ה  is  determined 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
הָרָעָ֛ה  harm 
Parse: Article, Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
אֶל־  against 
Parse: Preposition
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
אֲדֹנֵ֖ינוּ  our  master 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אָדֹון  
Sense: firm, strong, lord, master.
וְעַ֣ל  and  against 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
בֵּית֑וֹ  his  household 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
וְהוּא֙  for  he  [is  such] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
בֶּן־  - 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
בְּלִיַּ֔עַל  a  scoundrel 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בְּלִיַּעַל  
Sense: worthlessness.
מִדַּבֵּ֖ר  that  [one]  cannot  speak 
Parse: Preposition-m, Verb, Piel, Infinitive construct
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
אֵלָֽיו  to  him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).