The Meaning of 1 Samuel 25:7 Explained

1 Samuel 25:7

KJV: And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

YLT: and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.

Darby: And now I have heard that thou hast shearers; now thy shepherds who were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there aught missed by them, all the while they were in Carmel.

ASV: And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: thy shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And now I have heard  that thou hast shearers:  now thy shepherds  which were with us, we hurt  them not, neither was there ought  missing  unto them, all the while  they were in Carmel. 

What does 1 Samuel 25:7 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 25:7 mean?

Now I have heard that have shearers you now Your shepherds that to were with us not we did hurt them nor was there missing from them anything all the while they were in Carmel
וְעַתָּ֣ה שָׁמַ֔עְתִּי כִּ֥י גֹזְזִ֖ים לָ֑ךְ עַתָּ֗ה הָרֹעִ֤ים אֲשֶׁר־ לְךָ֙ הָי֣וּ עִמָּ֔נוּ לֹ֣א הֶכְלַמְנ֗וּם וְלֹֽא־ נִפְקַ֤ד לָהֶם֙ מְא֔וּמָה כָּל־ יְמֵ֖י הֱיוֹתָ֥ם בַּכַּרְמֶֽל

וְעַתָּ֣ה  Now 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
שָׁמַ֔עְתִּי  I  have  heard 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
כִּ֥י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
גֹזְזִ֖ים  have  shearers 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: גָּזַז  
Sense: to shear, mow.
עַתָּ֗ה  now 
Parse: Adverb
Root: עַתָּה  
Sense: now.
הָרֹעִ֤ים  Your  shepherds 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: רָעָה 
Sense: to pasture, tend, graze, feed.
אֲשֶׁר־  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
עִמָּ֔נוּ  with  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
Root: עִם  
Sense: with.
הֶכְלַמְנ֗וּם  we  did  hurt  them 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common plural, third person masculine plural
Root: כָּלַם  
Sense: to insult, shame, humiliate, blush, be ashamed, be put to shame, be reproached, be put to confusion, be humiliated.
וְלֹֽא־  nor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
נִפְקַ֤ד  was  there  missing 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּקַד 
Sense: to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for.
לָהֶם֙  from  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
מְא֔וּמָה  anything 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מְאוּמָה  
Sense: anything.
יְמֵ֖י  the  while 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הֱיוֹתָ֥ם  they  were 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בַּכַּרְמֶֽל  in  Carmel 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: כַּרְמֶל 
Sense: a mountain on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel, just below Haifa.