The form of this verse is a complex question, but it is purely rhetorical, and there is no thought of the speaker seeking information. Nabal uses this form to make a rather strong statement that he has absolutely no intention of giving up his supplies to feed David’s men. In many languages a strong declarative statement will translate the meaning more clearly.

My water: it has seemed strange to many interpreters that water would be in short supply in mountainous regions where sheep are being raised. For this reason many translations follow the Septuagint, which says “my wine” (for example, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Osty-Trinquet). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, however, gives a {B} evaluation to the Masoretic Text. According to Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, “my bread and my water” is an idiom in biblical Hebrew, meaning “my food and my drink,” without necessarily referring specifically to bread and to water. If the reference is indeed specifically to water, perhaps the sense is that Nabal is unwilling to share water from his private wells with David’s men.

My meat that I have killed for my shearers: literally “the slaughtering that I have slaughtered for my shearers.” In languages that use the same word for “meat” and “animal,” this will present no problem, but in certain languages it is not possible to speak of killing meat, and the word for “animal” will have to be substituted. Others may change the verb, saying something like “meat I have butchered.” The Hebrew noun means “slaughtering” and refers here to the animal that has been slaughtered.

Men who come from I do not know where: this wording may be considered awkward in some languages. Some other ways of saying this are “people from unknown parts,” “men whose origin I do not know,” or “strangers who have come here from some place I know nothing about.” New Century Version simply says “men I don’t know.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .