That you have shearers is not intended to focus on the fact that there are workers whose occupation is that of shearing and who belong to Nabal. Rather the emphasis is on the fact that the people doing this work were active at the time and working for Nabal. So it will be better to translate using a present continuous [or, progressive] tense in most cases. This may be translated “that your men are shearing sheep” or “that your shearers are at work.”

The writer does not make clear in this verse in what sense Nabal’s shepherds had been with David’s men. But verses 15-16 suggest that the shepherds were working near where David and his men were staying. There is no suggestion that the shepherds had joined David’s band of warriors.

And they missed nothing: literally “and nothing was lacking [or, missing] to them.” In this context the sense of these words is that David and his men did not steal anything from Nabal’s shepherds. Some other ways of expressing this idea are “we stole nothing from them” (New Century Version) or “nor did they lose anything” (Anchor Bible).

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 .