Text: 1 Chronicles 11:18
OT Text Referred to: 2 Samuel 23:16
Subject: water represents the blood of life
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Both texts record the episode where three of David's mighty men broke through the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem to bring David water from the well near the gate (בְּאֵר בֵּית לֶחֶם, be'er Bet Lechem). In both accounts, David refused to drink the water, pouring it out as a libation to the LORD, declaring it equivalent to "the blood of the men who risked their lives" (דַּם הָאֲנָשִׁים הַהֹלְכִים בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָם, dam ha'anashim haholekhim benafeshotam). The accounts are nearly verbatim, with the Chronicler preserving the same theological logic: water obtained at the risk of life becomes symbolically equivalent to blood, making it too sacred for human consumption and fit only as an offering to God.