5 And David H1732 arose, H6965 and came H935 to the place H4725 where Saul H7586 had pitched: H2583 and David H1732 beheld H7200 the place H4725 where Saul H7586 lay, H7901 and Abner H74 the son H1121 of Ner, H5369 the captain H8269 of his host: H6635 and Saul H7586 lay H7901 in the trench, H4570 and the people H5971 pitched H2583 round about H5439 him.
And the name H8034 of Saul's H7586 wife H802 was Ahinoam, H293 the daughter H1323 of Ahimaaz: H290 and the name H8034 of the captain H8269 of his host H6635 was Abner, H74 the son H1121 of Ner, H5369 Saul's H7586 uncle. H1730 And Kish H7027 was the father H1 of Saul; H7586 and Ner H5369 the father H1 of Abner H74 was the son H1121 of Abiel. H22
But Abner H74 the son H1121 of Ner, H5369 captain H8269 of Saul's H7586 host, H6635 took H3947 Ishbosheth H378 the son H1121 of Saul, H7586 and brought him over H5674 to Mahanaim; H4266 And made him king H4427 over Gilead, H1568 and over the Ashurites, H805 and over Jezreel, H3157 and over Ephraim, H669 and over Benjamin, H1144 and over all Israel. H3478 Ishbosheth H378 Saul's H7586 son H1121 was forty H705 years H8141 old H1121 when he began to reign H4427 over Israel, H3478 and reigned H4427 two H8147 years. H8141 But the house H1004 of Judah H3063 followed H310 David. H1732 And the time H4557 H3117 that David H1732 was king H4428 in Hebron H2275 over the house H1004 of Judah H3063 was seven H7651 years H8141 and six H8337 months. H2320 And Abner H74 the son H1121 of Ner, H5369 and the servants H5650 of Ishbosheth H378 the son H1121 of Saul, H7586 went out H3318 from Mahanaim H4266 to Gibeon. H1391
And Saul H7586 had a concubine, H6370 whose name H8034 was Rizpah, H7532 the daughter H1323 of Aiah: H345 and Ishbosheth said H559 to Abner, H74 Wherefore hast thou gone in H935 unto my father's H1 concubine? H6370 Then was Abner H74 very H3966 wroth H2734 for the words H1697 of Ishbosheth, H378 and said, H559 Am I a dog's H3611 head, H7218 which against Judah H3063 do shew H6213 kindness H2617 this day H3117 unto the house H1004 of Saul H7586 thy father, H1 to his brethren, H251 and to his friends, H4828 and have not delivered H4672 thee into the hand H3027 of David, H1732 that thou chargest H6485 me to day H3117 with a fault H5771 concerning this woman? H802
And the king H4428 lamented H6969 over Abner, H74 and said, H559 Died H4191 Abner H74 as a fool H5036 dieth? H4194 Thy hands H3027 were not bound, H631 nor thy feet H7272 put H5066 into fetters: H5178 as a man falleth H5307 before H6440 wicked H5766 men, H1121 so fellest H5307 thou. And all the people H5971 wept H1058 again H3254 over him. And when all H3605 the people H5971 came H935 to cause H1262 David H1732 to eat H1262 meat H3899 while it was yet H5750 day, H3117 David H1732 sware, H7650 saying, H559 So do H6213 God H430 to me, and more also, H3254 if I taste H2938 bread, H3899 or ought H3972 else, till H6440 the sun H8121 be down. H935 And all the people H5971 took notice H5234 of it, and it pleased H3190 H5869 them: as whatsoever the king H4428 did H6213 pleased H5869 H2896 all the people. H5971 For all the people H5971 and all Israel H3478 understood H3045 that day H3117 that it was not of the king H4428 to slay H4191 Abner H74 the son H1121 of Ner. H5369 And the king H4428 said H559 unto his servants, H5650 Know H3045 ye not that there is a prince H8269 and a great man H1419 fallen H5307 this day H3117 in Israel? H3478
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 26
Commentary on 1 Samuel 26 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 26
1Sa 26:1-4. Saul Comes to the Hill of Hachilah against David.
1, 2. the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah—This people seem to have thought it impossible for David to escape, and therefore recommended themselves to Saul, by giving him secret information (see on 1Sa 23:19). The knowledge of their treachery makes it appear strange that David should return to his former haunt in their neighborhood; but, perhaps he did it to be near Abigail's possessions, and under the impression that Saul had become mollified. But the king had relapsed into his old enmity. Though Gibeah, as its name imports, stood on an elevated position, and the desert of Ziph, which was in the hilly region of Judea, may have been higher than Gibeah, it was still necessary to descend in leaving the latter place; thence Saul (1Sa 26:2) "went down to the wilderness of Ziph."
4, 5. David … sent out spies … and David arose, and came to the place where Saul had pitched—Having obtained certain information of the locality, he seems, accompanied by his nephew (1Sa 26:6), to have hid himself, perhaps disguised, in a neighboring wood, or hill, on the skirts of the royal camp towards night, and waited to approach it under covert of the darkness.
1Sa 26:5-25. David Stays Abishai from Killing Saul, but Takes His Spear and Cruse.
5. Saul lay in the trench, and the people pitched round about him—Among the nomad people of the East, the encampments are usually made in a circular form. The circumference is lined by the baggage and the men, while the chief's station is in the center, whether he occupy a tent or not. His spear, stuck in the ground, indicates his position. Similar was the disposition of Saul's camp—in this hasty expedition he seems to have carried no tent, but to have slept on the ground. The whole troop was sunk in sleep around him.
8-12. Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand—This midnight stratagem shows the activity and heroic enterprise of David's mind, and it was in unison with the style of warfare in ancient times.
let me smite him … even to the earth at once—The ferocious vehemence of the speaker is sufficiently apparent from his language, but David's magnanimity soared far above the notions of his followers. Though Saul's cruelty and perfidy and general want of right principle had sunk him to a low pitch of degradation, yet that was no reason for David's imitating him in doing wrong. Besides, he was the sovereign; David was a subject. Though God had rejected him from the kingdom, it was in every way the best and most dutiful course, instead of precipitating his fall by imbruing their hands in his blood and thereby contracting the guilt of a great crime, to wait the awards of that retributive providence which sooner or later would take him off by some sudden and mortal blow. He who, with impetuous haste was going to exterminate Nabal, meekly spared Saul. But Nabal refused to give a tribute to which justice and gratitude, no less than custom, entitled David. Saul was under the judicial infatuation of heaven. Thus David withheld the hand of Abishai; but, at the same time, he directed him to carry off some things which would show where they had been, and what they had done. Thus he obtained the best of victories over him, by heaping coals of fire on his head.
11. the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water—The Oriental spear had, and still has, a spike at the lower extremity, intended for the purpose of sticking the spear into the ground when the warrior is at rest. This common custom of Arab sheiks was also the practice of the Hebrew chiefs.
at his bolster—literally, "at his head"; perhaps, Saul as a sovereign had the distinguished luxury of a bolster carried for him. A "cruse of water" is usually, in warm climates, kept near a person's couch, as a drink in the night time is found very refreshing. Saul's cruse would probably be of superior materials, or more richly ornamented than common ones, and therefore by its size or form be easily distinguished.
13-20. Then David … stood on the top of an hill afar off … and cried to the people—(See on Jud 9:7). The extraordinary purity and elasticity of the air in Palestine enable words to be distinctly heard that are addressed by a speaker from the top of one hill to people on that of another, from which it is separated by a deep intervening ravine. Hostile parties can thus speak to each other, while completely beyond the reach of each other's attack. It results from the peculiar features of the country in many of the mountain districts.
15. David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man: … wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king?—The circumstance of David having penetrated to the center of the encampment, through the circular rows of the sleeping soldiers, constituted the point of this sarcastic taunt. This new evidence of David's moderation and magnanimous forbearance, together with his earnest and kindly expostulation, softened the obduracy of Saul's heart.
19. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me—By the evil spirit He had sent, or by any spiritual offenses by which we have mutually displeased Him.
let him accept an offering—that is, let us conjointly offer a sacrifice for appeasing His wrath against us.
if they be the children of men—The prudence, meekness, and address of David in ascribing the king's enmity to the instigations of some malicious traducers, and not to the jealousy of Saul himself, is worthy of notice.
saying, Go, serve other gods—This was the drift of their conduct. By driving him from the land and ordinances of the true worship, into foreign and heathen countries, they were exposing him to all the seductions of idolatry.
20. as when one doth hunt a partridge—People in the East, in hunting the partridge and other game birds, pursue them, till observing them becoming languid and fatigued after they have been put up two or three times, they rush upon the birds stealthily and knock them down with bludgeons [Shaw, Travels]. It was exactly in this manner that Saul was pursuing David. He drove him from time to time from his hiding-place, hoping to render him weary of his life, or obtain an opportunity of accomplishing his destruction.
25. So David went on his way—Notwithstanding this sudden relenting of Saul, David placed no confidence in his professions or promises, but wisely kept at a distance and awaited the course of Providence.