1 Samuel 26:1, 1 Samuel 26:3 NVIPT

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 26:1-12

1-12 How soon do unholy hearts lose the good impressions convictions have made upon them! How helpless were Saul and all his men! All as though disarmed and chained, yet nothing is done to them; they are only asleep. How easily can God weaken the strongest, befool the wisest, and baffle the most watchful! David still resolved to wait till God thought fit to avenge him on Saul. He will by no means force his way to the promised crown by any wrong methods. The temptation was very strong; but if he... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - 1 Samuel 26:1-12

David in Saul's Camp v. 1. And the Ziphites, who had once before played traitors against David, came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, south of the wilderness? v. 2. Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having forgotten, apparently, that he owed his life to the magnanimity of David, 1 Samuel 24:18, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, evidently his permanent guard and the nucleus of... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - 1 Samuel 26:1-25

VIII. David, betrayed again by the Ziphites, spares Saul the second time1 Samuel 26:1-251And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself 2in the hill of Hachilah1 which Isaiah 2:0 before Jeshimon. Then [And] Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of 3Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah which is before Jeshimon in the way, but [and] David abode 4in the... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - 1 Samuel 26:1-12

Sparing His Enemy’s Life 1 Samuel 26:1-12 The Ziphites’ treachery served as a foil to the intrinsic nobility of David’s character. God made the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrained the remainder, Psalms 76:10 , so that His servant escaped as a bird out of the fowler’s snare. Read here, Psalms 54:1-7 . It was a bold act for David and Abishai to thread their way between watch-fires and sentries, and talk in whispers over the prostrate body of the sleeping monarch. As David says in one of... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - 1 Samuel 26:1-25

Once again we have the account of how David spared the life of Saul. There is no reason at all for the view that this is a repetition of the previous story. A quiet comparison of the two will show many points of difference between them. After dramatically rebuking Abner for his lack of care of the king, David protested Saul's persecution of himself. Varying interpretations of the meaning of the words of David as recorded in the nineteenth verse have been given. The most natural solution is... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 26:1-4

The Ziphites Inform Saul That David Has Returned to the Hill of Hachilah And Saul Again Pursues David (1 Samuel 26:1-4 ). The Ziphites were probably annoyed that David had again brought his men into their territory, partly because they saw it as their own preserve and disliked all intruders, partly because they were loyal to their king, and partly because it would result in diminishing resources being available for their own families. In such a wilderness six hundred men with their families... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Samuel 26:1-25

1 Samuel 26. David Spares Saul in the Wilderness of Ziph (J).— From one of the oldest sources ( cf. on ch. 24). 1 Samuel 26:1 to 1 Samuel 12:1 f. repeats briefly the substance and part of the wording of 1 Samuel 23:19-Lamentations :: David is in the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul pursues him. But instead of the sequel given in 1 Samuel 23, we have another version of the story in 1 Samuel 24 of David’ s generous treatment of Saul.David learns that Saul is again pursuing him and is in his... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - 1 Samuel 26:1

Having once betrayed him before, they thought their case desperate with David; and therefore did more strenuously assist Saul in discovering him, in order to his ruin. Doth not David hide himself? he is returned to his former haunt; of which see 1 Samuel 23:19. This place might be convenient for him, either for its nearness to Abigail’s estate; or because he might think that Saul was mollified, and the Ziphites cautioned by the unsuccessfulness of their former attempt; or because he could from... read more

Joseph Exell

Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - 1 Samuel 26:1-25

CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—The fact that the incidents related in this chapter agree in some points with those narrated in chapters 23; 24 has led Ewald, Thenius, and others to conclude that the historian has given two accounts of the same event. But a writer who could thus repeat himself in the general, while professing to give an account of events in their proper order, and at the same time could vary so much in detail, would be quite unworthy of confidence. And, as Keil shows, the... read more

Chuck Smith

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 26:1-25

Let's turn in our Bibles to first Samuel, twenty-six, and let's begin our study of these final five chapters, six chapters.The wilderness of Ziph actually lies between Hebron and the area of the Dead Sea, a very vast, barren area.And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, and they said, David is hiding himself there in the wilderness of Ziph. So Saul went down with three thousand of his men seeking David. And Saul pitched there his tents, or his camp. David was staying in the wilderness, and he... read more