1 Samuel 24:2-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:1-8

Here, I. Saul renews his pursuit of David, 1 Sam. 24:1, 2. No sooner had he come home safely from chasing the Philistines, in which it should seem he had good success, than he enquired after David to do him a mischief, and resolved to have another thrust at him, as if he had been delivered to do all these abominations, Jer. 7:10. By the frequent incursions of the Philistines, he might have seen how necessary it was to recall David from his banishment and restore him to his place in the army... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:9-15

We have here David's warm and pathetic speech to Saul, wherein he endeavours to convince him that he did him a great deal of wrong in persecuting him thus and to persuade him therefore to be reconciled. I. He calls him father (1 Sam. 24:11), for he was not only, as king, the father of his country, but he was, in particular, his father-in-law. From a father one may expect compassion and a favourable opinion. For a prince to seek the ruin of any of his good subjects is as unnatural as for a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:2

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel ,.... Out of his army, with which he had been pursuing the Philistines: and went to seek David, and his men, upon the rocks of the wild goats ; which were in the wilderness of Engedi; those rocks were exceeding high and terrible to look at, full of precipices, and so prominent, that to travellers they seemed as if they would fall into the adjacent valleys, that it even struck terror into them to look at them F24 Adrichom... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:3

And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave ,.... For the sheep to be led into at noon, to shelter them from the heat: such was the cave of Polyphemus, observed by Bochart F26 Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 45. col. 467, 468. , in which sheep and goats lay down and slept; See Gill on Zephaniah 2:6 , and Saul went in to cover his feet ; the Targum is, to do his necessaries; and so Josephus F1 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 13. sect. 4. ; and the Jewish commentators generally... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:4

And the men of David said unto him ,.... Some of his principal men, who were about him, and near him, such as Joab and Abishai: behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee : now the time was come that he spoke of to him by Samuel, or Gad, or to himself directly: behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand ; and such was Saul, as appeared by his seeking to take away his life; and now he was in the hand of David to take away his life, if he pleased: that thou mayest do to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:5

And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him ,.... His conscience accused him, and he repented of what he had done: because he had cut off Saul's skirt ; which though less than what his servants put him upon, and he might have thoughts of doing, yet was considered by him as a great indignity to his sovereign, and therefore sat uneasy on his mind. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:6

And he said unto his men ,.... When he returned and brought the skirt of Saul's garment in his hand; or else he said this before that, though here mentioned, when they moved it to him to dispatch him, as he had a fair opportunity of doing it: God forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed ; and which he could not think of but with detestation and abhorrence, since he was his sovereign lord and master, and he a subject of his, and was anointed by the order of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:7

So David stayed his servants with these words ,.... Or pacified them, as the Targum, and made them quiet and easy in that he had not slain him, and reconciled their minds to his conduct, and restrained them from laying hands on him, by observing to them, that he was the anointed of the Lord: and suffered them not to rise against Saul; to take away his life ; he not only argued with them, but laid his commands on them that they should not slay him: but Saul rose up out of the cave, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:8

David also arose afterward ,.... After Saul was gone: and went out of the cave ; where he had been all the time that Saul had been in it: and cried after Saul : with a loud voice: my lord the king; by which titles Saul would know that he was called unto: and when Saul looked behind him ; to see who it was that called unto him: David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself : giving reverence and honour to him as a king; See Gill on 1 Samuel 20:41 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 24:9

And David said to Saul, wherefore hearest thou men's words ,.... The false charges and accusations, that some of Saul's courtiers brought against David, as Doeg the Edomite, and such like sycophants and flatterers, to whom Saul hearkened, and believed what they said, and acted upon it. David chose rather to lay the blame on Saul's courtiers than on himself; and he began with him in this way, the rather to reconcile him to him, and cause him to listen to what he had to say: and represents... read more

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