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1 Samuel 26
The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.
David spares Saul again
1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, "Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which faces the Jeshimon?" 2 So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul camped on the hill of Hachilah, which faces the Jeshimon, beside the road. But David was staying in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. 4 David therefore sent out spies, and learned that Saul had indeed come. 5 Then David arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; Saul was lying inside the camp, and the people were camped around him.
6 Then David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, "Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?" And Abishai said, "I will go down with you." 7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there was Saul lying asleep inside the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, "Elohim has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please let me strike him with the spear, pinning him to the ground with one stroke; I will not need to strike him twice." 9 But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against Yahweh's anointed and be guiltless?" 10 David also said, "As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day will come and he will die; or he will go down into battle and perish. 11 Far be it from me, by Yahweh, that I should stretch out my hand against Yahweh's anointed! But now, please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let us go." 12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul's head, and they went away. No one saw it, no one knew it, and no one awoke, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them.
David calls to Saul from the hilltop
13 Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top of the mountain at a distance, a great space being between them. 14 And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, "Will you not answer, Abner?" Then Abner answered and said, "Who are you who calls to the king?" 15 So David said to Abner, "Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. As Yahweh lives, you deserve to die, because you have not guarded your lord, Yahweh's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the jug of water that was at his head."
17 Then Saul recognized David's voice and said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And David said, "It is my voice, my lord the king." 18 And he said, "Why is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand? 19 Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is Yahweh who has stirred you up against me, let Him accept an offering; but if it is the sons of men, cursed be they before Yahweh, for they have driven me out this day from sharing in the inheritance of Yahweh, saying, 'Go, serve other gods.' 20 Now therefore, do not let my blood fall to the ground away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea, as one hunts a partridge in the mountains."
21 Then Saul said, "I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no longer do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. See, I have acted foolishly and have erred exceedingly." 22 And David answered and said, "Here is the king's spear! Let one of the young men come over and get it. 23 Yahweh will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against Yahweh's anointed. 24 And see, as your life was highly valued this day in my eyes, so may my life be highly valued in the eyes of Yahweh, and may He deliver me out of all distress." 25 Then Saul said to David, "Blessed are you, my son David! You will both do great things and surely prevail." So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
Notes
- 26:6 Zeruiah was David's sister (1 Chronicles 2:16), so Abishai and Joab were David's nephews; their mother's name, not their father's, is the one usually given. Ahimelech the Hittite is one of several foreigners among David's men, like Uriah the Hittite later (2 Samuel 11:3).
- 26:9 As in 24:6, David will not lift his hand against "Yahweh's anointed" (see the note at 2:10), though he himself has already been anointed (16:13); he leaves the outcome to Yahweh (verse 10).
- 26:12 "A deep sleep from Yahweh" is tardemah, the sleep Yahweh brought on Adam (Genesis 2:21) and on Abram (Genesis 15:12). David's bold entry succeeds because Yahweh Himself has closed the eyes of the camp.
- 26:16 "You deserve to die" is literally "you are sons of death," a Hebrew idiom for those who have earned a death sentence (also 20:31; 2 Samuel 12:5). The "you" is plural: David speaks to Abner and to all the guards who slept.
- 26:19 "Let Him accept an offering" is literally "let Him smell an offering": if Yahweh is behind Saul's anger, David asks to make peace with Him by sacrifice. To be driven out of "the inheritance of Yahweh," the land and people where He is worshiped, was felt as being pushed toward foreign gods, since Israel's worship was bound to Israel's land (compare Deuteronomy 4:27-28; 2 Kings 5:17).
- 26:25 This is the last time Saul and David meet. Chapters 24 and 26 tell two separate times when David spared Saul, and they share many words ("Yahweh's anointed," "my son David," "is this your voice," "a flea"); the repetition drives home that David would not take the kingdom by his own hand, even when it was offered to him twice.