1 Samuel 19
19
Saul Repeatedly Attempts to Take David’s Life
1 Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much.#tn Heb “delighted greatly in David.” 2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying#tn Heb “seeking.” to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find#tn Heb “stay in.” a hiding place and stay in seclusion.#tn Heb “and hide yourself.” 3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak about you to my father. When I find out what the problem is,#tn Heb “when I see.” I will let you know.”
4 So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf#tn Heb “spoke good with respect to David.” to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial#tn Heb “good.” for you. 5 He risked his life#tn Heb “and he put his life into his hand.” when he struck down the Philistine and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?”
6 Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice#tn Heb “and Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan.” and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.” 7 Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly.#tn Heb “and he was before him as before.”
8 Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly#tn Heb “and he struck them down with a great blow.” and they ran away from him. 9 Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon#tn Heb “[was] to.” Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre.#tn The Hebrew text adds here “with his hand.” 10 Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence and the spear drove into the wall.#tn Heb “and he drove the spear into the wall.” David escaped quickly#tn Heb “fled and escaped.” that night.
11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save yourself#tn Heb “your life.” tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 12 So Michal lowered David through the window, and he ran away and escaped.
13 Then Michal took a household idol#tn Heb “teraphim” (also a second time in this verse and once in v. 16). These were statues that represented various deities. According to 2 Kgs 23:24 they were prohibited during the time of Josiah’s reform movement in the seventh century. The idol Michal placed under the covers was of sufficient size to give the mistaken impression that David lay in the bed, thus facilitating his escape. and put it on the bed. She put a quilt#tn The exact meaning of the Hebrew word כָּבִיר (kavir) is uncertain; it is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and in v. 16. It probably refers to a quilt made of goat’s hair, perhaps used as a fly net while one slept. See HALOT 458 s.v. *כָּבִיר. Cf. KJV, TEV “pillow”; NLT “cushion”; NAB, NRSV “net.” made of goat’s hair over its head#tn Heb “at the place of its head.” and then covered the idol with a garment. 14 When Saul sent messengers to arrest David, she said, “He’s sick.”
15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.” 16 When the messengers came, they found only the idol on the bed and the quilt made of goat’s hair at its head.
17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!” Michal replied to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away or else I will kill you!’”#tn Heb “Send me away! Why should I kill you?” The question has the force of a threat in this context. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 325, 26.
18 Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 19 It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 20 So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 21 When it was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they prophesied too. So Saul sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied. 22 Finally Saul#tn Heb “he” (also in v. 23). the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity. himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the large cistern that is in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” They said, “At Naioth in Ramah.”
23 So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there#tn Heb “and he fell down.” naked all that day and night. (For that reason it is asked, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”)
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1 Samuel 19
19
1 Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David. 2Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, live in a secret place, and hide yourself. 3I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good towards you; 5for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”
6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”
7 Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
8 There was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.
9 An evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing music with his hand. 10Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence; and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night. 11Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped. 13Michal took the teraphim#19:13 teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property. and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes. 14When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”
15 Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” 16When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.
17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”
Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”
18 Now David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth. 19Saul was told, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”
20 Saul sent messengers to seize David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 21When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
One said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”
23 He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24He also stripped off his clothes. He also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also amongst the prophets?”
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