1 Samuel 26
26
Once Again David Doesn’t Kill Saul When He Has the Chance
1Some people from Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah. They said, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah. It faces Jeshimon.”
2So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph. He took 3,000 of the best soldiers in Israel with him. They went to the desert to look for David. 3Saul set up his camp beside the road. It was on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon. But David stayed in the desert. He saw that Saul had followed him there. 4So he sent out scouts. From them he learned that Saul had arrived.
5Then David started out. He went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner were lying down. Saul was lying inside the camp. The army was camped all around him. Abner was commander of the army. He was the son of Ner.
6Then David spoke to Ahimelek, the Hittite. He also spoke to Joab’s brother Abishai, the son of Zeruiah. He asked them, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?”
“I’ll go with you,” said Abishai.
7So that night David and Abishai went into the camp. They found Saul lying asleep inside the camp. His spear was stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.
8Abishai said to David, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you. So let me pin him to the ground. I can do it with one jab of the spear. I won’t even have to strike him twice.”
9But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! No one can do any harm to the Lord’s anointed king and not be guilty. 10You can be sure that the Lord lives,” he said. “And you can be just as sure that the Lord himself will strike Saul down. Perhaps he’ll die a natural death. Or perhaps he’ll go into battle and be killed. 11May the Lord keep me from doing anything to harm his anointed king. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head. Then let’s leave.”
12So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul’s head. Then he and Abishai left. No one saw them. No one knew about what they had done. In fact, no one even woke up. Everyone was sleeping. That’s because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep.
13David went across to the other side of the valley. He stood on top of a hill far away from Saul’s camp. There was a wide space between them. 14He called out to the army and to Abner, the son of Ner. He said, “Abner! Aren’t you going to answer me?”
Abner replied, “Who is calling out to the king?”
15David said, “You are a great soldier, aren’t you? There isn’t anyone else like you in Israel. So why didn’t you guard the king? He’s your master, isn’t he? Someone came into the camp to destroy him. 16You didn’t guard him. And that isn’t good. You can be sure that the Lord lives. And you can be just as sure that you and your men must die. That’s because you didn’t guard your master. He’s the Lord’s anointed king. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head?”
17Saul recognized David’s voice. He said, “My son David, is that your voice?”
David replied, “Yes it is, King Saul, my master.” 18He continued, “Why are you chasing me? What evil thing have I done? What am I guilty of? 19King Saul, please listen to what I’m saying. Was it the Lord who made you angry with me? If it was, may he accept my offering. Was it people who made you angry at me? If it was, may the Lord see them cursed. They have driven me today from my share of the Lord’s land. By doing that, they might as well have said, ‘Go and serve other gods.’ 20Don’t spill my blood on the ground far away from where the Lord lives. King Saul, you have come out to look for nothing but a flea. It’s as if you were hunting a partridge in the mountains.”
21Then Saul said, “I have sinned. My son David, come back. Today you thought my life was very special. So I won’t try to harm you again. I’ve really acted like a foolish person. I’ve made a huge mistake.”
22“Here’s your spear,” David answered. “Send one of your young men over to get it. 23The Lord rewards everyone for doing what is right and being faithful. He handed you over to me today. But I wouldn’t harm you. You are the Lord’s anointed king. 24Today I thought your life had great value. In the same way, may the Lord think of my life as having great value. May he save me from all trouble.”
25Then Saul said to David, “May the Lord bless you, David my son. You will do great things. You will also have great success.”
So David went on his way. And Saul returned home.
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1 Samuel 26: NIrV
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1 Samuel 26
26
David Spares Saul Again.#The second account of David sparing Saul’s life; cf. note on 24:1. 1#1 Sm 23:19–20; Ps 54. Men from Ziph came to Saul in Gibeah, reporting that David was hiding on the hill of Hachilah at the edge of Jeshimon. 2So Saul went down to the wilderness of Ziph with three thousand of the best warriors of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3Saul camped beside the road on the hill of Hachilah, at the edge of Jeshimon. David, who was living in the wilderness, saw that Saul had come into the wilderness after him 4and sent out scouts, who confirmed Saul’s arrival. 5David then went to the place where Saul was encamped and saw the spot where Saul and his general, Abner, son of Ner, had their sleeping quarters. Saul was lying within the camp, and all his soldiers were bivouacked around him.#1 Sm 17:20. 6David asked Ahimelech the Hittite, and Abishai, son of Zeruiah and brother of Joab, “Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?” Abishai replied, “I will.”#2 Sm 3:30; 1 Chr 2:16. 7So David and Abishai reached Saul’s soldiers by night, and there was Saul lying asleep within the camp, his spear thrust into the ground at his head and Abner and his troops sleeping around him.
8Abishai whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your hand today. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need to strike him twice!”#1 Sm 18:11; 19:10; 20:33. 9But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him, for who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and remain innocent? 10As the Lord lives,” David declared, “only the Lord can strike him: either when the time comes for him to die, or when he goes out and perishes in battle.#Perishes in battle: David’s words foreshadow how Saul will die (31:3–4). They also emphasize that David, unlike Saul, knows his proper place before God. David comes to the kingship innocent of Saul’s blood, although the king pursues him like an enemy and David has had two opportunities to kill him. #Ps 37:13. 11But the Lord forbid that I lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed! Now take the spear at his head and the water jug, and let us be on our way.” 12So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head, and they withdrew without anyone seeing or knowing or awakening. All remained asleep, because a deep slumber#Deep slumber: as in Gn 2:21; 15:12; Is 29:10. The Lord aids David’s foray into Saul’s camp and allows David to come and go undetected. from the Lord had fallen upon them.#Gn 2:21; 15:12.
David Taunts Abner. 13Crossing over to an opposite slope, David stood on a distant hilltop. With a great distance between them 14David called to the army and to Abner, son of Ner, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner shouted back, “Who is it that calls me?” 15David said to Abner: “Are you not a man? Who in Israel is your equal? Why were you not guarding your lord the king when one of his subjects came to assassinate the king, your lord? 16What you have done is not right. As the Lord lives, you people deserve death because you have not guarded your lord, the anointed of the Lord. Go, look: where are the king’s spear and the water jug that was at his head?”
Saul Admits His Guilt. 17Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?”#David my son: Saul’s reference to David as his son, which appears three times in this chapter (vv. 17, 21, 25), alludes to David’s role as his successor. David answered, “Yes, my lord the king.” 18He continued: “Why does my lord pursue his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning? 19Please, now, let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may an offering please the Lord. But if it is the people who have done so, may they be cursed before the Lord. They have driven me away so that today I have no share in the Lord’s heritage,#The Lord’s heritage: the land and people of Israel (Dt 32:8–9; Ps 33:12). If driven from the land, David could not take part in worship of Israel’s God; nonetheless, God has blessed David (cf. v. 25). but am told: ‘Go serve other gods!’#1 Sm 24:16. 20Do not let my blood spill on the ground far from the presence of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea as if he were hunting partridge#Partridge: lit., “the caller.” The metaphor is built on clever wordplay: in v. 14, David calls out to the army and Abner asks the caller’s identity. David calls out the answer: “the caller” is the object of the king’s pursuit. in the mountains.” 21Then Saul said: “I have done wrong. Come back, David, my son! I will not harm you again, because you considered my life precious today even though I have been a fool and have made a serious mistake.” 22But David answered: “Here is the king’s spear. Let an attendant come over to get it. 23The Lord repays everyone’s righteousness and faithfulness. Although the Lord delivered you into my hands today, I could not lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.#1 Sm 18:20. 24Just as I regarded your life as precious today, so may the Lord regard my life as precious and deliver me from all dangers.” 25Then Saul said to David: “Blessed are you, my son David! You shall certainly succeed in whatever you undertake.” David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.#1 Sm 18:14; 24:21.
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