1 Samuel 19
19
Jonathan Intercedes for David
1Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants about killing David, but Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much.#Literally “delighted in David very” 2So Jonathan informed David, saying, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; now please take care! In the morning you should stay in the hiding place and conceal yourself. 3I will go out and stand at my father’s side#Literally “at the hand of my father” in the field where you are, and I will speak about you to my father; if I find out anything#Literally “if I see and what?” I will tell it to you.” 4So Jonathan spoke well about David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his service for you has been very good. 5He put his life in his hand and attacked the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all of Israel, and you saw it and rejoiced! Now why should you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” 6And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore, “As Yahweh lives,#Literally “the life of Yahweh” he will not be put to death!” 7Jonathan called to David and told him all of these words. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul and he was before him as formerly.#Literally “yesterday three days ago”
David Has to Flee Again
8War came again, so David went out and fought against the Philistines and defeated them thoroughly#Literally “he struck them down with a great blow” so that they fled before him. 9Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing a stringed instrument in his hand. 10So Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear,#Literally “to strike with the spear on David and to the wall” but he eluded Saul,#Literally “he escaped from the presence of Saul” so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that same night.
11Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard him and to kill him in the morning, but Michal his wife told David, saying, “If you do not save your life#Literally “you are not saving your life” tonight, then tomorrow you will be killed!” 12So Michal lowered David through the window, and he went and fled and escaped. 13Then Michal took the household god#Hebrew teraphim and put it on the bed and put a quilt of goat’s hair at its head and covered it with the clothes. 14And Saul sent messengers to arrest David, but she said, “He is ill.” 15So Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, so that I can kill him.” 16When the messengers came, to their surprise#Literally “and look” the idol was on the bed with the quilt of goat’s hair at the head. 17Then Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and sent away my enemy, so that he escaped?” Michal said to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go, why should I kill you?’ ”
18So David fled and escaped, and he came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19And it was told to Saul, “David is in Naioth in Ramah.” 20So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as chief over them, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 21So they told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Again Saul sent messengers a third time, and they also prophesied. 22Then he also went to Ramah. When he came to the great cistern which was in Secu, he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone said, “Look they are in Naioth in Ramah.” 23So he went there to Naioth in Ramah and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he walked along prophesying#Literally “he went going and he prophesied” until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24He also stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
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1 Samuel 19: LEB
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1 Samuel 19
19
Persecution of David. 1Saul discussed his intention to kill David with his son Jonathan and with all his servants. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David,#1 Sm 18:1; 20:1–3. 2told him: “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning; stay out of sight and remain in hiding. 3I, however, will go out and stand beside my father in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you. If I learn anything, I will let you know.”
4Jonathan then spoke well of David to his father Saul, telling him: “The king should not harm his servant David. He has not harmed you, but has helped you very much by his deeds.#Jonathan reminds Saul that David has served him loyally and done nothing to earn a traitor’s death. Cf. 24:18–20. 5When he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel, you were glad to see it. Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood by killing David without cause?”#1 Sm 17:55–56; Dt 19:10; Ps 119:109. 6Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.” 7So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him. He then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.
David Escapes from Saul. 8When war broke out again, David went out to fight against the Philistines and inflicted such a great defeat upon them that they fled from him. 9#1 Sm 16:14; 18:10–11. Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with spear in hand while David was playing the harp nearby. 10Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David eluded Saul, and the spear struck only the wall, while David got away safely.
11The same night, Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it, planning to kill him in the morning. David’s wife Michal informed him, “Unless you run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”#This story may have originally followed 18:29, placing the episode of David’s escape on the night of his marriage with Michal. 12Then Michal let David down through a window, and he made his escape in safety.#Jos 2:15; Acts 9:25; 2 Cor 11:33. 13Michal took the teraphim#Teraphim: a life-sized image of a household god in human form; cf. also note on Gn 31:19. Elsewhere in the Deuteronomistic History, use of teraphim is condemned (15:23; 2 Kgs 23:24). and laid it in the bed, putting a tangle of goat’s hair at its head and covering it with a blanket.#Gn 31:19; Jgs 17:5; 18:14, 18, 20; Ez 21:26. 14When Saul sent officers to arrest David, she said, “He is sick.” 15Saul, however, sent the officers back to see David and commanded them, “Bring him up to me in his bed, that I may kill him.” 16But when the messengers entered, they found the teraphim in the bed, with the tangle of goat’s hair at its head. 17Saul asked Michal: “Why did you lie to me like this? You have helped my enemy to get away!” Michal explained to Saul: “He threatened me, saying ‘Let me go or I will kill you.’”
David and Saul in Ramah. 18When David got safely away, he went to Samuel in Ramah, informing him of all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to stay in Naioth.#Naioth: meaning “the pastures.” This place appears only in chaps. 19–20 and is associated with Ramah. 19When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20he sent officers to arrest David. But when they saw the band of prophets presided over by Samuel in a prophetic state, the spirit of God came upon them and they too fell into the prophetic ecstasy.#1 Sm 10:5–6, 10; Nm 11:25. 21Informed of this, Saul sent other messengers, who also fell into the prophetic ecstasy. For the third time Saul sent messengers, but they too fell into a prophetic ecstasy.
Saul Among the Prophets. 22Finally Saul went to Ramah himself. Arriving at the large cistern in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” Someone answered, “At Naioth in Ramah.” 23As he walked from there to Naioth in Ramah, the spirit of God came upon him also, and he continued on, acting like a prophet until he reached Naioth in Ramah. 24Then he, too, stripped himself of his garments and remained in a prophetic state in the presence of Samuel;#In the presence of Samuel: this verse, which disagrees with 15:35, is further evidence of the diverse origins of these accounts. “Is Saul also among the prophets?”: although similar to the story of Saul’s prophetic ecstasy in 10:10–13, this account offers a more disparaging portrait of Saul. all that day and night he lay naked. That is why they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”#1 Sm 10:10–12; 2 Sm 6:20.
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