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Texts -- 1 Samuel 24:1-6 (NET)

Context
David Spares Saul’s Life
24:1 When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines , they told him, “Look , David is in the desert of En Gedi .” 24:2 So Saul took three thousand select men from all Israel and went to find David and his men in the region of the rocks of the mountain goats . 24:3 He came to the sheepfolds by the road , where there was a cave . Saul went into it to relieve himself . Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave . 24:4 David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand , and you can do to him whatever seems appropriate to you.’” So David got up and quietly cut off an edge of Saul’s robe . 24:5 Afterward David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off an edge of Saul’s robe. 24:6 He said to his men , “May the Lord keep me far away from doing such a thing to my lord , who is the Lord’s chosen one , by extending my hand against him. After all , he is the Lord’s chosen one .”

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Perhaps God initiated this command in response to the incident of Sabbath-breaking just mentioned.The Israelites were to wear tassels on the four corners of their upper outer garments (Deut. 22:12). The text does not explain ...
  • Statements in the Book of Samuel imply that someone who had witnessed at least some of the events recorded wrote it. However the original writer must have written most of it after Samuel's death (i.e., -1 Sam. 25-2 Sam. 24) a...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • In chapters 21-30 we see David's forces growing stronger and stronger while Saul's forces get weaker and weaker. This is a further demonstration of the fertility theme. However these chapters also develop the motif of the pro...
  • The writer's attention focused next on Saul's activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters 1-3 with Samuel and Eli's sons to contrast S...
  • ". . . chapters 24-26 form a discrete literary unit within 1 Samuel. Chapters 24 and 26 are virtually mirror images of each other, beginning with Saul's receiving a report about David's latest hiding place (24:1; 26:1), focus...
  • The incident recorded in this chapter concerns cutting off (vv. 4, 5, 11, 21). David had the opportunity and received encouragement to cut off Saul's life but chose to cut off only his robe hem. He ended up promising not to c...
  • Engedi lay near the Salt Sea's western shore close to its mid-point north to south. Even today it is a refreshing oasis with waterfall, tropical plants, and wild goats. The Hebrew word means "spring of the kid."It may have be...
  • "Chapter 25 is the central panel in the triptych that comprises chapters 24-26. As such it not only anchors the literary unit but also facilitates the fact that chapters 24 and 26 mirror each other."244This central chapter al...
  • Both Maon and Carmel (meaning "Garden Spot") stood about 14 miles west of Engedi and about 7 miles south-southeast of Hebron. The reference to Nabal's 3,000 sheep may be an allusion to Saul's 3,000 soldiers (24:2). As the sto...
  • David heard the Lord's voice behind Abigail's words. Consequently he blessed the Lord, her discernment, and her. God had used David's conscience to keep him from killing Saul (24:5), and now He had used Abigail's appeal to ke...
  • Again the scene shifts to Saul (cf. ch. 24). The writer contrasted his improper attitudes and behavior and their consequences with David's proper attitudes and behavior and their consequences. There are many similarities betw...
  • Ahimelech the Hittite may have been a foreign mercenary (cf. Uriah the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11:3). The writer may have mentioned him to show the extent of David's appeal. Abishai was David's nephew, one of the sons of his sister Z...
  • Saul again confessed that he had sinned, as he had done when he had sacrificed at Gilgal (v. 21; cf. 15:24, 30) and when David had spared his life in the cave (24:17). Nevertheless he seems to have failed again to follow thro...
  • Evidently Saul knew the woman would not cooperate with him if she knew who he was, so he disguised himself (v. 8). He further hid his hypocrisy by visiting her under cover of darkness. Saul sank so low as to swear to the woma...
  • David and his men were undoubtedly very angry and ready to kill anyone who proved to have had a hand in kidnapping their family members. To his credit David did not kill this Egyptian, as he planned to kill Nabal earlier. Ins...
  • The other Israelite soldiers retreated when they heard that Saul and his sons had died. This left towns in the region open for Philistine seizure. Instead of driving the native inhabitants out of the land Saul had made it pos...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
  • Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • David's hiding from Saul in a cave precipitated this psalm (1 Sam. 22; 24; cf. Ps. 142). The tune name means, "Do not destroy."This psalm resembles the preceding one in its general theme and design. It too has a recurring ref...
  • 94:16-19 After looking everywhere for some consolation during the temporary ascendancy of the wicked, the psalmist found it only in God. If God had not strengthened him he would have died, slipped in his walk with God, and be...
  • 13:20 The Lord called Jerusalem to look north and she would see people coming.238The city was about to lose the flock of special people over whom the Lord had made her responsible, namely, His people of Judah.13:21 What would...
  • 12:14 Paul repeated Jesus' instruction here (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). To persecute means to pursue. Blessing involves both wishing God's best on people and praying for them."The principle of nonretaliation for personal inju...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • 1 Samuel 24:4-17A sudden Philistine invasion had saved David, when hard pressed by Saul, and had given him the opportunity of flight to the wild country on the west of the Dead Sea, near the place where En-Gedi (the Fountain ...
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