And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. Ver. 1. _And Saul spake to Jonathan his son._] _Detexit facinus fatuus et non implevit,_ saith Tacitus of one that was sent by the senate to kill another, but revealed it to one that disclosed and prevented it... [ Continue Reading ]
But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret [place], and hide thyself: Ver. 2. But Jonathan Saul's son.] And heir apparent to the king... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou [art], and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. Ver. 3. _And what Isee, that I will tell thee._] This was not treachery to his father, but true love to his friend, with whom he was in coven... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works [have been] to thee-ward very good:_ Ver. 4. _And Jonathan spake good of David._] Though to the hazard o... [ Continue Reading ]
For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest [it], and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? Ver. 5. _For he did put his life in his hand._] offered it, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, [As] the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain._ Ver. 6. _And Saul hearkened to the voice of Jonathan._] So far did Jonathan's oratory and David's innocency together triumph in Saul's conscience. _ And Saul sware._] He was a customary swe... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past._ Ver. 7. _And he was in his presence, as in times past._] But nothing so well assured of Saul's favour, now restored, as the chief butler was of Ph... [ Continue Reading ]
And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. Ver. 8. _And slew them with a great slaughter._] His name was no less terrible to them, likely, than was afterwards Hanniade's to the Turks, or Zisca's to the... [ Continue Reading ]
And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with [his] hand. Ver. 9. _With his javelin in his hand._] This he would not be without, as being ever in fear. The great Turk, that tyrant, hath always as he sitteth in his throne,... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. Ver. 10. _And Saul sought to smite David._] Whom he now raged against more than ever before: contrary to his... [ Continue Reading ]
Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. Ver. 11. _To watch him, and to slay him in the morning._] When he thought they might do it with le... [ Continue Reading ]
So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. Ver. 12. _So Michal let down David through a window._] She bestirred her every way; love is laborious. Antiochus the Great gave Cleopatra his daughter to Ptolomy Epiphanes, king of Egypt, thinking to use her as an instru... [ Continue Reading ]
And Michal took an image, and laid [it] in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' [hair] for his bolster, and covered [it] with a cloth. Ver. 13. _And Michal took an image._] Either a statue, David's own statue, or else some superstitious image (the Hebrew is teraphim) which she kept secretly, as Rach... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He [is] sick. Ver. 14. _She said, He is sick._] This officious lie she held belike either no sin, or a very peccadillo, since it was to save the life of her husband: wherein she becometh an example of human infirmity.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul sent the messengers [again] to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. Ver. 15. _Bring him up to me in the bed._] So greedily did this sanguinary seek, and so fain would he have sucked David's blood: but the bird was flown, God having better provided; and Dav... [ Continue Reading ]
And when the messengers were come in, behold, [there was] an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' [hair] for his bolster. Ver. 16. _Behold, there was an image._] See 1 Samuel 19:13. So have persecutors been frequently frustrated, as those that sought after Jeremiah and Baruch, Athanasius, Luth... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? Ver. 17. _He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?_] This was a second lie, as it is usual with liars to la... [ Continue Reading ]
So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. Ver. 18. _And came to Samuel to Ramah._] For direction and comfort, which is to be had, if anywhere upon earth, in the communion of saints, in the company... [ Continue Reading ]
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David [is] at Naioth in Ramah. Ver. 19. _And it was told Saul._] By some of his _Coryccei,_ his spies and flatters: as there is a wonderful sympathy between princes and such pests.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing [as] appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. Ver. 20. _And Saul sent messengers to take David._] _Contra gentes,_ as they... [ Continue Reading ]
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Ver. 21. _And they prophesied also._] Such sudden changes we read of also in 3 John 1:7 :46. So Augustine was suddenly converted by Ambrose; La... [ Continue Reading ]
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that [is] in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where [are] Samuel and David? And [one] said, Behold, [they be] at Naioth in Ramah. Ver. 22. _Then went he also to Ramah._] As if he had a mind to try it out with God, to wrestle a fall with the Most Hig... [ Continue Reading ]
And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. Ver. 23. _And he went on, and prophesied._] Being suddenly cicurated, and sooner than his messengers had been - viz., by the way, and before he came to... [ Continue Reading ]
And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, [Is] Saul also among the prophets? Ver. 24. _And he stripped off his clothes also,_] _i.e., _ His upper garments, or arms, as his messengers had... [ Continue Reading ]