Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.
Parallel Translations
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Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it.
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Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
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(24-12) Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee, though thou layest wait for my soul to take it.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 24:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 26:20 Now therefore, don’t let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
- 1 Samuel 23:14 David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand.
- 1 Samuel 23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
- 1 Samuel 26:18 He said, “Why does my lord pursue his servant? For what have I done? What evil is in my hand?
- 2 Kings 5:13 His servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?’ ”
- John 15:25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
- 1 Samuel 18:27 David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.
- Job 10:16 If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
- Psalms 7:3-4 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary),
- Psalms 35:7 For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
- Psalms 140:11 An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
- Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
- Lamentations 4:18 They hunt our steps, so that we can’t go in our streets. Our end is near. Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come.
- Ezekiel 13:18 and say, “The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Woe to the women who sew pillows on all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?
- Micah 7:2 The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the…
1Sa 24:11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that [there is] neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
Ver. 11. And killed thee not.] Chrysostom saith that David, by his sparing of Saul, gave a deep wound to the devil, that old manslayer, qui non nisi caedes sitit, et suscitat. The Rabbins say that David went toward Saul with a purpose to have killed him, but that, as he went, he better bethought himself. See to the contrary of this, 1Sa 26:10, which the Vulgate hath here inserted.
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That there is neither evil nor trangression in mine hand.] For that had been to have taken vengeance into his own hand, and to have raised trouble in the commonwealth. David was of his temper, - or rather of a far better, - who had escaped three tyrants, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, - who had slain many good men, - and being asked how, answered, Iniurias accipiendo, et insuper gratias agendo, by bearing wrongs, and returning thanks for them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain My father; so he calls him; partly, because he…
My father; so he calls him; partly, because he was his father-in-law; partly, in testimony of his respect and subjection to him as to a father; and partly, that by so amiable a compellation he might both insinuate himself into his favour, and mind him of that duty which as a father he owed to David.
There is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand; I neither design mischief against thee with my heart, nor will I execute it with my hand, which my false accusers told thee I would do, if thou didst at any time fall into my hand.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Moreover, my father,.... So he was in a natural…
Moreover, my father,.... So he was in a natural sense, as having married his daughter; and in a civil sense, as he was a king, and was, or ought to have been, the father of his country, and to treat his subjects as his children, and David among the rest:
see, yea see, the skirt of thy robe in my hand; look on it again and again; view it with the eyes of thy body intently, that thou mayest be satisfied of it, and behold with the eyes of thy mind and understanding, and consider that I could as easily have had thine head in my hand as the skirt of thy robe; and here see an instance and proof of the integrity and sincerity of my heart, and cordial affections to thee, and an evidence against all the charges and accusations of my enemies, and that I have no ill design upon thy person and life, and am far from seeking thy hurt, as they say:
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for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not; not only did that to show that he was in his power, but did not cut off his head, as he could:
know thou, and see, that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand; this might be a full conviction to him that he had no ill, neither in his heart nor hand, to do unto him:
and I have not sinned against thee; done nothing to offend him, never acted against his will, nor disobeyed any of his commands, or had been guilty of one overt act of treason or rebellion, but all the reverse:
yet thou huntest my soul to take it; pursued him from place to place, hunted him in the wildernesses of Ziph and Maon, and upon the rocks of Engedi, as a partridge on the mountains, Sa1 26:20; and lay in wait for him to kill him, as the Targum: he may be thought to have penned the "seventh" psalm at this time, or on this occasion; at least there are some passages in it, which seem to refer to his present circumstances, Psa 7:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain My father - The respectful address of a junior…
My father - The respectful address of a junior and an inferior (see 2Ki 5:13, and compare 1Sa 24:16; 1Sa 25:8).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain A thought to kill thee. That is, a suggestion,…
A thought to kill thee. That is, a suggestion, to which I did not consent. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "and he spoke to kill thee, and he has pardoned thee; and he said, I will not," &c. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "and some bade me kill thee, but mine eye spared thee, and I said." Septuagint, "and I would not kill thee, and I spared thee, and said," &c. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11. My father, see — A reverential form of…
11. My father, see — A reverential form of addressing an esteemed superior, (2Ki_2:12; 2Ki_5:13,) but in this place it may mean more. Saul was David’s father in law, and by this address the son of Jesse shows the king a childlike respect and reverence. It was a word of love that touched the heart of Saul, and brought the response My son. 1Sa_24:16.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. my father] The address of respect and affection.…
11. my father] The address of respect and affection. Cp. 2Ki_5:13; 2Ki_6:21.
evil] The same word as that rendered “thy hurt” in 1Sa_24:9.
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my soul] i.e. my life.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) My father.—Not in the sense of “my father-in-law.”…
(11) My father.—Not in the sense of “my father-in-law.” The Princess Michal before this time probably had been given to Phalti. The time when this wicked act was carried out by Saul is left quite indefinite in the notice of 1Sa_25:44; but the relations of David and Saul were evidently far more bitter before than after the En-gedi incident, hence the probability of Michal’s being given to Phalti before this meeting is great. The expression “my father” is simply the reverence (pietas) of the young to the old—of the loyal subject to the sovereign. It is so used in the beautiful lines of Browning already quoted.
See the skirt of thy robe.—Doubtless at this juncture holding up the piece of the royal m’il he had so carefully cut off when the king was sleeping in fancied security. “See this, how near thou wast to death had I been pleased to take thy life when I cut this off.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 11-13. My father. David thus salutes Saul not…
Vers. 11-13. My father. David thus salutes Saul not because he was actually his father-in-law, but as a title indicative of the respect due from an inferior to his superior. (2Ki_5:13) So David calls himself Nabal"s. (1Sa_25:8) In the rest of the verse he contrasts his refusal to slay Saul, when it might have seemed as if it were Providence that had put him into his power, with Saul"s determined pursuit of him. Thou huntest my soul to take it. Thou perpetually usest every artifice and stratagem against me for the confessed purpose of killing me, and pursuest me as eagerly as the hunter pursues his game. Hence David commits his cause to Jehovah, in the sure confidence that he will avenge him, and with the firm determination never himself to raise his hand against one who, though his enemy, was also the king. In proof of the impossibility of his ever seeking the king"s hurt, he quotes an ancient proverb, "From the wicked goeth out wickedness." Had David harboured evil intentions he would have executed them when so fair an opportunity offered, but as he has no such purposes "his hand will never be" upon Saul.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and…
1Sa_24:11
I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not.
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David sparing Sauls life
We are taught:--
I. Thankfulness for preservation in sleep.
II. Attention to conscience in little things. When Saul slept in the cave at Engedi David spared his life, but not the skirt of his robe. That was cut off, to be visible token to the king of his exposure to Davids power. It was a little thing to do, and from one urged to a great and deadly. But his heart smote him. He had a conscience in little things. He must be stringent in obedience to it. Would that he always had been! Little things! So we speak. But these make the staple of life. This is the great need--for Christian men to reverence conscience in so-called little things, in all things. Home life remitter, purer, friendship firmer, business more honest and unselfish--these are evidences of Christianity which the enemy cannot gainsay or resist.
III. The cruelty of slander.
IV. The patience of faith. David believed God. The crown was Divinely assured him. He could wait Gods time for it.
V. The truth of repentance. Saul shed tears enough, and made vows enough. But it availed nothing. Quick to repent he was quick to fall into the old sin. Soon, in spite of solemn protestations, we find him again pursuing David. The truth of repentance is not to be read in tears. (G. T. Coster.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 24:11 my father: Saul was, in fact, David’s father-in-law…
24:11 my father: Saul was, in fact, David’s father-in-law (18:27). David was demonstrating his respect for the king and recalling a day when their relationship had been much friendlier.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.