Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
Parallel Translations
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Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
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After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
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(24-15) After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 1 Samuel 24:14 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 17:43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- 2 Samuel 9:8 He bowed down, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look at such a dead dog as I am?”
- Judges 8:1-3 The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you treated us this way, that you didn’t call us when you went to fight with Midian?” They rebuked him sharply. He said to them, “What have I now done in comparison with you? Isn’t the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? God has delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb! What was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger was abated toward him when he had said that.
- 2 Samuel 3:8 Then Abner was very angry about Ishbosheth’s words, and said, “Am I a dog’s head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to Saul’s house your father, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not delivered you into the hand of David; and yet you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman!
- 2 Samuel 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.”
- 1 Kings 21:7 Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be merry. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
- 2 Samuel 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious the king of Israel was today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, the proverb of an ancient man.
Or, the proverb of an ancient man.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Sa 24:14 After whom is the king of Israel…
1Sa 24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
Ver. 14. After a dead dog, after a flea.] Egregiam vero laudem, a great praise, a great purchase sure, to kill a dead dog, to fight with a flea! Is this an employment fit for a king? an exploit worthy of such an army? {a} Caligula took his army to the ocean, as if he would have passed over into Brittany, and done great matters there: but he only caused his soldiers to pick up cockle shells that lay on the shore, and so returned to Rome: Magnifie glorians quasi oceano subacto. Ridiculum caput! {b} Domitian spent his time in catching flies: and Artaxerxes in making knife handles. Was this handsome? Aquila non captat muscas, as saith the proverb of the ancients.
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{a} Facis quod est tanto rege indignum, dum me tenuissimum, infimum, et infirmissimum tanto comitatu persequeris. - Jun.
{b} Dio, in Calig.
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 After a worthless, contemptible, and impotent person, such as…
After a worthless, contemptible, and impotent person, such as I am. Thou disparagest thyself in contending with such a person; and even thy conquest of me will be inglorious and shameful.
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 After whom is the king of Israel come out?....…
After whom is the king of Israel come out?.... From his court and palace, with an army of men, and at the head of them:
after whom dost thou pursue? with such eagerness and fury:
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after a dead dog; as David was in the opinion, and according to the representation of his enemies, a dog, vile, mean, worthless, of no account; a dead dog, whose name was made to stink through the calumnies cast upon him; and if a dead dog, then as he was an useless person, and could do no good, so neither could he do any hurt, not so much as bark, much less bite; and therefore it was unworthy of so great a prince, a lessening, a degrading of himself, as well as a vain and impertinent thing, to pursue after such an one, that was not worthy of his notice, and could do him neither good nor harm:
after a flea? a little contemptible animal, not easily caught, as it is observed by some, and when caught good for nothing. David, by this simile, fitly represents not only his weakness and impotence, his being worthless, and of no account, and beneath the notice of such a prince as Saul; but the circumstances he was in, being obliged to move from place to place, as a flea leaps from one place to another, and is not easily taken, and when it is, of no worth and value; signifying, that as it was not worth his pains to seek after him, so it would be to no purpose, he should not be able to take him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. After a dead dog] A term used…
Verse 14. After a dead dog] A term used among the Hebrews to signify the most sovereign contempt; see 2Sa 16:9. One utterly incapable of making the least resistance against Saul, and the troops of Israel. The same idea is expressed in the term flea. The Targum properly expresses both thus: one who is weak, one who is contemptible.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Sa 24:14-15. After whom is the king of Israel…
1Sa 24:14-15. After whom is the king of Israel come out? — David here employs every persuasive art to move Saul. He represents himself in as contemptible a light as possible; that he might convince Saul it was not for his honour to take so much pains to kill him, if he could do it. The Lord, therefore, be judge — He thought he could not repeat this too often, that as he had done hitherto, so he still resolved hereafter, to leave it to God to judge which of them was in the right, and not to avenge himself.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain After whom ... - i. e., was it consistent…
After whom ... - i. e., was it consistent with the dignity of the king of Israel to lead armies in pursuit of a weak and helpless individual like David?
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 Thee: the tree is known by its fruit. If…
Thee: the tree is known by its fruit. If therefore I have behaved in this manner, no longer trust the reports of others against me. (Calmet) --- The wicked, if left to themselves, will be their own tormentors. He may thus indirectly threaten Saul, as iniquity is often put for punishment. (Menochius) --- The wicked shall at last open thier eyes, and be reclaimed. (Rabbins ap. Munster.) --- David entertained hopes that even Saul would now be convinced of his innocence. (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 14. After a dead dog, after a flea —…
14. After a dead dog, after a flea — A term of contempt and a term of insignificance. By these terms David represents himself as one so contemptible and insignificant that it was beneath the dignity of Israel’s royal monarch to pursue him.
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 14. after a dead dog, &c.] “A dead dog,…
14. after a dead dog, &c.] “A dead dog, a single flea,” express what is absolutely contemptible, harmless, and insignificant. A worthy object truly for an expedition of the King of Israel with his picked troops!
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 (14) After a dead dog, after a flea.—These homely…
(14) After a dead dog, after a flea.—These homely but vivid similes are very common in Oriental discourse. David certainly, in his protestations of loyalty, could scarcely humble himself more than by drawing a comparison between the king of Israel in his grandeur and power and a poor dead dog—evidently an object held in special loathing by the Hebrews. “After a flea”—the original is even stronger, after “one flea” (a single flea)—“against a single flea,” which is not easily caught, and easily escapes, and if it is caught, is poor game for a royal hunter.—Berl. Bible and Lange.
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. 14, 15. Finally, David makes a pathetic appeal…
Vers. 14, 15. Finally, David makes a pathetic appeal to Saul, contrasting him in his grandeur as the king of Israel with the fugitive whom he so relentlessly persecuted. In calling himself a dead dog he implies that he was at once despicable and powerless. Even more insignificant is a flea, Hebrew, "one flea," "a single flea." The point is lost by omitting the numeral. David means that it is unworthy of a king to go forth with 3000 men to hunt a single flea. As the king"s conduct is thus both unjust and foolish, David therefore appeals to Jehovah to be judge and plead his cause, i.e. be his advocate, and state the proofs of his innocence. For deliver me out of thy hand, the Hebrew is, "will judge me out of thy hand," i.e. will judge me, and by doing so justly will deliver me from thy power.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 After whom has the king of Israel come out?…
After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue?
These rhetorical questions can be translated as statements. When David asks the questions, he knows that he will answer the questions himself. AT: "Let me tell you who the king of Israel has come out after. Let me tell you who it is that you are pursuing." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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After a dead dog
The words "dead dog" are a metaphor for a powerless person. This sentence can be made complete. AT: "You are pursuing a person who is as powerless as a dead dog" (See: Metaphor and Ellipsis)
After a flea
The word "flea" is a metaphor for a person whom others do not consider important. AT: "You are pursuing a person who is as unimportant as a flea" (See: Metaphor and Ellipsis)
see to it, and plead my cause
Possible meanings are 1) "do what is right, and plead my cause" or 2) "see that my cause is right and fight for me."
from your hand
The word "hand" is a metonym for power. AT: "so that you have no power over me" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
king
Israel
die
Yahweh
judge
plea
hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.