1 Samuel 24:6

6 And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him.

1 Samuel 24:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:6

And he said unto his men
When he returned and brought the skirt of Saul's garment in his hand; or else he said this before that, though here mentioned, when they moved it to him to dispatch him, as he had a fair opportunity of doing it:

God forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's
anointed;
and which he could not think of but with detestation and abhorrence, since he was his sovereign lord and master, and he a subject of his, and was anointed by the order of God, and his person sacred:

to stretch forth my hand against him;
to take away his life; to cut off the skirt of his garment gave him uneasiness; but to slay him, the thought of it was shocking to him:

seeing he [is] the anointed of the Lord;
anointed by Samuel to be king, ( 1 Samuel 10:1 ) , by order of the Lord, ( 1 Samuel 9:17 ) .

1 Samuel 24:6 In-Context

4 And David's men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul's robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge.

5 And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt.

6 And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him.

7 So with these words David kept his servants back, and did not let them make an attack on Saul. And Saul got up and went on his way.

8 And after that David came out of the hollow rock, and crying after Saul said, My lord the king. And when Saul gave a look back, David went down on his face and gave him honour.