1 Samuel 24:5

5 But immediately David felt horrible that he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

1 Samuel 24:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:5

And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him,
&c.] His conscience accused him, and he repented of what he had done:

because he had cut off Saul's skirt;
which though less than what his servants put him upon, and he might have thoughts of doing, yet was considered by him as a great indignity to his sovereign, and therefore sat uneasy on his mind.

1 Samuel 24:5 In-Context

3 He came to the sheep pens beside the road where there was a cave. Saul went into the cave to use the restroom. Meanwhile, David and his soldiers were sitting in the very back of the cave.

4 David's soldiers said to him, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he promised you, ‘I will hand your enemy over to you, and you can do to him whatever you think best.'" So David snuck up and cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

5 But immediately David felt horrible that he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

6 "The LORD forbid," he told his men, "that I should do something like that to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him, because he's the LORD's anointed!"

7 So David held his soldiers in check by what he said, and he wouldn't allow them to attack Saul. Saul then left the cave and went on his way.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Syr, Targ; MT lacks robe.