1 Samuel 26:10

10 And David said, [As] Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish.

1 Samuel 26:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:10

And David said furthermore
In order to make Abishai easy, and prevent his doing what he proposed:

[as] the Lord liveth;
which was the form of an oath, made to assure Abishai of the truth of what follows, and therefore he need not be hasty to put Saul to death, since it would not be long before he should die, in one or other of the three following ways: either

the Lord shall smite him;
suddenly, which the Jews call cutting off, or death by the hand of heaven, by the immediate hand of God:

or his day shall come to die;
the time appointed for him to die a natural death, of some disease common to men:

or he shall descend into battle, and perish;
which was commonly reckoned death, casual or accidental, and in which last way Saul did die, ( 1 Samuel 31:3 1 Samuel 31:4 ) .

1 Samuel 26:10 In-Context

8 And Abishai said to David, God has delivered thine enemy into thy hand this day; and now let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the ground once, and I will not do it the second time.

9 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless?

10 And David said, [As] Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will surely smite him; either his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish.

11 Jehovah forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed! But now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

12 And David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw [it], and none knew [it], and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.