1 Samuel 22:22

22 David said to him, "When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives.

1 Samuel 22:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 22:22

And David said unto Abiathar, I knew [it] that day
That is, he thought in his mind at that time: when Doeg the Edomite [was] there;
at Nob; in the tabernacle, at the same time that David was there: that he would surely tell Saul;
that he saw David there, and what passed between him and Ahimelech; he knew he was a spiteful mischievous man; that he was a true Edomite, though a proselyte, and bore hatred and enmity in his mind against an Israelite, and especially an Israelite indeed, as David was: I have occasioned [the death] of all the persons of thy father's house:
or have been the cause of all the evils that befell them, and the death they were put unto, not with design, but by accident; and it grieved him that he should be any ways an accessory thereunto, though without intention.

1 Samuel 22:22 In-Context

20 But Abiathar, one of Ahimelech's sons, escaped, and went and joined David.
21 He told him how Saul had slaughtered the priests of the Lord.
22 David said to him, "When I saw Doeg there that day, I knew that he would be sure to tell Saul. So I am responsible for the death of all your relatives.
23 Stay with me and don't be afraid. Saul wants to kill both you and me, but you will be safe with me."

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. [Some ancient translations] I am responsible; [Hebrew] I have turned.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.