1 Samuel 24:4

4 The men said to David, "Today is the day the Lord spoke of when he said, 'I will give your enemy over to you. Do anything you want with him.'" Then David crept up to Saul and quietly cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

1 Samuel 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:4

And the men of David said unto him
Some of his principal men, who were about him, and near him, such as Joab and Abishai:

behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee:
now the time was come that he spoke of to him by Samuel, or Gad, or to himself directly:

behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand;
and such was Saul, as appeared by his seeking to take away his life; and now he was in the hand of David to take away his life, if he pleased:

that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee;
an opportunity of this kind now offered:

then David arose;
from that part of the cave in which he was, the further part of it:

and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily;
unawares to him, and unobserved by him, which might be easily done, if Saul was asleep, and it is probable he was; and by the same way it may be accounted for that he did not hear the discourse that passed between David and his men.

1 Samuel 24:4 In-Context

2 So he took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and began looking for David and his men near the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

3 Saul came to the sheep pens beside the road. A cave was there, and he went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were hiding far back in the cave.

4 The men said to David, "Today is the day the Lord spoke of when he said, 'I will give your enemy over to you. Do anything you want with him.'" Then David crept up to Saul and quietly cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

5 Later David felt guilty because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

6 He said to his men, "May the Lord keep me from doing such a thing to my master! Saul is the Lord's appointed king. I should not do anything against him, because he is the Lord's appointed king!"