1 Samuel 24:21

21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not wipe out my name from my father's house."

1 Samuel 24:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:21

Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord
By the Word of the Lord, as the, Targum:

that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me;
as was usually done in despotic governments in the eastern countries, and is at this day, when one is advanced to the throne of another, by whom issue is left, who may be rivals and competitors with him:

and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house;
by cutting off his seed, the same thing in different words repeated, for the confirmation of it; children bear the names of their fathers, and by them their memory is perpetuated, and cutting off them is destroying the name of their parents.

1 Samuel 24:21 In-Context

19 For who has ever found an enemy, and sent the enemy safely away? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.
20 Now I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.
21 Swear to me therefore by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not wipe out my name from my father's house."
22 So David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home; but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.