1 Samuel 19:16

16 When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats' hair on its head.

1 Samuel 19:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 19:16

And when the messengers were come in
To David's house, and into the room where he was supposed to lie:

behold, [there was] an image in the bed to their great surprise;
they expected to see David, but instead of him the teraphim, as in ( 1 Samuel 19:13 ) ; if they had been in the room before, and thought they had seen David in the bed, they might be the more surprised to find that it was only an image they saw:

with a pillow of goats' [hair] for his bolster;
(See Gill on 1 Samuel 19:13).

1 Samuel 19:16 In-Context

14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, "He is sick."
15 Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves. He said, "Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him."
16 When the messengers came in, the idol was in the bed, with the covering of goats' hair on its head.
17 Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?" Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, "Let me go; why should I kill you?' "
18 Now David fled and escaped; he came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and settled at Naioth.

Footnotes 2

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.