Then said Saul, I have sinned
Which is more than he acknowledged before, and yet, it is to be feared he had no true sense of his sin, and real repentance for it; but, like Pharaoh, his guilty conscience for the present forced this confession from him; see ( Exodus 9:27 ) ;
return, my son David:
meaning to his own house, or rather to his palace, since he had disposed of his wife to another man:
for I will no more do thee harm:
or seek to do it by pursuing him from place to place, as he had done, which had given him a great deal of trouble and fatigue:
because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day;
and therefore spared, when he could have taken it away; which showed that his life was dear to him, of great worth and value in his account; and therefore he would neither take it away himself, nor suffer another to do it:
behold, I have played the fool, and erred exceedingly:
in seeking after his life, and pursuing him again, when he had such a convincing proof of his sincerity and faithfulness, and of his cordial affection for him, when he only cut off the skirts of his garment in the cave, and spared his life.