1 Samuel 19:14

14 When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

1 Samuel 19:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 19:14

And when Saul sent messengers to take David
Either the same who in the morning inquired for David, or those staying longer than Saul expected, and fearing they were negligent or corrupted, he sent others: to whom

she said, he [is] sick;
and in bed, and cannot be spoke with; this lie she told through her affection to David, and to preserve his life; and this stratagem she devised to gain time, that while she was amusing the messengers with this tale of hers, before they could discover the truth of the matter David would be out of their reach; whereas, had she denied his being at home, or signified that he had made his escape, they would have immediately pursued after him, and he would have been in danger of being taken by them.

1 Samuel 19:14 In-Context

12 So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.

13 Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.

14 When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

15 But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.”

16 And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair on its head.