1 Samuel 23:20

20 So now, king, since you've wanted so much to come down, come down! Our part will be to turn him over to you."

1 Samuel 23:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:20

Now therefore, O king, come down
From Gibeah to Ziph, and the wilderness of it, where David was:

according to all the desires of thy soul to come down;
to seize such a prey which he was greatly desirous of, and of nothing more so than of that according to Abarbinel, the sense is, that the thing was ready in whatever way he should desire it; if he chose to come down himself, and lay hold on him, they invite him to come down; but if he did not choose to come down himself, they would seize him, and bring him to him, and deliver him up into his hand, and so he would be under no necessity of going down after him:

and our part [shall be] to deliver him into the king's hand;
this we will take upon us to do, and save the king the trouble of coming down.

1 Samuel 23:20 In-Context

18 Then the two of them made a covenant in the presence of ADONAI, after which David stayed at Horesh and Y'honatan returned home.

19 The people of Zif came to Sha'ul in Giv'ah and said, "David is hiding himself with us in the strongholds at Horesh, on Hakhilah Hill, south of Yeshimon

20 So now, king, since you've wanted so much to come down, come down! Our part will be to turn him over to you."

21 Sha'ul said, "May ADONAI bless you for showing me compassion

22 Please go and make still more certain exactly where he is and who has seen him there, because I've been told that he's very tricky.