1 Samuel 24 Footnotes

24:5 David was upset after he cut the corner off of Saul’s robe. Though he had not physically injured the king, he had sinned. Saul was still God’s chosen and anointed leader for Israel, and the king’s robe was a symbol of his divinely appointed office. David’s act could be taken as rebellion against God himself. Furthermore, the law of Moses required all robes to have tassels at their corners to remind people of God’s laws (Nm 15:37-40). For David to remove this reminder from Saul’s clothing was to hinder the king’s relationship with the Lord. Any act that makes it harder for another to serve God is sinful (see Lk 17:1-2).

24:21-22 If David took an oath not to cut off Saul’s descendants, why did he later allow the Gibeonites to kill seven of them? David’s agreement was that he would not wipe out Saul’s descendants as a way of “cleaning house” when he took over the kingship of Israel. That was the normal practice in the ancient Near East when a ruler established a new dynasty (that is, a ruler of a different family line from the previous king); it was done to eliminate other potential claimants to the throne (1Kg 15:29; 16:11; 2Kg 11:1; 25:7). David not only kept his agreement, he invited a member of Saul’s family line to eat at the royal table and restored a generous inheritance to him (2Sm 9:1-13).

Saul, in attempting to exterminate the Gibeonites, had brought great guilt on himself by violating the centuries-old agreement in which the Israelites had allowed them to live in the land (Jos 9:3-15; 2Sm 21:2). Because Saul, as leader, represented all Israel (for discussions on corporate solidarity, see note on Dt 19:6), his guilt led to the spread of famine (2Sm 21:1). To bring an end to God’s judgment, David agreed to let the Gibeonites take limited revenge on the house of Saul. As a remedy for Saul’s homicidal actions, this “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” principle (Dt 19:21; see Ex 21:24; Lv 24:20) was effective; God lifted his punishment from Israel (2Sm 21:14).