And David said unto him, canst thou me down to this
company?
&c.] That is, show him, or direct him where they were:
and he said, swear unto me by God;
the Targum is, by the Word of the Lord; but it is highly probable
this man had no notion of Jehovah, and his Word, or of the true
God; only that there was a God, and that an oath taken by him was
solemn, sacred, and inviolable, and might be trusted to and
depended on:
that thou wilt neither kill me;
for he found now he was in the hands of those whose city he had
been concerned in plundering and burning, and so might fear his
life was in danger:
nor deliver me into the hands of my master;
who had been a cruel one to him, and therefore would gladly be
clear of him; and if he had nothing else against him, his late
usage of him was sufficient to raise his resentment of him:
and I will bring thee down to this company;
or show him where they were, having heard them say where they
would stop, and make merry, and divide their spoil; and perhaps
his master might tell him they would be at such a place at such a
time, where, if he was better, he might come to them; the Vulgate
Latin version adds, "and David swore to him": which, though not
expressed in the original text, was no doubt done by him; and the
Syriac and Arabic versions begin ( 1 Samuel
30:16 ) thus, "when David had sworn to him".
