2 Samuel 1:14

14 David questioned him, "How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"^[a]

2 Samuel 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 1:14

And David said unto him, how, wast thou not afraid to stretch
forth thine hand
By which it should seem that he did more than stand upon him, and press his body, that the spear might pierce through him, but that he drew his sword, and slew him; so David understood him, and is the sense of the phrase in ( 1 Samuel 17:51 ) ;

to destroy the Lord's anointed?
a reason why David did not destroy him, when it was in the power of his hands, and which he made use of to dissuade others from it; and here charges it not only as a criminal, but a daring action in this young man, at which he expresses his admiration how he could do it; hereby representing it as a very shocking and detestable action; see ( 1 Samuel 24:6 ) ( 1 Samuel 26:9 1 Samuel 26:11 ) .

2 Samuel 1:14 In-Context

12 They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword-for Saul, his son Jonathan, the Lord's people, and the house of Israel.

13 David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, "Where are you from?" "I'm the son of a foreigner" he said. "I'm an Amalekite."

14 David questioned him, "How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"

15 Then David summoned one of his servants and said, "Come here and kill him!" The servant struck him, and he died.

16 For David had said to the Amalekite, "Your blood is on your own head because your own mouth testified against you by saying, 'I killed the Lord's anointed.' "

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Sm 24:6; 26:6-12