1 Samuel 23:20

20 And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand.

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 And they two made a covenant before Jehovah; and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

19 And the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the waste

20 And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand.

21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have compassion upon me

22 Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtilly.