2 Samuel 1:14

14 David said to him, "How is it you were not ¹afraid to put out your hand to destroy ²the LORD's anointed?"

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 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

13 And David said to the young man who told him, "Where do you come from?" And he answered, "I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite."

14 David said to him, "How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?"

15 Then David called one of the young men and said, "Go, execute him." And he struck him down so that he died.

16 And David said to him, "Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD's anointed.'"

Cross References

• 1. [1 Samuel 24:6, 10; 1 Samuel 26:9; 1 Samuel 31:4]
• 2. See 1 Samuel 12:3