1 Chronicles 12:17

17 David went to meet them and said, "If you are coming as friends to help me, you are welcome here. Join us! But if you intend to betray me to my enemies, even though I have not tried to hurt you, the God of our ancestors will know it and punish you."

1 Chronicles 12:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 12:17

And David went out to meet them
Out of the hold where he was; either out of respect and deference to them, some of them being persons of eminence; or it may be out of suspicion, fearing they were not his friends, being, it may be, chiefly of the tribe of Benjamin, and therefore was desirous of sounding them before he admitted them:

and said unto them, if ye be come peaceably unto me to help me;
if they were come with a good will to him, and intention to help him against his enemy, and protect him:

mine heart shall be knit unto you;
they should have such a share in his affections, that their hearts would be as one, as his and Jonathan's were, ( 1 Samuel 18:1 ) ,

but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies;
into the hands of Saul, and his courtiers, that sought his life:

seeing there is no wrong in mine hands;
no injury done by him to Saul, or to them, or to any other:

the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it;
he that sees all things, let him revenge it; and it is not only a wish that he would, but a prayer of faith that so it would be.

1 Chronicles 12:17 In-Context

15 In the first month of one year, the time when the Jordan River overflowed its banks, they crossed the river, scattering the people who lived in the valleys both east and west of the river.

16 Once a group of men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah went out to the fort where David was.

17 David went to meet them and said, "If you are coming as friends to help me, you are welcome here. Join us! But if you intend to betray me to my enemies, even though I have not tried to hurt you, the God of our ancestors will know it and punish you."

18 God's spirit took control of one of them, Amasai, who later became the commander of "The Thirty," and he called out, "David son of Jesse, we are yours! Success to you and those who help you! God is on your side." David welcomed them and made them officers in his army.

19 Some soldiers from the tribe of Manasseh went over to David's side when he was marching out with the Philistines to fight King Saul. Actually he did not help the Philistines, for their kings were afraid that he would betray them to his former master Saul, so they sent him back to Ziklag.