1 Samuel 21:14

14 So Achish said to his officials, "Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me?

1 Samuel 21:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 21:14

Then said Achish to his servants, lo, you see the man is mad,
&c.] Which he said, as willing his servants should think so, and therefore rather the object of their pity than of their rage and malice; or as really believing he was so, which he and they might conclude not merely from these his actions, before described, which they might judge real and not feigned; but they might suppose this was truly his case, brought upon him by the ill usage of Saul, who pursuing him from place to place, and sending after him to take away his life, had really brought him to distraction; and this they might rather conclude from his coming to Gath, an enemy's country, and whose champion he had slain, and many others of them; which it might be thought no man in his senses would have done:

wherefore [then] have ye brought him to me?
for if he was brought to be employed in his service, he seemed very unfit for it, whether in the camp, or in the court; and if to be tried and condemned as an enemy, since he was a madman, he was rather to be pitied.

1 Samuel 21:14 In-Context

12 Their words made a deep impression on David, and he became very much afraid of King Achish.
13 So whenever David was around them, he pretended to be insane and acted like a madman when they tried to restrain him; he would scribble on the city gates and let spit drool down his beard.
14 So Achish said to his officials, "Look! The man is crazy! Why did you bring him to me?
15 Don't I have enough madmen already? Why bring another one to bother me with his crazy actions right here in my own house?"
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.