1 Samuel 24:12

12 May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least.

1 Samuel 24:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:12

The Lord judge between me and thee
And make it appear who is in the right, and who in the wrong: and the Lord avenge me of thee;
if he continued thus to persecute him: but mine hand shall not be upon thee;
to kill thee, though it may be in my power again to do it, as it has been; but this I am determined upon, let me suffer what I will, I will not lay hands on thee to do thee any hurt, but leave thee with God to requite all the evil done to me by thee.

1 Samuel 24:12 In-Context

10 You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king.

11 Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong.

12 May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least.

13 You know the old saying, "Evil is done only by evil people.' And so I will not harm you.

14 Look at what the king of Israel is trying to kill! Look at what he is chasing! A dead dog, a flea!