1 Samuel 26:11

11 The Lord forbid that I should try to harm the one whom the Lord has made king! Let's take his spear and his water jar, and go." 1

1 Samuel 26:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:11

The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against
the Lord's anointed
Or suffer any about him to do it; he speaks of it with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:

but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that [is] at his bolster;
not to smite him with, as he desired, but to carry off, and was no other than his sceptre; (See Gill on 1 Samuel 20:33);

and the cruse of water;
which stood in the same place, as appears by ( 1 Samuel 26:12 ) . Some take this to be a pot to make water in; others an hourglass, to know the time of night, in which not sand, but water, flowed for that purpose: but rather this was for his refreshment should he be hot and thirsty in the night, or to purify him from any nocturnal pollution that might happen; for, according to Clemens of Alexandria {m}, it was a custom of the Jews often to purify themselves in bed: though Fortunatus Scacchus F14 thinks Saul had this pot or cup for a religious use; which he had with him, and with it gave thanks to God, the author of all good, whenever he sat down to a meal; such as the golden cup Philip king of Macedon always had under his pillow when he slept F15:

and let us go;
and do nothing more; which would be sufficient to convince they had been there, and to show what was in their power to do, had they been so inclined.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Stromat. l. 4. p. 531.
F14 Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. I. c. 44. col. 224.
F15 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3.

1 Samuel 26:11 In-Context

9 But David said, "You must not harm him! The Lord will certainly punish whoever harms his chosen king.
10 By the living Lord," David continued, "I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle.
11 The Lord forbid that I should try to harm the one whom the Lord has made king! Let's take his spear and his water jar, and go."
12 So David took the spear and the water jar from right beside Saul's head, and he and Abishai left. No one saw it or knew what had happened or even woke up - they were all sound asleep, because the Lord had sent a heavy sleep on them all.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side of the valley to the top of the hill, a safe distance away,

Cross References 1

  • 1. 26.11 1 Samuel 24.26.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.