1 Samuel 21:14

14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see a madman! 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 {David took these words seriously} and {felt severely threatened by} Achish the king of Gath.

13 So he changed his behavior {before them} and pretended to be mad {in their presence}. He made scratches on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down into his beard.

14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Look, you see a madman! Why did you bring him to me?

15 Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act like a madman before me? Should this one enter my household?"