1 Samuel 24:4

4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, ¹this is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold; ²I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.' " Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly.

1 Samuel 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:4

And the men of David said unto him
Some of his principal men, who were about him, and near him, such as Joab and Abishai:

behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee:
now the time was come that he spoke of to him by Samuel, or Gad, or to himself directly:

behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand;
and such was Saul, as appeared by his seeking to take away his life; and now he was in the hand of David to take away his life, if he pleased:

that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee;
an opportunity of this kind now offered:

then David arose;
from that part of the cave in which he was, the further part of it:

and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily;
unawares to him, and unobserved by him, which might be easily done, if Saul was asleep, and it is probable he was; and by the same way it may be accounted for that he did not hear the discourse that passed between David and his men.

1 Samuel 24:4 In-Context

2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

3 He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.

4 The men of David said to him, "Behold, this is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.' " Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul's robe secretly.

5 It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.

6 So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord , the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed."

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 23:17; 1 Samuel 25:28-30
• 2. 1 Samuel 26:8, 11

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "in your sight"