1 Chronicles 12:17

17 David went out to meet them and said to them, "If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong, the God of our fathers will see this and punish you."

1 Chronicles 12:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 12:17

And David went out to meet them
Out of the hold where he was; either out of respect and deference to them, some of them being persons of eminence; or it may be out of suspicion, fearing they were not his friends, being, it may be, chiefly of the tribe of Benjamin, and therefore was desirous of sounding them before he admitted them:

and said unto them, if ye be come peaceably unto me to help me;
if they were come with a good will to him, and intention to help him against his enemy, and protect him:

mine heart shall be knit unto you;
they should have such a share in his affections, that their hearts would be as one, as his and Jonathan's were, ( 1 Samuel 18:1 ) ,

but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies;
into the hands of Saul, and his courtiers, that sought his life:

seeing there is no wrong in mine hands;
no injury done by him to Saul, or to them, or to any other:

the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it;
he that sees all things, let him revenge it; and it is not only a wish that he would, but a prayer of faith that so it would be.

1 Chronicles 12:17 In-Context

15 They crossed the Jordan River and chased away the people living in the valleys, to the east and to the west. This happened in the first month of the year when the Jordan floods the valley.

16 Other people from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David at his stronghold.

17 David went out to meet them and said to them, "If you have come peacefully to help me, I welcome you. Join me. But if you have come to turn me over to my enemies, even though I have done nothing wrong, the God of our fathers will see this and punish you."

18 Then the Spirit entered Amasai, the leader of the Thirty, and he said: "We belong to you, David. We are with you, son of Jesse. Success, success to you. Success to those who help you, because your God helps you." So David welcomed these men and made them leaders of his army.

19 Some of the men from Manasseh also joined David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. But David and his men did not really help the Philistines. After talking about it, the Philistine leaders decided to send David away. They said, "If David goes back to his master Saul, we will be killed."