1 Samuel 26:11

11 But may the Lord keep me from harming his appointed king! Take the spear and water jug that are near Saul's head. Then let's go."

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 to Abishai, "Don't kill Saul! No one can harm the Lord's appointed king and still be innocent!
10 As surely as the Lord lives, the Lord himself will punish Saul. Maybe Saul will die naturally, or maybe he will go into battle and be killed.
11 But may the Lord keep me from harming his appointed king! Take the spear and water jug that are near Saul's head. Then let's go."
12 So David took the spear and water jug that were near Saul's head, and they left. No one saw them or knew about it or woke up, because the Lord had put them sound asleep.
13 David crossed over to the other side of the hill and stood on top of the mountain far from Saul's camp. They were a long way away from each other.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.