1 Samuel 24:19

19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today.

1 Samuel 24:19 in Other Translations

KJV
19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.
ESV
19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.
NLT
19 Who else would let his enemy get away when he had him in his power? May the LORD reward you well for the kindness you have shown me today.
MSG
19 Why? When a man meets his enemy, does he send him down the road with a blessing? May God give you a bonus of blessings for what you've done for me today!
CSB
19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him go unharmed?May the Lord repay you with good for what you've done for me today.

1 Samuel 24:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:19

For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?
&c.] Or "in a good way" F5, in peace and safety, without doing him any hurt; this is not usual among men, and yet this was the present case; David had found his enemy Saul, which Saul tacitly owns, and yet had let him go well away from him, without hurting him:

wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me
this day;
he does not promise to reward him himself, but prays the Lord to reward him; and had he been sincere in it, he could not have done better for him. Some connect the former clause with this, after this manner, "if a man find his enemy, and let him go away, the Lord will reward him, the Lord reward thee" so the Syriac and Arabic versions.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (hbwj Krdb) "in via bona", Pagninus, Montanus.

1 Samuel 24:19 In-Context

17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly.
18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the LORD delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me.
19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the LORD reward you well for the way you treated me today.
20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands.
21 Now swear to me by the LORD that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

Cross References 1

  • 1. S Ruth 2:12; S 2 Chronicles 15:7
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