Shmuel Alef 26:20

20 Now therefore, let not my dahm fall to the earth before the face of Hashem; for the Melech Yisroel is come out to search for a parosh (flea), as when one doth hunt the partridge in the harim.

Shmuel Alef 26:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:20

Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth before the
face of the Lord
For should it be spilled, God, who is omniscient, will see it, and take notice of it; and being righteous, and to whom vengeance belongs, he will avenge it: some render it, "my blood shall not fall to the earth before the face of the Lord" ^F18; I am continually under his eye and care, and he will protect and defend me; and in vain is it for thee to pursue after me; I shall never fall into thine hands, though I may be obliged to quit my country, and go into an idolatrous nation, against my will:

for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea;
which leaps from place to place and is not easily taken: or this may denote what a mean, poor, weak, insignificant person David was; and how much it was below Saul to come out with an army of chosen men in pursuit of him; so the Targum,

``the king of Israel is come out to seek one that is weak or feeble:''

as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains;
as kings for their delight used to do, as Abarbinel observes; but this being a business of pleasure, and this a bird of worth, some other is thought to be here intended. Indeed the is represented as worth no more than an "obolus", or five farthings, though fifty drachmas or drachms were ordered to be paid for one ^F19; the Septuagint renders the word an "owl": the word is "kore", and from the etymology of it one would think it was the raven or crow. Jarchi on ( Jeremiah 17:11 ) takes it to be the cuckoo, though here the partridge as others; Bochart ^F20 will have it to be the woodcock, snipe, or snite ^F21. Some choose to read the words,

``as the kore or partridge on the mountains hunts;''

which, it is said, hunts and seeks after the nests of other birds, and sits on their eggs ^F22: see ( Jeremiah 17:11 ) ; so Saul hunted after David, though he could not take him; several naturalists ^F23 observe, that the partridge is very difficult to be taken by the hunter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (wmd lpy la) "non effundetur", Martyr. and to this sense are Syr. Ar. vers.
F19 Laert. l. 2. in Vita Aristippi.
F20 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 12. col. 81.
F21 (A snite is like a snipe, yet a different species of lark-like bird. Oxford English Dictionary. Editor)
F22 T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 140. 2. Jarchi & Abarbinel in loc.
F23 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 8. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 33. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 3. c. 16.

Shmuel Alef 26:20 In-Context

18 And he said, Why doth adoni thus pursue after his eved? For what have I done? Or what ra’ah is in mine yad?

19 Now therefore, let adoni HaMelech hear the devarim of his eved. If Hashem have stirred thee up against me, let Him accept a minchah; but if they be bnei adam, cursed be they before Hashem; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the nachalah of Hashem, saying, Go, serve elohim acharim.

20 Now therefore, let not my dahm fall to the earth before the face of Hashem; for the Melech Yisroel is come out to search for a parosh (flea), as when one doth hunt the partridge in the harim.

21 Then said Sha’ul, I have sinned; return, beni Dovid; for I will no more do thee harm, because my nefesh was precious in thine eyes this day; hinei, I was foolish, and have erred exceedingly.

22 And Dovid answered and said, Hinei the khanit HaMelech! Let one of the ne’arim come over and bring it back.