1 Samuel 24:5

5 (24-6) After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

1 Samuel 24:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:5

And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him,
&c.] His conscience accused him, and he repented of what he had done:

because he had cut off Saul's skirt;
which though less than what his servants put him upon, and he might have thoughts of doing, yet was considered by him as a great indignity to his sovereign, and therefore sat uneasy on his mind.

1 Samuel 24:5 In-Context

3 (24-4) And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.

4 (24-5) And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayst do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

5 (24-6) After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

6 (24-7) And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.

7 (24-8) And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul: but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way.