1 Samuel 20:26

26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”

1 Samuel 20:26 in Other Translations

KJV
26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean.
ESV
26 Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean."
NLT
26 Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.”
MSG
26 Saul didn't mention it at the time, thinking, "Something's happened that's made him unclean. That's it - he's probably unclean for the holy meal."
CSB
26 Saul did not say anything that day because he thought, "Something unexpected has happened; he must be ceremonially unclean-yes, that's it, he is unclean."

1 Samuel 20:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:26

Nevertheless, Saul spake not anything that day
About David's absence, took no notice of it, said nothing about it:

for he thought something had befallen him;
some impurity, some nocturnal pollution, see ( Leviticus 15:16 ) ;

he [is] not clean, surely he [is] not clean;
which he repeated in his mind for the confirmation of it, and in contempt, and to the reproach of David; and in this way he accounted for his absence the first day, and so was easy, it not being lawful and fitting for an unclean person in a ceremonial sense to eat of the peace offerings, which Saul and his family were now partaking of.

1 Samuel 20:26 In-Context

24 So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon feast came, the king sat down to eat.
25 He sat in his customary place by the wall, opposite Jonathan, and Abner sat next to Saul, but David’s place was empty.
26 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”
27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was empty again. Then Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan answered, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Leviticus 7:20-21; Leviticus 15:5; 1 Samuel 16:5
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