1 Samuel 30:15

15 dixitque ei David potes me ducere ad istum cuneum qui ait iura mihi per Deum quod non occidas me et non tradas me in manu domini mei et ducam te ad cuneum istum

1 Samuel 30:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:15

And David said unto him, canst thou me down to this company?
&c.] That is, show him, or direct him where they were:

and he said, swear unto me by God;
the Targum is, by the Word of the Lord; but it is highly probable this man had no notion of Jehovah, and his Word, or of the true God; only that there was a God, and that an oath taken by him was solemn, sacred, and inviolable, and might be trusted to and depended on:

that thou wilt neither kill me;
for he found now he was in the hands of those whose city he had been concerned in plundering and burning, and so might fear his life was in danger:

nor deliver me into the hands of my master;
who had been a cruel one to him, and therefore would gladly be clear of him; and if he had nothing else against him, his late usage of him was sufficient to raise his resentment of him:

and I will bring thee down to this company;
or show him where they were, having heard them say where they would stop, and make merry, and divide their spoil; and perhaps his master might tell him they would be at such a place at such a time, where, if he was better, he might come to them; the Vulgate Latin version adds, "and David swore to him": which, though not expressed in the original text, was no doubt done by him; and the Syriac and Arabic versions begin ( 1 Samuel 30:16 ) thus, "when David had sworn to him".

1 Samuel 30:15 In-Context

13 dixit itaque ei David cuius es tu vel unde quo pergis qui ait ei puer aegyptius ego sum servus viri amalechitae dereliquit autem me dominus meus quia aegrotare coepi nudius tertius

14 siquidem nos erupimus ad australem partem Cerethi et contra Iudam et ad meridiem Chaleb et Siceleg succendimus igni

15 dixitque ei David potes me ducere ad istum cuneum qui ait iura mihi per Deum quod non occidas me et non tradas me in manu domini mei et ducam te ad cuneum istum

16 qui cum duxisset eum ecce illi discumbebant super faciem universae terrae comedentes et bibentes et quasi festum celebrantes diem pro cuncta praeda et spoliis quae ceperant de terra Philisthim et de terra Iuda

17 et percussit eos David a vespere usque ad vesperam alterius diei et non evasit ex eis quisquam nisi quadringenti viri adulescentes qui ascenderant camelos et fugerant