Moreover, my father
So he was in a natural sense, as having married his daughter; and in a civil sense, as he was a king, and was, or ought to have been, the father of his country, and to treat his subjects as his children, and David among the rest: see, yea see, the skirt of thy robe in my hand;
look on it again and again; view it with the eyes of thy body intently, that thou mayest be satisfied of it, and behold with the eyes of thy mind and understanding, and consider that I could as easily have had thine head in my hand as the skirt of thy robe; and here see an instance and proof of the integrity and sincerity of my heart, and cordial affections to thee, and an evidence against all the charges and accusations of my enemies, and that I have no ill design upon thy person and life, and am far from seeking thy hurt, as they say: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not;
not only did that to show that he was in his power, but did not cut off his head, as he could: know thou, and see, that [there is] neither evil nor transgression in
mine hand;
this might be a full conviction to him that he had no ill, neither in his heart nor hand, to do unto him: and I have not sinned against thee;
done nothing to offend him, never acted against his will, nor disobeyed any of his commands, or had been guilty of one overt act of treason or rebellion, but all the reverse: yet thou huntest my soul to take it;
pursued him from place to place, hunted him in the wildernesses of Ziph and Maon, and upon the rocks of Engedi, as a partridge on the mountains, ( 1 Samuel 26:20 ) ; and lay in wait for him to kill him, as the Targum: he may be thought to have penned the "seventh" psalm at this time, or on this occasion; at least there are some passages in it, which seem to refer to his present circumstances, ( Psalms 7:1-17 ) .