1 Samuel 26:11

11 the Lord be merciful to me, that I hold not forth mine hand into the christ of the Lord; now therefore take thou the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away. (the Lord forbid/God forbid that I put my hand against the Lord's anointed; and so now, let us take the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away.)

1 Samuel 26:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:11

The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against
the Lord's anointed
Or suffer any about him to do it; he speaks of it with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:

but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that [is] at his bolster;
not to smite him with, as he desired, but to carry off, and was no other than his sceptre; (See Gill on 1 Samuel 20:33);

and the cruse of water;
which stood in the same place, as appears by ( 1 Samuel 26:12 ) . Some take this to be a pot to make water in; others an hourglass, to know the time of night, in which not sand, but water, flowed for that purpose: but rather this was for his refreshment should he be hot and thirsty in the night, or to purify him from any nocturnal pollution that might happen; for, according to Clemens of Alexandria {m}, it was a custom of the Jews often to purify themselves in bed: though Fortunatus Scacchus F14 thinks Saul had this pot or cup for a religious use; which he had with him, and with it gave thanks to God, the author of all good, whenever he sat down to a meal; such as the golden cup Philip king of Macedon always had under his pillow when he slept F15:

and let us go;
and do nothing more; which would be sufficient to convince they had been there, and to show what was in their power to do, had they been so inclined.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Stromat. l. 4. p. 531.
F14 Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. I. c. 44. col. 224.
F15 Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3.

1 Samuel 26:11 In-Context

9 And David said to Abishai, Slay thou not him, for who shall hold forth his hand into the christ of the Lord, and shall be innocent? (And David said to Abishai, Kill thou him not, for who shall put his hand against the anointed of the Lord, and still be innocent?)
10 And David said, (As) The Lord liveth, for no but the Lord smite him, either his day come that he die, either he go down into battle, and perish;
11 the Lord be merciful to me, that I hold not forth mine hand into the christ of the Lord; now therefore take thou the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away. (the Lord forbid/God forbid that I put my hand against the Lord's anointed; and so now, let us take the spear, that is at his head, and the cup of water, and go we away.)
12 Then David took the spear, and the cup of water, that was at the head of Saul, and they went forth, and no man was that saw, and understood, and waked, but all men slept (and there was no one who saw it, or knew it, or even awoke, but all the men slept); for the sleep of the Lord had fallen [up]on them.
13 And when David had passed [over] even against, and had stood on the top of the hill afar (off), and a great space was betwixt them,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.