1 Samuel 26:20

20 And now my blood be not shed out in the earth before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, that he seek a quick flea, as a partridge is pursued in hills. (And now let not my blood be shed out on the ground before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, so that he can seek after a quick, or an insignificant, flea, like a partridge is pursued over the hills.)

1 Samuel 26:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:20

Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth before the
face of the Lord
For should it be spilled, God, who is omniscient, will see it, and take notice of it; and being righteous, and to whom vengeance belongs, he will avenge it: some render it, "my blood shall not fall to the earth before the face of the Lord" ^F18; I am continually under his eye and care, and he will protect and defend me; and in vain is it for thee to pursue after me; I shall never fall into thine hands, though I may be obliged to quit my country, and go into an idolatrous nation, against my will:

for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea;
which leaps from place to place and is not easily taken: or this may denote what a mean, poor, weak, insignificant person David was; and how much it was below Saul to come out with an army of chosen men in pursuit of him; so the Targum,

``the king of Israel is come out to seek one that is weak or feeble:''

as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains;
as kings for their delight used to do, as Abarbinel observes; but this being a business of pleasure, and this a bird of worth, some other is thought to be here intended. Indeed the is represented as worth no more than an "obolus", or five farthings, though fifty drachmas or drachms were ordered to be paid for one ^F19; the Septuagint renders the word an "owl": the word is "kore", and from the etymology of it one would think it was the raven or crow. Jarchi on ( Jeremiah 17:11 ) takes it to be the cuckoo, though here the partridge as others; Bochart ^F20 will have it to be the woodcock, snipe, or snite ^F21. Some choose to read the words,

``as the kore or partridge on the mountains hunts;''

which, it is said, hunts and seeks after the nests of other birds, and sits on their eggs ^F22: see ( Jeremiah 17:11 ) ; so Saul hunted after David, though he could not take him; several naturalists ^F23 observe, that the partridge is very difficult to be taken by the hunter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (wmd lpy la) "non effundetur", Martyr. and to this sense are Syr. Ar. vers.
F19 Laert. l. 2. in Vita Aristippi.
F20 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 1. c. 12. col. 81.
F21 (A snite is like a snipe, yet a different species of lark-like bird. Oxford English Dictionary. Editor)
F22 T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 140. 2. Jarchi & Abarbinel in loc.
F23 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 8. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 33. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 3. c. 16.

1 Samuel 26:20 In-Context

18 And David said, For what cause pursueth my lord his servant? What have I done, either what evil is in mine hand?

19 Now therefore, my lord the king, I pray, hear the words of thy servant; if the Lord stirreth thee against me, the sacrifice be smelled; forsooth if [the] sons of men stir thee, they be cursed in the sight of the Lord, which have cast me out today, that I dwell not in the heritage of the Lord, and say, Go thou, serve thou alien gods. (And so now, my lord the king, I pray thee, listen to the words of thy servant; if the Lord stirreth thee against me, let the sacrifice be smelled; but if the sons of men stir thee, be they cursed before the Lord, they who have thrown me out today, so that I live not in the inheritance of the Lord, and who say to me, Go thou, serve thou foreign, or other, gods.)

20 And now my blood be not shed out in the earth before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, that he seek a quick flea, as a partridge is pursued in hills. (And now let not my blood be shed out on the ground before the Lord; for the king of Israel hath gone out, so that he can seek after a quick, or an insignificant, flea, like a partridge is pursued over the hills.)

21 And Saul said, I have sinned; turn thou again, my son David, for I shall no more do evil to thee, for my life was precious today in thine eyes; for it seemeth, that I have done follily (that I have done foolishly), and I have unknown full many things.

22 And David answered and said, Lo! the spear of the king, one of the young men of the king pass (over hither), and take it; (And David replied, Lo! the spear of the king; one of the king's young men come over here, and take it back;)