1 Samuel 23:20

20 And, now, by all the desire of thy soul, O king, to come down, come down, and ours [is] to shut him up into the hand of the king.'

1 Samuel 23:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:20

Now therefore, O king, come down
From Gibeah to Ziph, and the wilderness of it, where David was:

according to all the desires of thy soul to come down;
to seize such a prey which he was greatly desirous of, and of nothing more so than of that according to Abarbinel, the sense is, that the thing was ready in whatever way he should desire it; if he chose to come down himself, and lay hold on him, they invite him to come down; but if he did not choose to come down himself, they would seize him, and bring him to him, and deliver him up into his hand, and so he would be under no necessity of going down after him:

and our part [shall be] to deliver him into the king's hand;
this we will take upon us to do, and save the king the trouble of coming down.

1 Samuel 23:20 In-Context

18 And they make a covenant both of them before Jehovah; and David abideth in the forest, and Jonathan hath gone to his house.

19 And the Ziphites go up unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, `Is not David hiding himself with us in fortresses, in the forest, in the height of Hachilah, which [is] on the south of the desolate place

20 And, now, by all the desire of thy soul, O king, to come down, come down, and ours [is] to shut him up into the hand of the king.'

21 And Saul saith, `Blessed [are] ye of Jehovah, for ye have pity on me

22 go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his foot is; who hath seen him there? for [one] hath said unto me, He is very subtile.