1 Samuel 26:10

10 And David saith, `Jehovah liveth; except Jehovah doth smite him, or his day come that he hath died, or into battle he go down, and hath been consumed --

1 Samuel 26:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:10

And David said furthermore
In order to make Abishai easy, and prevent his doing what he proposed:

[as] the Lord liveth;
which was the form of an oath, made to assure Abishai of the truth of what follows, and therefore he need not be hasty to put Saul to death, since it would not be long before he should die, in one or other of the three following ways: either

the Lord shall smite him;
suddenly, which the Jews call cutting off, or death by the hand of heaven, by the immediate hand of God:

or his day shall come to die;
the time appointed for him to die a natural death, of some disease common to men:

or he shall descend into battle, and perish;
which was commonly reckoned death, casual or accidental, and in which last way Saul did die, ( 1 Samuel 31:3 1 Samuel 31:4 ) .

1 Samuel 26:10 In-Context

8 And Abishai saith unto David, `God hath shut up to-day thine enemy into thy hand; and, now, let me smite him, I pray thee, with a spear, even into the earth at once -- and I do repeat [it] to him.'

9 And David saith unto Abishai, `Destroy him not; for who hath put forth his hand against the anointed of Jehovah, and been acquitted?'

10 And David saith, `Jehovah liveth; except Jehovah doth smite him, or his day come that he hath died, or into battle he go down, and hath been consumed --

11 far be it from me, by Jehovah, from putting forth my hand against the anointed of Jehovah; and, now, take, I pray thee, the spear which [is] at his pillow, and the cruse of water, and we go away.'

12 And David taketh the spear, and the cruse of water at the pillow of Saul, and they go away, and there is none seeing, and there is none knowing, and there is none awaking, for all of them are sleeping, for a deep sleep [from] Jehovah hath fallen upon them.