1 Samuel 26:12

_SO DAVID TOOK THE SPEAR AND THE CRUSE OF WATER FROM SAUL'S BOLSTER; AND THEY GAT THEM AWAY, AND NO MAN SAW IT, NOR KNEW IT, NEITHER AWAKED: FOR THEY WERE ALL ASLEEP; BECAUSE A DEEP SLEEP FROM THE LORD WAS FALLEN UPON THEM._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

1-12 How soon do unholy hearts lose the good impressions convictions have made upon them! How helpless were Saul and all his men! All as though disarmed and chained, yet nothing is done to them; they are only asleep. How easily can God weaken the strongest, befool the wisest, and baffle the most watchful! David still resolved to wait till God thought fit to avenge him on Saul. He will by no means force his way to the promised crown by any wrong methods. The temptation was very strong; but if he yielded, he would sin against God, therefore he resisted the temptation, and trusted God with the event....

Verse 1 Samuel 26:12. _DAVID TOOK THE SPEAR AND THE CRUSE_] The _spear_, we have already seen, was the emblem of _power_ and _regal_ dignity. But it is usual, in Arab camps, for every man to have his lance stuck in the ground beside him, that he may be ready for action in a moment. The cruse of water resembled, in some measure, the _canteens_ of our soldiers. In such a climate, where water was always scarce, it was necessary for each man to carry a little with him, to refresh him on his march. _A DEEP SLEEP FROM THE LORD_] It is the same word which is used, Genesis 2:21, to describe the _sleep_ which God caused to fall upon Adam, when he formed Eve out of his side....

DAVID A SECOND TIME SPARES SAUL'S LIFE (1 Samuel 26:1.). EXPOSITION SAUL, ON INFORMATION FROM THE ZIPHITES, AGAIN SEEKS TO DESTROY DAVID (1 Samuel 26:1). 1 SAMUEL 26:1 THE ZIPHITES CAME UNTO SAUL. There are so many points of similarity between this narrative and that contained in 1

SO DAVID TOOK THE SPEAR, AND THE CRUSE OF WATER, FROM SAUL'S BOLSTER,.... Abishai either refusing to take them, since he might not take away his life; or it may be rather David thought better of it, and took them himself, lest Abishai should be tempted, when so near to Saul, and his spear in his hand, and should thrust him with it; though David may be said to take them by the hands of Abishai: AND THEY GAT THEM AWAY; with the above things along with them: AND NO MAN SAW [IT], NOR KNEW [IT]; saw them in the camp, or knew what they did: NEITHER AWAKED; at their talking together, at the motion of their feet, and taking away the spear and cruse: FOR THEY [WERE] ALL ASLEEP; which was very extraordinary, that among three thousand men none should be awake, not even the sentinels; which might seem impossible in a natural way, but it is accounted for by what follows: because a deep sleep fr

CHAPTER 26 _ 1. The Ziphites and Saul's pursuit (1 Samuel 26:1)_ 2. David again spares Saul (1 Samuel 26:5) 3. David's words to Abner (1 Samuel 26:13) 4. David's words to Saul (1 Samuel 26:17) 5. Saul's confession and David's reply (1 Samuel 26:21) Hachilah, where we find David now, was six miles east of Ziph and about halfway to En-gedi. The Ziphites once more reveal his hiding place to Saul. And Saul was rushing forward to his doom when with his three thousand chosen men he took up the

1 SAMUEL 26. DAVID SPARES SAUL IN THE WILDERNESS OF ZIPH (J). From one of the oldest sources (_cf._ on ch. 24). 1 SAMUEL 26:1 TO 1 SAMUEL 12:1 f. repeats briefly the substance and part of the wording of 1 Samuel 23:19: David is in the wilderness of Ziph, and Saul pursues him. But instead of the sequel given in 1 Samuel 23, we have another version of the story in 1 Samuel 24 of David's generous treatment of Saul. David learns that Saul is again pursuing him and is in his immediate neighbourhood: of a certainty is clearly wrong, and RVm, to a set place, is not much more likely. There may be a scribal error, and the name of a place may have stood here originally. David went to see for hims

NO MAN. no one....

Saul's life again in David's power 5. _in the trench_ See on 1 Samuel 17:20. The Sept. rendering "in a chariot" is a mistake....

SO DAVID AND ABISHAI CAME TO THE PEOPLE, &C.— This was a bold and hazardous undertaking, which would have been certain death to David had he been discovered. But David was bold and intrepid; and his and Abishai's gallantry in this affair deserves certainly to be no less celebrated than that of Ulysses and Diomed, when they went as spies to the Trojan camp. But there is more in David to be commended than his gallantry. Who can help admiring his magnanimity and piety? What man, but David, with a crown so near in view, would have resisted the fair and inviting temptation? David rejects it with abhorrence, from the principles of religion and duty. Glorious moderation and fortitude of mind! Was ever resolution more generous and loyal? One stroke would have fixed his enemy dead on the spot, put an end to his fears, and mounted him on a throne: and yet, he starts back at the proposal of it: the...