1 [a]After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
There are a lot of different interpretations concerning this, let me give you two. According to rabbinical teaching the lesson here is you don’t ever do what David did and at the end of his life when it said that David could not get any heat it was due to this. Before we comment know that this first teaching is to my mind in complete opposition to the second. The second teaching is that during that meeting when Samuel and Saul met concerning the Amalekite battle that Samuel told Saul that the person who cuts off his robe would replace him as king. I think this second teaching explains why Saul at the end of the chapters says that now he knows that David will be made king.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
There is some dispute about this as well. Some say that David was not conscience stricken about cutting the robe but only about the thoughts that they would harm Saul.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
If cutting off the robe was so terrible that God judged him for it and he was conscience stricken over it then it doesn’t make sense that he would hold it up as proof that he was not guilty of wrongdoing. However, if this was a prophesy of Samuel’s being fulfilled then surely he would.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
This is the right attitude, let the Lord judge.
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
This is a really interesting point to this story. We are all familiar with tit for tat, and the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. Apparently this is the way of the world. In all the surrounding tribes when one person became king he would wipe out the other person’s family. That explains why Saul would focus so much energy and attention on David, he truly was a very great threat to him and that was not paranoia. However, David took an altogether different path, a fork in the road, that until then was unknown. In that day all those kings claimed divine right to rule. However, only David said that God raised him up as king, it is up to God to remove him. That was certainly a very big part of this “secret mission” that David had been sent on. At this time there were two factions in Israel, those that supported Saul and those that supported David. Killing David was not going to unite the country, it wasn’t going to heal anything. But it was even more true that killing Saul wouldn’t unite the country or heal the country either. There has to be another way, and it was up to God.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said[b] to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
There are a lot of different interpretations concerning this, let me give you two. According to rabbinical teaching the lesson here is you don’t ever do what David did and at the end of his life when it said that David could not get any heat it was due to this. Before we comment know that this first teaching is to my mind in complete opposition to the second. The second teaching is that during that meeting when Samuel and Saul met concerning the Amalekite battle that Samuel told Saul that the person who cuts off his robe would replace him as king. I think this second teaching explains why Saul at the end of the chapters says that now he knows that David will be made king.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
There is some dispute about this as well. Some say that David was not conscience stricken about cutting the robe but only about the thoughts that they would harm Saul.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. See that there is nothing in my hand to indicate that I am guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ‘From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
If cutting off the robe was so terrible that God judged him for it and he was conscience stricken over it then it doesn’t make sense that he would hold it up as proof that he was not guilty of wrongdoing. However, if this was a prophesy of Samuel’s being fulfilled then surely he would.
14 “Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea? 15 May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”
This is the right attitude, let the Lord judge.
16 When David finished saying this, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. 17 “You are more righteous than I,” he said. “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. 18 You have just now told me about the good you did to me; the Lord delivered me into your hands, but you did not kill me. 19 When a man finds his enemy, does he let him get away unharmed? May the Lord reward you well for the way you treated me today. 20 I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. 21 Now swear to me by the Lord that you will not kill off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”
22 So David gave his oath to Saul. Then Saul returned home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
This is a really interesting point to this story. We are all familiar with tit for tat, and the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. Apparently this is the way of the world. In all the surrounding tribes when one person became king he would wipe out the other person’s family. That explains why Saul would focus so much energy and attention on David, he truly was a very great threat to him and that was not paranoia. However, David took an altogether different path, a fork in the road, that until then was unknown. In that day all those kings claimed divine right to rule. However, only David said that God raised him up as king, it is up to God to remove him. That was certainly a very big part of this “secret mission” that David had been sent on. At this time there were two factions in Israel, those that supported Saul and those that supported David. Killing David was not going to unite the country, it wasn’t going to heal anything. But it was even more true that killing Saul wouldn’t unite the country or heal the country either. There has to be another way, and it was up to God.