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1 Samuel 19

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Jonathan Intercedes for David 1–7

1
And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. ​
2
And Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to slay thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself in the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: ​
3
and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and if I see aught, I will tell thee.
4
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: ​
5
for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? ​
6
And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death. ​
7
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as beforetime.

Saul Attempts to Kill David Again 8–10

8
And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him. ​
9
And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand. ​
10
And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. ​

Michal Saves David's Life 11–17

11
And Saul sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain. ​
12
So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. ​
13
And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at the head thereof, and covered it with the clothes. ​
14
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
15
And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.
16
And when the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at the head thereof.
17
And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me thus, and let mine enemy go, so that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? ​

David Flees to Samuel; Saul Prophesies 18–24

18
Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. ​
19
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
20
And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ​
21
And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
22
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.
23
And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ​
24
And he also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 19

Verse 1

that they should kill David — Saul's earlier plans for David's death went through the Philistines (18:17, 21, 25). Here he speaks to his son and all his servants directly. The verb is muth in its causative form, 'to put to death', and it is addressed first to the son whose soul was knit with David's (18:1).

Verse 2

Jonathan… delighted much in David — Chaphets, to delight in, the verb Saul's servants were told to use of the king: 'the king hath delight in thee' (18:22). Saul's servants were sent to say it while his aim was a snare (18:21). Jonathan's warning gives the plan: 'abide in a secret place, and hide thyself.'

Verse 4

Let not the king sin against his servant — The verb chata', to sin, is used three times in vv.4–5: not against David, who 'hath not sinned against thee', and not 'against innocent blood'. Jonathan 'spake good' (tov) of him, and rests the plea on David's 'works', which 'have been to thee-ward very good'.

Verse 5

put his life in his hand — A phrase for facing death, used by Jephthah (Judg 12:3) and by the woman of Endor (1 Sam 28:21). The 'great salvation' (teshuah) is the word Saul himself used after Jabesh-gilead: 'the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel' (11:13). Jonathan then names the wrong: 'innocent blood… without a cause'.

Verse 6

As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain — Saul's oath, sworn by the LORD, is followed in v.7 by David's return to his presence 'as in times past'. Within three verses the evil spirit comes on Saul again, and he seeks to smite David with the javelin (vv.9–10).

Verse 8

there was war again — After Saul's oath (v.6) and David's return to his presence (v.7), the Philistine war resumes and David 'slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.' It is the same kind of success that had first stirred Saul in 18:7–9.

Verse 9

the evil spirit from the LORD — The wording returns to that of 16:14, 'an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him'; 18:10 had said 'from God'. The scene repeats 18:10–11: Saul sits with his javelin in his hand, and David plays 'with his hand', the harp that had eased Saul in 16:23.

Verse 10

slipped away — Patar, to burst out or slip away. Saul aims again 'even to the wall', as in 18:11, and the javelin is 'smote… into the wall'. David flees 'that night', and v.11 shows why the night mattered: Saul had men waiting at his house.

Verse 11

to watch him, and to slay him in the morning — Psalm 59 carries the occasion in its title: 'when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.' Michal, whom Saul had meant as a snare (18:21), is the one who warns David: 'If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.'

Verse 12

let David down through a window — The same means by which Rahab let the spies down 'by a cord through the window' (Josh 2:15). Paul was later let down from Damascus 'through a window in a basket' (2 Cor 11:33). David then goes to Samuel (v.18).

Verse 13

an image — Teraphim, a household figure: Rachel took her father's teraphim (Gen 31:19), and Micah kept them with his ephod (Judg 17:5). Besides this verse and v.16, the book uses the word only at 15:23, where Samuel puts 'idolatry' beside rebellion. Michal lays one in the bed.

Verse 17

sent away mine enemy — Saul now calls David 'mine enemy', as 18:29 said he had become. 'Sent away' and 'Let me go' are one verb (shalach), so Michal gives David's request in Saul's own word: 'Let me go; why should I kill thee?'

Verse 18

came to Samuel to Ramah — Ramah was Samuel's home, where 'he judged Israel' and 'built an altar unto the LORD' (7:17). David had been anointed by him (16:13), and Samuel had gone to Ramah afterward. David 'told him all that Saul had done to him', and they 'dwelt in Naioth', named here and in vv.19, 22–23 and 20:1.

Verse 20

the company of the prophets — Lahaqah, 'an assembly', a word the KJV carries only in this verse. Samuel is 'standing as appointed over them'. The Spirit of God comes on Saul's messengers, and the same happens to a second and third group sent after them (v.21). Saul himself goes next (vv.22–24).

Verse 23

the Spirit of God was upon him also — The wording is that of 10:10, where 'the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them'. The man in whom an evil spirit had spoken in his house (18:10) now prophesies under the Spirit of God on the way, before he even reaches Naioth.

Verse 24

Is Saul also among the prophets? — The saying first arose at 10:11–12, where 'it became a proverb'. Saul now 'stripped off' (pashat) his clothes, the verb used of Jonathan's gift of the robe in 18:4, and lay 'all that day and all that night'.