841 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there was war again,.... Between Israel and the Philistines; it does not appear that either of them sent out their whole force, only some parties or detachments, between which there were skirmishes: and David went out and fought with the Philistines; he went out with his thousand men, over which he was made captain, 1 Samuel 18:13; for he had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul,.... His melancholy and frantic disorder returned upon those victories of David, and he grew envious, jealous, spiteful, and malicious: as he sat in his house with his javelin his hand; which either describes the posture he was in when the evil spirit came upon him; or the effects of it, he became...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with his javelin,.... To strike it through him, and fasten him to the wall with it, as he had attempted before, 1 Samuel 18:11; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence: he perceived his design, and being of great agility of body, moved out of his place before him very nimbly: and he smote the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul sent messengers unto David's house,.... Supposing that he was gone thither; where this was is not said, very likely in Gibeah, where Saul lived: to watch him; that he might not get out from thence in the night: and to slay him in the morning; the reason why he did not order them to break into the house, and slay him at once, but wait till...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Michal let David down through a window,.... In like manner as Rahab let down the spies from her house in Jericho, when the king's messengers were in quest of them, Joshua 2:15; and as the disciples let down the Apostle Paul at Damascus, to preserve him from the designs of the Jews upon him: and he went, and fled, and escaped; he departed from...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Michal took an image,.... Or "teraphim", as the word is; which, if the same with those that Rachel stole from her father, they seem to be of the same sort with the penates or household gods of the Heathens, which were privately kept by Michal; for, had David known of them, he would not have suffered them to have been in his house. Aben Ezra...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Saul sent messengers to take David,.... Either the same who in the morning inquired for David, or those staying longer than Saul expected, and fearing they were negligent or corrupted, he sent others: to whom she said, he [is] sick; and in bed, and cannot be spoke with; this lie she told through her affection to David, and to preserve his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul sent the messengers [again] to see David,.... Not to visit him, or to see how he was, or inquire of his health, in a kind manner, but to see his person, whether he was sick or not, and whether he was there or not; for Saul might suspect some deceit was used, because the messengers took the report of Michal, and saw not David, nor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the messengers were come in,.... To David's house, and into the room where he was supposed to lie: behold, [there was] an image in the bed to their great surprise; they expected to see David, but instead of him the teraphim, as in 1 Samuel 19:13; if they had been in the room before, and thought they had seen David in the bed, they might...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul said unto Michal,.... After the messengers returned and reported what they had seen, when Saul either came to her at her house, or sent for her to his palace: why hast thou deceived me so; for deceiving his messengers was deceiving him, by pretending David was sick and in bed, when she had placed an image there, and had let him down...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So David fled and escaped,.... Fled from his own house, and escaped falling into the hands of the messengers of Saul, and so of Saul himself: and came to Samuel to Ramah; the place where Samuel dwelt: to him David chose to come, by whom he had been anointed king, that his faith might be strengthened by him with respect to the kingdom, which might...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was told Saul,.... By some officious persons who saw David at Ramah, and observed that he and Samuel went together to Naioth: saying, behold, David [is] at Naioth, in Ramah; or near it; according to R. Isaiah, Ramah was the name of a hill, or mountain, so called from its height, and Naioth the name of a place on it; it signifies pastures...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Saul sent messengers to take David,.... Notwithstanding the sacred place he was in, so bent was he upon his destruction: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying; or praising, as the Targum; singing hymns and songs of praise to God, under the inspiration and influence of the Spirit of God, who endited these songs for them, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when it was told Saul,.... That the messengers he had sent, instead of seizing on David, were prophesying of him, or however were attending to services of a different nature than what they were sent upon: he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise; when they came to the same place: and Saul sent messengers again a third time, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then went he also to Ramah,.... That is, Saul; his messengers not returning to him, when he sent one after another to take David, at length he set out himself from Gibeah to Ramah: and came to a great well that [is] in Sechu; which was either the name of a man, the owner of the well, or a place near to which the well was, and is commonly thought...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah,.... He went on from the well towards the place: and the Spirit of God was upon him also; as well as upon his messengers; even the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum: and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah: in this he differed from his messengers; they did not prophesy till they came to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he stripped off his clothes also,.... Not all his clothes, but his upper garments, as men in such circumstances used to do, as the prophets sometimes did, and as it seems his messengers had done; according to Jarchi, R. Isaiah, and others (n), he stripped himself of his royal robes, and put on the habit of the scholars, the disciples, and sons...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 20 David fleeing from Naioth came to Jonathan, and acquainted him with his circumstances, and entreated his favour, 1 Samuel 20:1; which Jonathan promised, and renewed the covenant with him, 1 Samuel 20:9; a scheme was formed between them, by which David might know whether Saul was reconciled to him, and he might come...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah,.... While Saul was prophesying, or lay in a trance there: and came; to Gibeah, where Saul dwelt, and had his palace, and kept his court: and said before Jonathan; whom he found there, and for whose sake he thither fled to have his advice, and to use his interest with his father, and be his friend at court: what...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto him, God forbid, thou shalt not die,.... He could not believe his father had any such intention; and that if he discovered anything of that kind, it was only when he was in a frenzy, and a melancholy disorder had seized him; and that David had nothing to fear on that head, and that he would secure him from all danger in that...