1 Samuel 18:13

18:12-30 For a long time David was kept in continual apprehension of falling by the hand of Saul, yet he persevered in meek and respectful behaviour towards his persecutor. How uncommon is such prudence and discretion, especially under insults and provocations! Let us inquire if we imitate this part of the exemplary character before us. Are we behaving wisely in all our ways? Is there no sinful omission, no rashness of spirit, nothing wrong in our conduct? Opposition and perverseness in others, will not excuse wrong tempers in us, but should increase our care, and attention to the duties of our station. Consider Him that endured contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary and faint in your minds, Heb 12:3. If David magnified the honour of being son-in-law to king Saul, how should we magnify the honour of being sons to the King of kings!

Therefore Saul removed him from him,.... From court, partly that he might be out of his sight, having such an hatred of his person that he could not bear to see him, and partly that he might be safer from any designs of his upon his life, which he might fear, because of his treatment of him: and made him his captain over a thousand; not out of respect to him, and in honour of him, but partly to cover his malice, and please the people, and partly in hope that he might be slain by the enemy at the head of his troop: and he went out and came in before the people; or at the head of them, as the Targum; he led them out to war, and returned with them in safety, with victory and in triumph, with great honour, and highly respected by them; quite contrary to the intention and hope of Saul.

He prophesied - This, as the effect of the evil spirit coming upon him, is singular as regards Saul, but is borne out by what we read in 1 Kings 22:22 . (Compare Acts 16:16-18 ; Acts 19:15 ; 1 John 4:1-3 ). It is impossible to give the sense of "raving" to the word "prophesied," as though a merely natural state of frenzy were intended. The "prophesying" here was as directly the effect of the coming of the evil spirit upon Saul, as the "prophesying" in 1 Samuel 10:10 was the effect of the Spirit of God coming upon him. At the same time it is quite true that "madness" and "prophesyings" were considered as near akin (see Jeremiah 29:26 ; 2 Kings 9:11 ).

From him; from his presence and court; which he did, partly, because he feared lest David should watch and find an opportunity to kill him, as he had designed to kill David; partly, because he was a great eyesore, and his presence now made him more sad than ever his music had made him cheerful; and principally, that hereby he might expose him to the greatest hazards, and in some sort betray him into the hands of the Philistines. He went out and came in; he led his soldiers forth to battle, and brought them back again with safety. Compare 2 Samuel 5:2 . Or else the phrase of coming in and going out may be understood (as elsewhere) for conversing; or (as we use to say) going to and fro about business, as 1 Samuel 29:6 .

1Sa 18:13-16. Fears Him for His Good Success. 13. Therefore Saul removed him from him—sent him away from the court, where the principal persons, including his own son, were spellbound with admiration of the young and pious warrior. made him captain over a thousand—gave him a military commission, which was intended to be an honorable exile. But this post of duty served only to draw out before the public the extraordinary and varied qualities of his character, and to give him a stronger hold of the people's affections.

"And Saul was afraid of David, because the Spirit of Jehovah was with him, and had departed from Saul;" he "removed him therefore from him," i.e., from his immediate presence, by appointing him chief captain over thousand. In this fear of David on the part of Saul, the true reason for his hostile behaviour is pointed out with deep psychological truth. The fear arose from the consciousness that the Lord had departed from him, - a consciousness which forced itself involuntarily upon him, and drove him to make the attempt, in a fit of madness, to put David to death. The fact that David did not leave Saul immediately after this attempt upon his life, may be explained not merely on the supposition that he looked upon this attack as being simply an outburst of momentary madness, which would pass away, but still more from his firm believing confidence, which kept him from forsaking the post in which the Lord had placed him without any act of his own, until he saw that Saul was plotting to take his life, not merely in these fits of insanity, but also at other times, in calm deliberation (vid., 1 Samuel 19:1 .).

Saul's jealousy towards David. (Note: The section 1 Samuel 18:6-14 is supposed by Thenius and others to have been taken by the compiler from a different source from the previous one, and not to have been written by the same author: (1) because the same thing is mentioned in 1 Samuel 18:13, 1 Samuel 18:14, as in 1 Samuel 18:5, though in a somewhat altered form, and 1 Samuel 18:10, 1 Samuel 18:11 occur again in 1 Samuel 19:9-10, with a few different words, and in a more appropriate connection; (2) because the contents of 1 Samuel 19:9, and the word ממּחרת in 1 Samuel 19:10, are most directly opposed to 1 Samuel 18:2 and 1 Samuel 18:5. On these grounds, no doubt, the lxx have not only omitted the beginning of 1 Samuel 18:6 from their version, but also 1 Samuel 18:9-11.

1 Samuel A SOUL’S TRAGEDY1 Samuel 18:5 - 1 Samuel 18:16 . 1 Samuel 18:5 anticipates 1 Samuel 18:13 - 1 Samuel 18:16 . It is the last verse of a section which interrupts the even flow of the story, and which is absent from the Septuagint. 1 Samuel 18:6 follows immediately on 1 Samuel 17:54 in that version. Taking that verse as our starting-point, we have three stages in Saul’s growing hatred and awe of the young champion, and of David’s growing influence and reputation. It is deeply tragic to watch the gradual darkening of the once bright light, side by side with the irresistible increase in brilliance of the new star. ‘He must increase, but I must decrease,’ became Saul’s bitter conviction; but instead of meekly accepting the necessity, his gloomy spirit struggled against it, like stormy waves against a breakwater, and, like them, was shivered into foam in the vain effort. I. The first stage was Saul’s jealousy of David’s fame as a warrior. The returning victorious army was met, in Oriental fashion, by a triumphal chorus of women, with their shrill songs, accompanied by the dissonant noises which do duty for music to Eastern ears.