Chapter Overview
Summary
1 Samuel 24 is the cave-of-En-gedi incident: Saul relieves himself in the cave where David and his men are hiding; David cuts the corner of Saul's robe but refuses to kill him, calling him 'the LORD's anointed' (v. 6). David's respect for divine-anointing despite personal enmity becomes the paradigm of Christian non-retaliation against authority. Saul's tearful reconciliation (vv. 16–22) acknowledges David's righteousness and anticipates David's kingship.
Notable Variants
MT-vs-English versification offset — this chapter is English 24 but MT 24:1 = En-gedi setting (TCR follows MT 24:1); 'the LORD's anointed' (christos kyriou) at 24:6 is the sacred-person category that Paul carries into 'touch not the LORD's anointed' tradition; the cut-robe-corner as prophetic sign of the 'torn kingdom' (echoing 15:27–28).
Structural Notes
LXX 1 Samuel 24 has 23 verses matching MT versification.
David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En-gedi.
David at En-gedi strongholds tracks MT (this verse re-introduces 23:29's movement).
When Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the wilderness of En-gedi."
Report to Saul tracks MT.
Saul took three thousand men, chosen from all Israel, and went to search for David and his men along the rock faces where the wild goats climb.
Three thousand men and wild-goat rocks track MT. The rock faces (literally 'rocks of the wild goats') emphasize remote, rugged terrain.
He came to the sheep pens along the road, where there was a cave. Saul went inside to relieve himself, while David and his men were sitting deep in the recesses of the cave.
Saul at the sheep-pens cave tracks MT. The Hebrew euphemism 'covering his feet' (literally what MT says) is rendered TCR's 'relieve himself.' The LXX's tracks similarly euphemistically. The narrative-vulnerability of a king in this position is striking.
David's men said to him, "This is the day the LORD told you about: 'I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you may do to him whatever seems good to you.'" David got up and secretly cut off the corner of Saul's robe.
David's men's 'this is the day' interpretation tracks MT.
Afterward, David's heart struck him over the fact that he had cut Saul's corner.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְהוּא מְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה
for he is the LORD's anointed
Septuagint (LXX)
ὅτι χριστὸς κυρίου ἐστὶν οὗτος
for he is the anointed of the Lord
THE LORD'S ANOINTED. Christos kyriou is the exact Greek phrase that LXX Psalm 2:2 uses ('the kings of the earth set themselves … against the LORD and against his anointed'), which Acts 4:26 quotes of Christ.
David's refusal to strike 'the LORD's anointed' — even his personal enemy — is the Hebrew Bible's paradigm text for respecting divinely-instituted authority. Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–17's political-submission theology build on this Davidic principle.
The NT Christologically intensifies: Christ is THE christos kyriou, and disciples who share in his anointing (chrisma, 1 John 2:20, 27) share in the category that this LXX phrase names.
He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord — to the LORD's anointed — to stretch out my hand against him, for he is the LORD's anointed."
David's refusal tracks MT. 'Stretch out my hand' (ekteinai tēn cheira mou) — the biblical idiom for harmful action — is what David specifically refuses. 2 Samuel 1:14 (David's later execution of the Amalekite who claimed to kill Saul) reinforces the principle.
David tore into his men with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
David's rebuke of his men tracks MT. The verbal-tearing-into (LXX diezōtheō tous andras autou en logois) emphasizes David's active restraint of his men's eager-for-kill-the-king enthusiasm.
Then David got up, went out of the cave, and called after Saul, "My lord the king!" Saul looked behind him, and David knelt with his face to the ground and bowed low.
David's follow-up call tracks MT. 'Knelt with his face to the ground' — David's posture of deep respect toward the king who hunts him — is extraordinarily politically-risky but theologically-consistent.
David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of people who say, 'David is seeking to harm you'?
David's defense against slanderers tracks MT.
This very day your own eyes have seen that the LORD gave you into my hand in the cave. Someone urged me to kill you, but I had compassion on you and said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD's anointed.'
'The LORD gave you into my hand … but I had compassion on you' tracks MT.
Look, my father — yes, look! The corner of your robe is in my hand. When I cut the corner of your robe and did not kill you, know and see that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I have not sinned against you, yet you are hunting me to take my life.
The robe-corner-evidence tracks MT. The physical evidence — the piece of Saul's own robe in David's hand — proves David's capability and his restraint. The 'corner of the robe' is theologically loaded: the kanaph (corner/wing) was the tzitzit-tassel location (Num 15:38, Matt 9:20).
May the LORD judge between me and you. May the LORD take vengeance for me against you — but my hand will not touch you.
'May the LORD judge between me and you' tracks MT.
As the ancient proverb says, 'From the wicked comes wickedness' — but my hand will not touch you.
'From the wicked comes wickedness' proverb tracks MT. The ancient-proverb-citing pattern becomes Matthew 15:18–19's 'out of the heart come evil thoughts.'
After whom has the king of Israel marched out? Whom are you chasing? A dead dog! A single flea!
'A dead dog! A single flea!' tracks MT. David's self-deprecation — 'dead dog' and 'flea' — is the biblical idiom for contemptible insignificance. 2 Samuel 9:8 (Mephibosheth) uses the same 'dead dog' self-description.
May the LORD be the judge and render judgment between me and you. May he see and take up my case and deliver me from your hand."
David's case to the LORD for judgment tracks MT.
When David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, "Is that your voice, my son David?" Then Saul lifted his voice and wept.
Saul's emotional response tracks MT. 'Is that your voice, my son David?' — the recognition of David-as-son that contrasts with Saul's earlier attempts on his life.
He said to David, "You are more righteous than I am, for you have repaid me with good while I have repaid you with evil.
Saul's confession — 'you are more righteous than I' — tracks MT. The moral-asymmetry: David paid good for evil; Saul paid evil for good.
You have shown today how you dealt well with me: the LORD handed me over to you, and you did not kill me.
'You dealt well with me' tracks MT. Romans 12:20–21 ('if your enemy is hungry, feed him … do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good') articulates the principle David here practiced.
When a man finds his enemy, does he send him on his way unharmed? May the LORD repay you with good for what you have done for me today.
'May the LORD repay you with good for what you have done' tracks MT — the blessing for David's kindness.
Now I know that you will certainly be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
Saul's recognition — 'you will certainly be king' — tracks MT. The public acknowledgment echoes Jonathan's private acknowledgment at 23:17.
Now swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants after me and that you will not wipe out my name from my father's house."
Oath not to cut off descendants tracks MT. Saul requests the same kindness that Jonathan secured (20:14–16). David's later kindness to Mephibosheth (2 Sam 9) fulfills this oath too.
David swore to Saul. Saul went to his home, and David and his men went up to the stronghold.
David's oath and the separation tracks MT. The chapter closes with Saul going home and David returning to his stronghold — no lasting reconciliation, but a moment of moral clarity.