Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 19:11
Saul also 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 tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain.
11. in the morning ] As he left his house. Cp. Jdg 16:2. “We may guess that only the fear of alarming the town, and of rousing the people to rescue their favourite hero, prevented him from directing them to break into the house, and to slay David there.” Kitto’s Bibl. Illustr.
Psalms 59 is referred by its title to the present occasion. If this is correct, the Psalm supplements the history, shewing that David was in danger not from Saul only, but from ruffians among Saul’s followers who prowled about the streets of Gibeah threatening his life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Sauls plan was to surround the house at night, and to have David killed as soon as he came abroad unsuspectingly in the morning.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. To slay him in the morning] When they might be able to distinguish between him and Michal his wife; for, had they attempted his life in the night season, there would have been some danger to Michal’s life. Besides, Saul wished to represent him as a traitor; and consequently an attack upon him was justifiable at any time, even in the fullest daylight.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To slay him in the morning: why not in the night?
Answ. Partly, because it would have been barbarous, and most dishonourable to Saul, to break into Davids house by night, and kill him in his own house and bed; and it seemed more expedient to kill him as he came out of his house in the morning; partly, because the night might give David some opportunity of escaping, which the day-light would prevent; and principally, by Gods singular providence, infatuating Sauls mind to take the worst course, that David might be delivered from him. Tomorrow thou shalt be slain; which she might learn, either by information from Jonathan, or some other courtier that was privy to rite design; or from her own observation of some suspicious or dangerous persons hovering about the house.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11, 12. Saul sent messengers untoDavid’s house, to watch him, and to slay himThe fear ofcausing a commotion in the town, or favoring his escape in thedarkness, seemed to have influenced the king in ordering them topatrol till the morning. This infatuation was overruled by Providenceto favor David’s escape; for his wife, secretly apprised by Jonathan,who was aware of the design, or by spying persons in court liverywatching the gate, let him down through a window (see on Jos2:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 morning, seems to be, lest should he be alarmed by their breaking in, he might take the advantage of the night, and easily escape, or another person through mistake might be slain for him; and therefore, that they might be sure of him, they were to watch till it was broad daylight, when they could not well miss him. Josephus d says, the orders to watch him until morning were, that he might be taken and brought to a court of judicature, and be condemned and put to death, which was usually held in a morning; but Saul’s orders to the messengers were to put him to death themselves, and he had no notion of dealing with him according to a formal process of judgment:
and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, if thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain; meaning, if he did not take the benefit and advantage of the night to make his escape, he would not be able to do it in the morning; the house being so beset, as she perceived, by persons whom she might suspect were sent by Saul to destroy him, knowing the ill will her father bore to him, or a messenger at the same time might be dispatched to her, either from her brother Jonathan, or from one of her friends at court, acquainting her with the design against David, and the danger he was in. Upon this occasion David penned the fifty ninth psalm, see Ps 59:1.
d Antiqu. l. 6. c. 11. sect. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ Saul sent messengers to David’s house,” to which David had first fled, “ to watch him (that he might not get away again), and to put him to death in the (next) morning.” Michal made him acquainted with this danger, and then let him down through the window, so that he escaped. The danger in which David was at that time is described by him in Ps 59, from which we may see how Saul was surrounded by a number of cowardly courtiers, who stirred up his hatred against David, and were busily engaged in getting the dreaded rival out of the way.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11 Saul also 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 shalt be slain. 12 So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. 13 And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. 14 And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. 15 And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. 16 And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. 17 And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?
Here is, I. Saul’s further design of mischief to David. When David had escaped the javelin, supposing he went straight to his own house, as indeed he did, Saul sent some of his guards after him to lay wait at the door of his house, and to assassinate him in the morning as soon as he stirred out, v. 11. Josephus says the design was to seize him and to hurry him before a court of justice that was ordered to condemn him and put him to death as a traitor; but we are here told it was a shorter way they were to take with him: they were ordered to slay him. Well might David complain that his enemies were bloody men, as he did in the psalm which he penned at this time, and upon this occasion (Ps. lix.), when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. See 1Sa 19:2; 1Sa 19:3; 1Sa 19:7. He complains that swords were in their lips.
II. David’s wonderful deliverance out of this danger. Michal was the instrument of it, whom Saul gave him to be a snare to him, but she proved to be his protector and helper. Often is the devil out-shot with his own bow. How Michal came to know the danger her husband was in does not appear; perhaps she had notice sent her from court, or rather was herself aware of the soldiers about the house, when they were going to bed, though they kept so still and silent that they said, Who dost hear? which David takes notice of, Ps. lix. 7. She, knowing her father’s great indignation at David, soon suspected the design, and bestirred herself for her husband’s safety. 1. She got David out of the danger. She told him how imminent the peril was (v. 11): To-morrow thou wilt be slain. As Josephus paraphrases it, she told him that if the sun saw him there next morning it would never see him more; and then put him in a way of escape. David himself was better versed in the art of fighting than of flying, and had it been lawful it would have been easy for him to have cleared his house, by dint of sword, from those that haunted it; but Michal let him down through a window (v. 12), all the doors being guarded; and so he fled and escaped. And now it was that, either in his own closet before he went or in the hiding-place to which he fled, he penned that fifty-ninth Psalm, which shows that, in his fright and hurry, his mind was composed, and, in this great danger, his faith was strong and fixed on God; and, whereas the plot was to slay him in the morning, he speaks there with the greatest assurance (v. 16), I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning. 2. She practised a deception upon Saul and those whom he employed to be the instruments of his cruelty. When the doors of the house were opened in the morning, and David did not appear, the messengers would search the house for him, and did so. But Michal told them he was sick in bed (v. 14), and, if they would not believe her, they might see, for (v. 13) she had put a wooden image in the bed, and wrapped it up close and warm as if it had been David asleep, not in a condition to be spoken to; the goats’ hair about the image was to resemble David’s hair, the better to impose upon them. Michal can by no means be justified in telling a lie, and covering it thus with a cheat. God’s truth needed not her lie. But she intended hereby to keep Saul in suspense for a while, that David might have some time to secure himself, not doubting but those messengers would pursue him if they found he had gone. The messengers had so much humanity as not to offer him any disturbance when they heard he was sick; for to those that are in this misery pity should be shown; but Saul, when he heard it, gave positive orders that he should be brought to him sick or well: Bring him to me in the bed, that I may slay him, v. 15. It was base and barbarous thus to triumph over a sick man; and to vow the death of one who for aught that he knew was dying by the hand of nature. So earnestly did he thirst after his blood, and so greedy was his revenge, that he could not be pleased to see him dead, unless he himself was the death of him; though awhile ago he had said, Let not my hand be upon him. Thus when men lay the reins on the neck of their passions they grow more and more outrageous. When the messengers were sent again, the cheat was discovered, v. 16. But by this time it was to be hoped that David was safe, and therefore Michal was not then much concerned at the discovery. Saul chid her for helping David to escape (v. 17): Why hast thou deceived me so? What a base spirit was Saul of, to expect that, because Michal was his daughter, she must therefore betray her own husband to him unjustly. Ought she not to forsake and forget her father and her father’s house, to cleave to her husband? Those that themselves will be held by no bonds of reason or religion are ready to think that others should as easily break those bonds. In answer to Saul’s chiding, Michal is not so careful of her husband’s reputation as she had been of his person, when she makes this her excuse: He said, Let me go, why should I kill thee? As her insinuating that she would have hindered his flight was false (it was she that put him upon it and furthered it), so it was an unjust unworthy reflection upon him to suggest that he threatened to kill her if she would not let him go, and might confirm Saul in his rage against him. David was far from being so barbarous a man and so imperious a husband, so brutish in his resolves and so haughty in his menaces, as she here represented him. But David suffered both from friends and foes, and so did the son of David.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
11. Sent messengers unto David’s house Whither he had fled immediately after his escape from the king’s presence. See David’s psalm on this occasion. Psalms 59.
To slay him in the morning When he came forth, unsuspicious of assault and unprepared to defend himself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Saul Seeks To Have David Arrested With A View To Execution ( 1Sa 19:11-17 ).
This incident may well have occurred some time after the previous one. Saul has now determined that David must be got rid of. But the only problem that Saul had was that it had to be done legally. Thus his intention was presumably to bring him before a special court selected from David’s ill-wishers in order to pass sentence on him for treason in that by encouraging the people to exalt him above Saul he was fermenting revolt.
1Sa 19:11
‘ And Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning, and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ’
Still gripped by his mania Saul continued to want David’s blood, and he sent messenger’s down to David’s house to keep watch for him and to slay him when he arose and came out next day. In view of David’s popularity he was hardly acting rationally. But that no longer concerned him. And meanwhile Michal, who was very familiar with her father’s behaviour patterns, and no doubt noticed the watchers, warned David that he should escape while he could, or else he would find himself a dead man.
No doubt as a Commander of Israel David’s house was well guarded, which probably explains Saul’s circumspection, but of course the guards would not be able to refuse entry to Saul’s messengers during the day time. Or alternatively the plan may have been to catch a hopefully unsuspecting David alone when he left his house in the morning.
1Sa 19:12
‘ So Michal let David down through the window, and he went, and fled, and escaped.’
The watchers would not be expecting an attempt to escape by the back windows, (they would not think that David suspected anything), and thus Michal was able to let David down from a window so that he could flee and escape.
1Sa 19:13
‘ And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head, and covered it with the clothes.’
Then Michal took a teraphim, and laid it in the bed. A teraphim was a religious household image favoured by women and possibly associated with fertility or good luck. Note how Rachel took her father’s teraphim when she was pregnant (Gen 31:19). This one was presumably Michal’s and kept in her own private apartment. Compare Jdg 17:5; Jdg 18:14 ff which demonstrate their use in Israel, probably by associating them with Yahwism. David may well not have known that she had it. It may not have been life size but needed to be sufficiently large to make an obvious lump under the bed covers. Additionally she used a pillow of goat’s hair to give the impression of a head. (Alternately the teraphim could have been propped against the bed as a kind of ‘protection’ against illness, while the pillow caused the lump in the bed)
1Sa 19:14
‘ And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” ’
Thus when Saul’s messengers came to the house the next morning to arrest David she was able to say that David was ill and even possibly let them see the figure lying in the bed under the bed clothes. Her aim was to give David as much time as possible to make his escape.
1Sa 19:15
‘ And Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.” ’
When the messengers reported back to Saul he immediately demanded that they go back and arrest David, and bring him as he was in his bed, so that he could be tried for treason and be put to death. Even Saul could not simply have David assassinated by his courtiers. His aim was presumably to allow David a summary trial and then have him executed for treason (otherwise why not have him killed in his bed).
1Sa 19:16
‘ And when the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.’
So the messengers arrived back at David’s house and demanded access to his bedroom. And once there they discovered the subterfuge perpetrated by Michal, and reported it back to Saul.
1Sa 19:17
‘ And Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me in this way, and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, Let me go. Why should I kill you?” ’
Saul then summoned his daughter and asked her why she had deceived him with the effigy in the bed and had let his enemy escape. He no doubt felt that she owed first loyalty to him as her father and king. Michal simply replied that she had had to do what she did otherwise David might have killed her. This would actually tie in with Saul’s own obsessive view of David and he appears to have accepted that it was true.
That Michal lied at least twice is clear, and although the Scripture does not actually specifically approve of it, it does raise the question as to when, if ever, such a lie is justified. Similar examples can be found with Rahab at Jericho (Jos 2:4 ff), Jael with Sisera (Jdg 4:18) and the woman at Bahurim (2Sa 17:20). It is too large a question to be dealt with fully here. However, while Scripture undoubtedly does require us to be truthful (Lev 19:11; Mat 5:37) there must certainly be cases where to tell the truth would be an even greater sin than the alternative, for example in such cases as these where lives were at stake. I must confess that if I was hiding someone I loved from a criminal gang, and could save his life by denying his presence, I would not hesitate. Nor would I feel guilty afterwards. (I would feel far more guilty if he died because I had given him away). T1sa about the whereabouts of others can only be expected when the questioner does not have murderous intentions. However, the question is so complicated that we must leave a full discussion of it to elsewhere.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Sa 19:11. To slay him in the morning Calmet supposes that there was some superstition which prevented executions by night. He observes, that the Philistines acted the same with regard to Samson; Jdg 16:2. The Mahometans also, to this very day, never do any thing of the kind at night.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(11) Saul also 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, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. (12) So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. (13) And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. (14) And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. (15) And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. (16) And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. (17) And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?
These several narrow escapes of David are soon related, and we rest satisfied in the account, seeing he is safe. But they were very trying moments with him, as appears by his writings. The 59th Psalm (Psa 59 ), we are told by the title of it, was written by David, upon this very occasion. And if the Reader would wish to enter deeper into the view of what David’s feelings were upon this occasion, he will there behold, in the fervent breathings of his soul, his fears, and how the Lord strengthened him with faith. But while we look at David, let us not overlook David’s Lord. Few of the holy men of old were more lively types of Jesus, in his unequalled persecutions, than David. And therefore, we should never read of the one in his seasons of trial, without having our minds directed to the other. Many of the most earnest expressions we meet with in David’s Psalms, certainly had no reference to his own personal sufferings, for they could not be applied to him. And in many others, they are abundantly heightened and made interesting in their application to Jesus. See particularly Psa 16 and Psa 22 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 19:11 Saul also 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 shalt be slain.
Ver. 11. To watch him, and to slay him in the morning. ] When he thought they might do it with less noise and less resistance than in the night. Josephus saith a that Saul had appointed judges to sit upon him that morning, and to condemn him for a traitor: as our Richard III dealt by the Lord Hastings, whom he hastily executed.
And Michal, David’s wife, told him.] She might haply hear of that murderous design by some friend: or she might see the assassins about the house by night. And although she had little religion in her, yet nature had taught her to prefer a husband to a father. Man and wife are as the two branches in the prophet Ezekiel’s hand, enclosed in one bark, and so closing together that they make but one piece: they should therefore mutually seek the preservation and good one of another. Mary, queen of Hungary, showed the like kindness to her husband Sigismund, who was afterwards chosen Emperor of Germany, A.D. 1411, but so did not Mary, queen of Scots.
a Lib. v. cap. 14.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
save not thy life = save not thy soul: i.e. deliver not thyself. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sent messengers: Psa 59:1, *title Psa 59:3, Psa 59:4, Psa 59:6, Psa 59:15, Psa 59:16
to watch him: Jdg 16:2
Reciprocal: Gen 19:17 – Escape 1Sa 18:21 – the hand 1Sa 19:6 – he shall not 1Sa 19:20 – sent messengers 1Sa 20:31 – send 1Sa 20:32 – what hath 2Sa 3:13 – Michal 2Sa 22:19 – prevented 1Ch 15:29 – Michal Psa 4:1 – thou Psa 11:1 – how Psa 36:4 – deviseth Psa 55:10 – Day Psa 71:10 – lay wait for Pro 16:29 – General Jer 5:26 – lay wait Hos 7:6 – they Mat 27:1 – the morning Act 9:25 – let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 19:11. To slay him in the morning As he went out of the door of his house. By this it is apparent, when Saul missed his blow, he was the more enraged, and implacably pursued Davids destruction. And Michal, Davids wife, told him She had intelligence either from her brother Jonathan, or some other friend at court: or, perhaps, she saw suspicious persons hovering about the house.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Michal’s attempt to protect David 19:11-17
God’s preservation of His anointed servant David stands out in this section, as it does in the first one in this chapter (1Sa 19:1-7). In both cases it was one of Saul’s own children who came to David’s rescue. Jonathan protected David at the beginning of this section (1Sa 18:1-5), and Michal did so at its end (1Sa 19:11-17). These acts of devotion bracket the chiasm noted above.
Saul reactivated his mission of putting David to death, this time by using his men (cf. 1Sa 19:1). As Jonathan had done (1Sa 19:2), Michal told David what Saul was planning (1Sa 19:11). Then she aided his escape, first by helping him flee from a window, and then by fashioning a dummy in his bed and concocting a story that he was sick. The household idol (Heb. teraphim) was usually a small image three or four inches high that many people carried on their persons or set up in their homes as good luck charms. Archaeologists have found many such images in Palestine. Evidently Michal intended the presence of this image beside (Heb. ’el) the bed to convince Saul’s servants that David was seriously ill. Some interpreters believe the teraphim image was quite large and was in the bed. [Note: See the note on 1Sa 19:16 in the NET Bible.]
"Michal’s ruse was probably effected by piling clothing, carpets, or the like on David’s bed and covering it with a garment, allowing only the goats’ hair at the head to show." [Note: Youngblood, p. 716.]
The account of Michal’s plan to provide David enough time to escape portrays her as a woman who had not committed herself completely to God. Was the household idol hers or David’s? The text does not say, but other references to Michal and David elsewhere lead me to conclude that it was hers. The possessor of the household idols was sometimes the heir of the family in the ancient Near East, so perhaps Michal kept this idol for inheritance purposes as well as for worship. Perhaps teraphim had some connection with childbearing (fertility; cf. Gen 31:19, where barren Rachel kept teraphim). [Note: On the disputed significance of possessing the family idols, see Stuart A. West, "The Nuzi Tablets," Bible and Spade 10:3-4 (Summer-Autumn 1981):70; Kenneth A. Kitchen, The Bible In Its World, p. 70; and Kenneth L. Barker, "The Antiquity and Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives," in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, p. 135.] It is noteworthy that Rachel and Michal both were the second daughters of their fathers, both deceived their fathers with teraphim, and both proved to be disappointments to their husbands.
Saul expected more loyalty from his daughter than he received. Jonathan had described David as Saul’s servant (1Sa 19:4), but Saul now called him his enemy (1Sa 19:17). Michal seems to have considered her lie justifiable (cf. 1Sa 19:11). Jonathan had not lied to Saul (1Sa 19:4-5). Both Jonathan and Michal’s words resulted in David’s safety temporarily, but Jonathan and Michal’s characters contrast in what they said to their father and king.
Saul’s daughter, as well as his son, was protecting David from death. God’s care for David resulted in the breaking of strong loyalties. In the ancient world, a daughter’s loyalty to her father normally remained strong even after marriage. God overcame what was natural to protect His anointed and faithful servant.