Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 22:17
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also [is] with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
17. the footmen ] Lit. “the runners.” See on ch. 1Sa 8:11; and for their employment as executioners comp. 2Ki 10:25 (E. V. guard).
would not put forth their hand ] They shrank from executing a command at once so cold-blooded and sacrilegious.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. But the servants of the king would not] They dared to disobey the commands of the king in a case of such injustice, inhumanity, and irreligion.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Choosing rather to offend the king, by disobeying his wicked and bloody command, than to offend God, by shedding the blood of such innocent and sacred persons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17, 18. the footmen that stood abouthimhis bodyguard, or his runners (1Sa 8:11;2Sa 15:1; 1Ki 1:5;1Ki 14:28), who held an importantplace at court (2Ch 12:10).But they chose rather to disobey the king than to offend God byimbruing their hands in the blood of his ministering servants. Aforeigner alone (Ps 52:1-3)could be found willing to be the executioner of this bloody andsacrilegious sentence. Thus was the doom of the house of Elifulfilled [1Sa 2:30-36].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him,…. Or the “runners” f; the running footmen, that used to run before him when he went out from place to place, and were here waiting on him, ready to set out whenever he should give the orders to go elsewhere. The tradition of the Jews is, that these were Abner and Amasa g; but, as Kimchi observes, they were not footmen, but princes, captains in the army, and the first of them the general of it:
turn and slay the priests of the Lord; he owns them to be the priests of the Lord, and calls them so, and yet gave orders to put them to death, though innocent; one would have thought this their character would have flown in his face, and stung his conscience, and deterred him from so foul a fact:
because their hand also [is] with David; as well as Ahimelech; which did not at all appear, nor that they had so much as seen him at Nob, only Ahimelech; and still less that they had entered into a conspiracy with him:
and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me; which also was false; they knew nothing of the flight of David, and therefore could not discover it to the king:
but the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord; their consciences would not suffer them to do it; they refused to obey the king’s orders, and chose rather to expose themselves to his resentment, than to be guilty of such a crime. Saul’s footmen had more sense of honour, justice, and truth, than he himself had, and were worthy of praise; but they would have been deserving of more, if they could not have prevailed upon him by entreaties and remonstrances to have forborne such a bloody execution, instead of being the tame spectators of it, they had taken him, and bound him as a madman, and so facilitated the escape of the priests, and prevented this shocking scene of wickedness.
f “cursoribus”, Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. g Midrash Tillim apud Abarbinel. in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Saul Kills the Priests, vs. 17-23
Saul ordered his soldiers to fall out and kill the priests for treason against him and support of David. He even refers to them as “priests of the Lord,” thus showing his obstinate defiance of the Lord. But the men feared the Lord and not one would slay the priests. So Saul repeated his order to Doeg, his chief herdsman, who seems to have been only too glad to accomplish the bloody and cruel command.
It is probable that Doeg harbored some kind of resentment toward the priests, in that he had been detained by them on the morning that David had come to Nob and precipitated the act that called down Saul’s wrath on Ahimelech. Doeg, being an Edomite, was probably a pagan, but was compelled to obey the stringencies of the Mosaic law because he dwelt in Israel. How could one man single-handedly put to death eighty-five priests, then proceed to put the entire priest city to the sword? Perhaps it is not to be thought that he did it without the aid of his fellow-herdmen, over whom he was chief and had command.
All the people of Nob were murdered, even the aged, the women, the children, and babies. Only Abiathar escaped, the son of Ahimelech, who went down and joined David in Judah. This was fulfillment (though not quite complete) of the prophecy to Eli (1Sa 2:31 and context). David received Abiathar kindly, and admitted that he had occasioned the death of the priest by his duplicity at the meeting with Ahimelech. Too late he has learned that others are hurt by his own failure to be faithful to the Lord. He even realized when committing his false act that the evil Doeg would probably report it to Saul.
Psalms 52 is ascribed to David when he learned of Doeg’s slaughter of the priests. In it he condemns lying tongues. Most commentators believe that he is referring to Saul, or to those who have lied to him about David. Certainly Doeg is included in the condemnation. However, it also seems that David is issuing a kind of self-reprimand also, in that he has been guilty of a lying tongue. However, he confesses his own trust in the Lord and is made to flourish by the Lord.
Lessons from chapter 22: 1) Though the Lord promises protection for His children, He expects them to exercise prudence in relation to their enemies; 2) those who adamantly defy the Lord exalt themselves instead of Him and expect others to recognize their preeminence as well; 3) Satan’s forces seek revenge against the Lord by attacking His servants; 4) though it be long in coming the Lord’s Word will not fail to come to pass; 5) guilt once committed can hardly be undone.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Sauls Slaughter of the Priests. 1Sa. 22:17-23
17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord.
18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that wear a linen ephod.
19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.
21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the Lords priests.
22 And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy fathers house.
23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.
10.
What vengeance did Saul execute on Ahimelech? 1Sa. 22:17; 1Sa. 22:19
Upon being informed by Doeg concerning Davids flight to the priest at Nob, Saul summoned the priest and all his fathers house, the entire priesthood, to answer for what they had done. Ahimelech was not conscious of any crime, since David had come to him with a false pretext; and probably knowing little of what transpired at the court, he answered calmly and worthily. In his consciousness of innocence, he prayed that no guilt be laid to the charge of himself or the priests. That they were under suspicion is manifest from their being summoned before the king. To this protestation of ignorance and innocence, Saul replied only with a sentence of death on him and his whole clan. He commanded the runners, his body guard, to act as executioners; but they refused to carry out the command, owing to the sacred character of the accused. Doeg was less scrupulous, and at the kings command he turned about and slew the priests. When Abiathar told David of what had happened, David accused himself as an accessory, since his visit had precipitated the whole affair. Abiathar found refuge with David, and Davids exile continued.
11.
Who escaped from Sauls slaughter? 1Sa. 22:20; 1Sa. 22:23
Only one son of Ahimelech escaped, and his only refuge was with David. David assured the young priest that he would protect him as one of his own men. It was in this manner that David secured not only the services of Gad, the prophet, but also the services of Abiathar, the priest. One by one the leading citizens of Israel were coming over to Davids side.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) The footmen.Footmen, literally runners. These guards, or lictors, were men who ran by the royal chariot as an escort. They are still the usual attendants of any great man in the East. From long habit they were able to maintain a great speed for a long time. (See 1Sa. 8:11, where Samuel tells the children of Israel how the king of the future, whom they asked for, would take some of them to run before his chariot. See, too, for an example of the power of running in old times, 1Ki. 18:46, when Elijah outstripped the chariot of Ahab.)
But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand.And thus they were more faithful to Saul than if they had obeyed his order, which was against the commandment of the Lord, whose servant the king was no less than they.Wordsworth.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. The footmen Runners; halberdiers; members of the king’s body guard, who ran or walked before him to guard his way.
The servants of the king would not An act so sacrilegious they shuddered at the thought of doing. Perhaps they regarded the order as another freak of the king’s madness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and slay the priests of YHWH, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall on the priests of YHWH.’
This fact is then accentuated by what follows. For when Saul calls on his guard to slay the priests of Nob because Ahimelech had clearly favoured David against the king, and had not disclosed to him that David had fled, they refused to respond. They were very unwilling to ‘fall on the priests of YHWH’, especially on so flimsy a verdict. It is interesting that his own failure to react against them indicated that Saul too understood their qualms. It was because he was theoretically a Yahwist himself that he did so. He could therefore quite understand their reservations. But that being so it should have made him pull himself up and question what he was doing. Instead it simply made him look for someone less squeamish. he is revealed as clearly having no excuse for what he was doing.
So again the writer is bringing out the enormity of what Saul was doing. It could not fail to resound against him before the whole of Israel, and would for ever demonstrate to the discerning that he was rejected by YHWH. For he was not only behaving unjustly and contrary to the Law, but was also doing it towards those who were holy to YHWH. He was falsely judging and slaughtering people who were YHWH’s own. It was sacrilege of the worst kind. It was the action of a man beyond the pale.
“The guard.” Literally ‘the runners’, e.g. those who ran before him and attended him (compare 8:11, and see the use of the same word in 2Ki 10:25).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Sa 22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also [is] with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
Ver. 17. And the king said unto the footmen. ] Heb., The runners: who had run to fetch the priests from Nob to Saul, saith A. Lapide.
Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord.
Because their hand also is with David.
But the servants of the king would not.
a Il Mercurio Italico, p. 42.
b Camden’s Elisab.
c In Ps. cxxxiv.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
footmen = runners.
hand. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause) for the help given by it. App-6.
when he fled = that he was fleeing.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
footmen: or, guard, Heb. runners, 1Sa 8:11, 2Sa 15:1, 1Ki 1:5
slay the priests: 1Sa 22:13, 1Sa 20:33, 1Sa 25:17, 1Ki 18:4
would not: 1Sa 14:45, Exo 1:17, 2Ki 1:13, 2Ki 1:14, Act 4:19
Reciprocal: 1Sa 2:31 – I will cut 1Sa 19:17 – Why hast 2Sa 1:15 – Go near 2Sa 11:16 – he assigned 2Sa 13:28 – commanded 2Sa 21:1 – Saul 1Ki 14:27 – guard 1Ki 21:11 – did as Jezebel 2Ki 1:11 – O man Psa 44:22 – killed Psa 55:20 – put Pro 28:15 – so Heb 11:37 – were slain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also [is] with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king {k} would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
(k) For they knew that they should not obey the wicked commandment of the king in slaying the innocent.