Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 24:20
And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
20. I know well, &c.] See note on 1Sa 28:9. And yet, knowing the Will of God, he resists it!
the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand ] A sad echo of Samuel’s words to himself, “But now thy kingdom shall not be established” (1Sa 13:14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 20. I know well that thou shalt surely be king] Hebrew, Reigning, thou shalt reign. He knew this before; and yet he continued to pursue him with the most deadly hatred.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I know well, or, am convinced, not only by the fame of Samuels anointing thee, but by Gods singular providence watching over thee, and by that good Spirit and those great and princely virtues wherewith God hath endowed thee.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king,…. Not merely by the common report, that he was anointed by Samuel, to which yet he might give credit; but by the providence of God prospering and preserving him, and by his princely spirit and behaviour, and by calling to mind what Samuel had said to him, that his kingdom should be given to a neighbour of his better than he, and so David was by his own confession, 1Sa 24:17; and the cutting off the skirt of his garment might put him in remembrance of the rending of the skirt of Samuel’s mantle, upon which he told Saul his kingdom should be rent from him; though some think that was Saul’s skirt, and so now he knew thereby, when David cut off his skirt, that the kingdom would be his; and it is a tradition of the Jews f, that Samuel said to him at that time, that he that cut off the skirt of his garment should reign after him:
and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand; and not be rent from him; and yet notwithstanding after this he sought to destroy him.
f Midrash Tillim apud Abarbinel. in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This wish was expressed in perfect sincerity. David’s behaviour towards him had conquered for the moment the evil demon of his heart, and completely altered his feelings. In this better state of mind he felt impelled even to give utterance to these words, “ I know that thou wilt be king, and the sovereignty will have perpetuity in thy hand.” Saul could not prevent this conviction from forcing itself upon him, after his own rejection and the failure of all that he attempted against David; and it was this which drove him to persecute David whenever the evil spirit had the upper hand in his soul. But now that better feelings had arisen in his mind, he uttered it without envy, and merely asked David to promise on oath that he would not cut off his descendants after his death, and seek to exterminate his name from his father’s house. A name is exterminated when the whole of the descendants are destroyed, – a thing of frequent occurrence in the East in connection with a change of dynasties, and one which occurred again and again even in the kingdom of the ten tribes (vid., 1Ki 15:28., 1Sa 16:11.; 2 Kings 10).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(20) And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king.Clericus (in Lange) says: From this great magnanimity of David, Saul concluded that a man who was much superior in soul to kings could not but reign. This is a good comment, and doubtless expresses something of what was in Sauls mind on this occasion; but more must have been behind to have induced the king to make such a speech to David. Never had he for one moment forgotten his old friends wordsthe words of Samuel, whom he too well knew was the prophet of the Most Highwhen he with all solemnity announced to him, as a message from heaven, that the Lord had rent the kingdom from him, and had given it to a neighbour that was better than he (1Sa. 15:21). Since that awful denunciation, the unhappy Saul was only too sensible that the blessing of Jehovah of Hosts no longer rested on his head, no longer blessed his going out and coming in, while the strange, bright career of the son of Jesse seemed to point him out as the neighbour on whom the choice of God had fallen. Rumours, too, of a mysterious anointing must have long ere this reached Saul; this, joined to the passionate advocacy of Jonathan, and the quiet, steady friendship of Samuel, no doubt convinced King Saul that in the son of Jesse he saw Israels future monarch. Strong, therefore, in this conviction, and for the time humiliated and grieved at the sorry part he had been playing in this restless persecution of one destined to fill so great a position, the king positively entreats the outlaw to swear to him the strange promise contained in the next (21st) verse.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. I know well that thou shalt surely be king The anointing by Samuel, the triumph over Goliath, the homage paid him by the enthusiastic people, and all the providential deliverances from the deadly pursuits of Saul, together with this last affair in the cave, thoroughly convinced the king that David was that neighbour who, according to Samuel’s prophecy, (1Sa 15:28,) was destined to succeed him on the throne. Here again, in fact, Saul is among the prophets, and thus confirms by his own words the predictions of Samuel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 24:20-22. I know well that thou shalt surely be king He knew this, says St. Chrysostom, from David’s manners, from his kingly virtues, as well as his uncommon success; but, above all, he knew his divine designation to the throne. Saul, says Dr. Trapp, being melted by those coals of kindness which David had heaped upon his head, poureth out himself in a flood of passions, and, for the present, spake as he thought. But good thoughts make a thoroughfare only of wicked hearts: they stay not there, as those that like not their lodging: their purposes, for want of performance, are but as clouds without rain, or as Hercules’s club in the tragedy, of a great bulk, but stuffed with moss and rubbish. David complied with Saul’s request, and sware to him; for Saul, foreseeing that his family would be in David’s power, and conscious to himself how cruelly and treacherously he himself had treated him, exacts an oath from David, not to cut off his seed when he came to the throne, nor to destroy his name out of his father’s house; an oath which David generously took, and honourably and religiously performed. He would not, however, trust himself to Saul: he knew too well his inconstancy, perfidy, and phrenzy. Never trust thine enemy, says the son of Sirach, though he humble himself; take good heed, and beware of him, Sir 12:10, &c. Two remarks naturally arise upon this pathetic speech of Saul’s, and David’s behaviour to him. The first is, that his sense of David’s generosity must be very strong, when he beseeches God to reward it. Indeed Saul had no equivalent to give David for the kindness shown him; and therefore he refers him to GOD for retribution. For if, after this, he should even save David’s life, yet still he could only save the life of his best benefactor; whereas David both spared and saved the life of his most mortal enemy. The second is, that David, by sparing his enemy, found himself possessed of one of the highest satisfactions in the world; to see his enraged prince his petitioner! to see his foe his suppliant! conscious, and confessing his own guilt and David’s superiority! and begging that mercy to his issue which he himself had just experienced, and had not deserved! Who would not save an enemy, for the joy of so glorious a triumph!
Reflections on the foregoing chapter.
We can never so reasonably promise ourselves an extraordinary protection and deliverance from whatever calamities or dangers most nearly threaten or press us, by some wonderful act of God’s own immediate power and vigilance, as when we have, out of mere piety or conscience, or out of the obligations of Christian charity and compassion, forborne the doing of an ill act, which was in our power to do, and the doing whereof, according to all human reason, would, for the present, have freed us from that oppression which is most grievous to us; for by that we declare, that we will have no other refuge than what is agreeable to His good will and pleasure. Whereas, they who are ready to lay hold of any advantage that is offered to do their enemy mischief, and, in the taking it, prescribe no other rules to themselves than what their enemies would observe if they had the same opportunity, make it manifest, that they depend on another security than the shadow of God’s wings for the passing over of their calamities. If our enemies have traduced us with false and unworthy imputations, and we come to have credit enough by as scandalous reports to take away their good name, and for truth and justice sake we forbear to do it, we may be confident that their tongues, how sharp and venomous soever, shall not be able to hurt us; but that God, by some way or other, will make our innocence and uprightness appear, through all the clouds of prejudice and calumny which their malice has raised about us. If we are unjustly persecuted by a great and powerful enemy, who, in his rage and fury, would take our life, and whilst he is using all his skill to entrap us, and get us into his power, himself falls into our hands, and it is in our power to revenge the wrong he has done to us, and, by taking his life, prevent any act of future violence upon us; and we do, out of piety and duty, if he be our prince, or a person to whom we owe obedience, or out of humanity or generosity, if he be our equal, refuse to take that advantage, and spare that blood which we might shed, and wait God’s leisure for a deliverance, without any guilt of our own; we may humbly presume, that he will interpose his protection in our behalf, and frustrate all attempts of violence upon us, if, notwithstanding this temper and obligation on our part, the malice and rancour of our enemies continue. If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? says Saul, (1Sa 24:19.) when he was convinced of the integrity of David’s heart, by his not taking advantage of him in the cave where he might have securely destroyed him: and when some of his friends would have persuaded him, that God had delivered his enemy into his hand, and that he might do as seemed good to him. (1Sa 24:5.) Saul was never so confounded with the shame of his own jealousy and malice, as by this act of piety and magnanimity in David; and though he had long known that he was anointed, and appointed by God to reign as king after him, yet he did not so thoroughly believe it till this great instance of the temper of his mind, and of his relying upon God’s purpose so entirely, that he would not, by an act of his own, endeavour to bring that honour and security upon himself sooner than His wisdom intended it to him. Now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. We can never receive a greater earnest that God will himself wonderfully help us, than when he gives us grace not to help ourselves by any ill means which are offered to us.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Sa 24:20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
Ver. 20. And now, behold, I know well. ] How knew he this? Nimirum ex ipsis Davidis moribus, saith Chrysostom. Surely by David’s kingly virtues, and good success, whereby God made him formidable to his enemies, but amiable and admirable in the eyes of all Israel. Saul’s sin therefore was the greater in persecuting David, whom he knew God had set up. See Psa 4:2-4 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I know well: 1Sa 20:30, 1Sa 20:31, 1Sa 23:17, 2Sa 3:17, 2Sa 3:18, Job 15:25, Mat 2:3-6, Mat 2:13, Mat 2:16
Reciprocal: Gen 37:20 – and we Num 24:1 – saw 1Sa 18:28 – General 1Sa 28:17 – thy neighbour Psa 18:20 – rewarded Psa 63:11 – the king
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 24:20-21. And now I know well that thou shalt surely be king These wonderful dispensations of Divine Providence over David, and Davids no less wonderful virtue, at last convinced Saul that God designed him to be the king of his people, and that none could hinder his establishment. That thou wilt not destroy my name, &c. As it was usual for kings to do in those days, generally destroying the families of those to whose thrones they were advanced.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:20 And now, behold, I {g} know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand.
(g) Though this tyrant saw and confessed the favour of God toward David, yet he did not cease to persecute him against his own conscience.