Synopsis of the Chapter
David spares the sleeping Saul, and taking his spear and water jug, shows them to Saul and pleads his own innocence and clemency, overcoming Saul's anger and hatred so that he says: Blessed are you, my son David.
Verse 9: Who Can Strike the Lord's Anointed? ¶
9. FOR WHO CAN STRETCH OUT HIS HAND AGAINST THE LORD'S ANOINTED (against Saul, because he had been anointed king by God through Samuel) AND BE INNOCENT? — David shrank from this killing because it seemed to him unseemly and unworthy to kill his king, appointed and anointed by God. He therefore considered it a matter of religious duty not to harm Saul, lest he seem to harm God in him. So pious minds, as St. Bernard says, acknowledge fault where there is no fault, and shudder at its very shadow.
Morally, learn here from David how much we ought to revere even wicked prelates and princes who oppose us, as the Lord's anointed, and not injure them by word, much less by blow.
Again, consider how greatly God exercises with adversities and persecutions those whom He prepares for great things, to govern others. For thus through Saul He exercised David, to sharpen his virtue and make him worthy. Therefore these persecutions of Saul were nothing other for David than exercises, preparations, and dispositions for the kingdom, and Saul himself recognized this, saying at verse 25: "You shall do great things, and shall surely prevail." In a similar way, Princes, Bishops, and Rectors are accustomed to exercise with various and heavy commands, burdens, reproaches, and mortifications those subjects whom they are preparing for governance, to test, increase, and perfect their virtue, and so that they themselves may learn in governance to sympathize with their subjects. For no one commands rightly unless he has rightly obeyed.
Verse 11: The Lord Forbid ¶
11. THE LORD FORBID THAT I SHOULD STRETCH OUT MY HAND AGAINST THE LORD'S ANOINTED. — As if to say: I pray God to give me grace and constancy, lest, overcome by Saul's persecutions, I should ever wish to kill him. Hence in Hebrew it reads: "May the Lord forbid me from stretching out," etc.; the Chaldean: "It is abomination to me before the Lord," etc. It is a prayer, and as some hold, also an oath, by which David swears not to kill Saul, in order to confirm himself in this good resolution, and to completely deter Abishai and others who wanted to kill Saul from his slaughter.
Verse 12: The Sleep of the Lord ¶
12. BECAUSE A DEEP SLEEP FROM THE LORD HAD FALLEN UPON THEM. — "The sleep of the Lord," that is, a great and heavy sleep. So the Chaldeans call them "mountains of God" and "cedars of God," that is, great and lofty. Or better, "the sleep of the Lord" is a sleep sent by the Lord. For naturally it could scarcely happen that in such a numerous camp absolutely everyone, even the watchmen, would sleep. It was God therefore who sent sleep upon all for the benefit of David. God sent a similar sleep upon Adam, when from his sleeping side He took a rib, and from it formed Eve, Genesis II. See here, marvel at and revere the providence of God, by which He protects David and his men against so many thousands of enemies, by sending sleep upon all, so that David could have slain Saul and all his soldiers if he had wished; and his remarkable goodness and clemency, in sparing Saul, was made known to both Saul and all the people, so that he would be chosen king by them.
The Water Jug
AND THE JUG OF WATER. — Castalio and the Calvinists wrongly translate this as "chamber pot." You ask what this water jug was. First, Serarius thinks it was a water clock for indicating the night watches to Saul. For Julius Caesar and the ancient generals formerly used water clocks in camp for this purpose, as Vegetius testifies, Book III. For the ancient water clocks indicated the hours by the flow not of sand (as ours do) but of water, as the very name indicates: clepsydra is derived from the Greek, meaning "stealing water." It was therefore a water clock, a timepiece measuring hours by the flow of water. Second, the author of Ancient Banquets, Book II, says: It is likely that the Jews' drink in military service was water, not wine. Hence in 1 Samuel, a jug of water is said to have stood at Saul's head, not of wine — as today great men often keep wine flagons and cups at their bedside for drinking at night, to satisfy that insatiable thirst which they have acquired through constant and immoderate guzzling of wine. Third, more plainly, Josephus says: This water jug was for washing; for in the morning and repeatedly during the day we are accustomed to wash our hands and face with water. Indeed the Jews also washed frequently at night, especially if any pollution had befallen them. Hence Clement of Alexandria, Stromata Book IV, chapter 7, says: "The Jews are purified even in bed." Likewise in his Exhortation to the Gentiles: "The Hebrews always wash when rising from bed." The same practice is observed by Jews even now, and the more devout among them frequently wash their entire body.
Allegorically, Eucherius says: "David came, that is, Christ came to the Jews, His enemies, sleeping in their unbelief. He did not kill them, but He took from them the cup of water, that is, the grace of the law, and He took the royal scepter — that is, the power of the kingdom, which they valued greatly and by which they protected themselves temporally, and which they wielded against God through their unbelief. Then our victorious David, returning from their camp, ascended to the height of the heavenly mountain."
Verse 13: David Withdraws to the Mountain ¶
13. AND WHEN DAVID HAD PASSED OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE AND STOOD ON THE TOP OF THE HILL AFAR OFF. — David wisely did this, lest if he had remained in Saul's camp, he should be killed by one of his soldiers. He therefore withdrew to the mountain, so that he could flee if anyone pursued him, and so that crying out from the mountain at a distance he could be heard throughout all of Saul's camp which lay beneath the hill. See here how David transforms himself into every shape to appease, heal, and save Saul. Truly the Comedian says: "That indeed is wisdom, if you can bend your mind wherever the occasion requires."
Verse 16: Sons of Death ¶
16. YOU ARE SONS OF DEATH, WHO HAVE NOT GUARDED YOUR LORD. — These sleeping guards were excusable and without fault, because keeping watch was not in their power and freedom. For God, by sending a deep sleep, forced them to sleep, as was said at verse 12. But David calls them "sons," that is, guilty ones, of death, because this act of sleeping, considered in itself, was condemnable and worthy of death: whence watchmen who stand guard at night, if found sleeping by their captain, are slain, because their sleep creates an evident danger to the whole camp, lest it be invaded and overthrown by the enemy.
Verse 19: Let Him Smell a Sacrifice ¶
19. IF THE LORD HAS STIRRED YOU UP AGAINST ME, LET HIM ACCEPT A SACRIFICE — that is, I am ready to be killed and offered to God as a victim that would please Him like the sweet fragrance of a sacrifice. He speaks anthropopathically. For since God has no body or nostrils, He does not properly smell the aroma of a sacrifice, but is said to smell it metaphorically; for as a sweet aroma delights the sense of smell in man, so the sweetness of a sacrifice pleases God. Others explain it thus, as if to say: Let Him accept a sacrifice, that is, I will offer a sacrifice for sin, if I have committed anything against God, or against you, O Saul.
BUT IF THEY ARE SONS OF MEN (who incite you against me), THEY ARE CURSED BEFORE THE LORD (inasmuch as they unjustly persecute me, who am innocent and anointed king by God), SAYING: GO, SERVE OTHER GODS. — "Saying" — not in words but in deeds, say Theodoret and Procopius. For by driving David out of Judea, they were forcing him to flee to the Philistines and other nations by whom David was urged to worship their gods and idols.
Verse 20: The Partridge ¶
20. AND NOW LET MY BLOOD NOT BE SHED — as if to say: Since you have no just cause to persecute me, but only malevolent and malicious sons of men incite you against me, I therefore beg you not to shed my innocent blood.
AS THE PARTRIDGE IS PURSUED. — "Is pursued," in the passive sense, that is, suffers persecution. For David compares himself to a flea and a partridge, which is hunted by a hunter to be killed.
Verse 21: I Have Been Ignorant ¶
21. AND I HAVE BEEN IGNORANT OF VERY MUCH — that is, I have not considered your innocence and goodwill toward me.
Verse 24: May My Life Be Valued ¶
24. AND AS YOUR LIFE WAS VALUED GREATLY THIS DAY IN MY EYES (as if to say: Just as your life was highly esteemed by me, so that I was unwilling to touch or harm it, when I had it in my hand and power): SO MAY MY LIFE BE VALUED GREATLY IN THE EYES OF THE LORD (that God may repay a fitting reward and recompense for my clemency, by preserving my life unharmed against the plots of you and yours and of other enemies; and thus may He show that He highly esteems and values it), AND MAY HE DELIVER ME FROM ALL DISTRESS.
Verse 25: You Shall Do Great Things ¶
25. YOU SHALL DO GREAT THINGS AND SHALL SURELY PREVAIL — as if to say: You shall do illustrious works and carry out illustrious deeds, and you shall become very powerful, especially when you succeed me in the kingdom. Hence the Chaldean translates: "reigning you shall reign, and prospering you shall prosper"; the Zurich translation: "you shall accomplish and fully complete"; Vatablus: "prevailing you shall prevail," that is, you shall be strong with great power.