Summary: Saul tells his soldiers and Jonathan to assassinate David (v.1). But Jonathan tells David that he will spy on his father’s plans for him instead (vv.2-3). Jonathan tries to talk Saul out of killing David, and Saul vows not to kill him (v.6), letting David back into the court of the king (v.7). Once again, David effectively fought the Philistines (v.8), and this caused Saul to hurl a spear at David (v.10). Saul’s men chased David to his house, but his wife Michal disguised an idol in David’s bed for them to kill (v.16). Saul’s men went to Naioth to capture David, but wave after wave of men began to prophesy instead of killing David (vv.20-21). Even Saul himself began to prophesy when he showed up at Naioth (vv.23-24).
(19:1-3) Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan was very fond of David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”
Jonathan had already made a covenant to protect David (1 Sam. 18:1-3), and Jonathan trusted David more than his own father (v.2). Culturally, this would’ve been completely out of bounds, and politically, it could get Jonathan killed. Indeed, Saul had tried to execute Jonathan for less (cf. 1 Sam. 14:39ff). Jonathan assures David that he will intercede for him with his father, and even pass along secret information to David.
(19:4-5) Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The LORD won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”
Jonathan recounts David’s history of faithfulness to the throne, trying to revive Saul’s memory and conscience.
(19:6) Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”
Saul makes an oath to preserve David’s life. Is this a deceitful oath? It certainly seems so in light of the fact that he immediately breaks it (v.11).
(19:7) So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.
David came back to the palace, and he served with Saul again. This is despite the fact that Saul had tried to hurl a spear through David (1 Sam. 18:9-10).
(19:8) Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.
Once again, David shows how much he cares for the kingdom of Israel. He puts his life at risk, while Saul sits in security in the castle. Yet, Saul continues to interpret this all wrong: David’s success only leads him to further jealousy and fear.
(19:9-10) But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp, 10 Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.
This is the third time David dodged one of Saul’s spears (cf. 1 Sam. 18:10-11). He must’ve had one eye on his harp and one eye on Saul’s spear. After all, why would Saul be holding a spear in the first place? Bergen writes, “Only a deeply troubled individual would sit armed for war inside the safest house in Israel!”[]
(19:11) Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.”
According to the superscription, Psalm 59 was written at this time. The men try to put him to death “in the morning,” but David sings about God’s lovingkindness “in the morning” (Ps. 56:16).
Michal is a complex character. She loved David, but for the wrong reasons. She worshipped idols (1 Sam. 19:13), and she hated his love and excitement for God (2 Sam. 6:16, 20-23). She must’ve loved David for his popularity. At the same time, she protected David when his life was in danger, and she chose David over her father. She serves as a complicated heroine in this section, risking her life for David’s.
(19:12) So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped.
The great warrior David had to escape through a window at night.
(19:13) Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.
The “idol” or teraphim “was utilized in ancestor worship and as an aid for use in magical healing rituals.”[] Why did Michal have an idol in her house? Youngblood states that this could reflect “pagan inclination or ignorance on her part.”[] Later, we see that this shows that Michal has a poor relationship with God (see 2 Sam. 6:16-23).
(19:14-15) When Saul sent the men to capture David, Michal said, “He is ill.” 15 Then Saul sent the men back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so that I may kill him.”
Initially, these grunts didn’t want to barge into the house of the princess. Surely, the princess carried political clout, and she was powerful enough to turn them away with a word. However, when King Saul hears about this, he overrules his daughter: Saul doesn’t care if David is sick. Saul wants David to be more than sick… He wants him dead!
(19:16-17) But when the men entered, there was the idol in the bed, and at the head was some goats’ hair. 17 Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away so that he escaped?” Michal told him, “He said to me, ‘Let me get away. Why should I kill you?’”
Saul must have come to the house himself in order to have this conversation. Or perhaps this is a transcript of their conversation back and forth via the messengers.
Why doesn’t Saul punish Michal for lying? This would’ve been politically expedient because “if David had threatened a member of the royal household, he was doubly worthy of death.”[]
“My enemy.” David did everything for Saul, but Saul couldn’t see it. He could only see David as a threat and an “enemy.”
(19:18-19) When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. 19 Word came to Saul: “David is in Naioth at Ramah.”
Saul has eyes and ears all over Israel. He quickly learns that David is staying at Naioth. Baldwin writes, “It was in Ramah that Saul had had his providential encounter with Samuel, and had been secretly anointed; now Samuel was protecting David, in that very place.”[]
(19:20-21) So he sent men to capture him. But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also prophesied. 21 Saul was told about it, and he sent more men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also prophesied.
When the first wave failed, Saul must’ve asked, “What happened? Were there soldiers? David’s mighty men? An ambush?” The messengers would’ve said, “No, your majesty! The men you sent simply started to speak ecstatically for God when they got to Samuel’s place.” Just imagine how perplexing this would’ve been for Saul as he heard this report three consecutive times! Bergen writes, “Those who had entered into Naioth under the influence of the ruler of Israel now found themselves under the infinitely greater influence of the ruler of the universe.”[] David was protected by a prayer meeting, and the violent enemies turn into friends. How? Why? The Holy Spirit disarms them.
Saul must’ve thought, “If you want to do something right, you’ve got to do it yourself.” So, he leaves to personally kill David…
(19:22) Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great cistern at Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
“Over in Naioth at Ramah,” they said.
(19:23) So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth.
Saul should’ve seen this coming. But he is so spiritually blind that he misses it. God blocks Saul from his murderous intent by having him prophesy.
(19:24) He stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay that way all that day and night. This is why people say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Saul entered looking like a king, but he was stripped of his clothing. This visually showed Saul’s status, and it revealed to everyone that “Israel’s most powerful citizen was subjugated by the power of God.”[] The stripping of Saul’s royal clothing showed that the nation was being stripped from him (1 Sam. 15:23, 28). It also foreshadows him being “stripped” and killed by the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:8-9).
“Is Saul also among the prophets?” This question is a repetition of the first time Saul prophesied (1 Sam. 10:11-12). This question could be rhetorical in the sense that Saul was neither fit to be a prophet, nor a king.[] Baldwin holds that this is an “ironic comment on Saul’s life story.”[]
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 207.
See footnote. Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 208.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 716.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 209.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 142.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 210.
Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 210.
Ronald F. Youngblood, “1, 2 Samuel,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 717.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 143.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
