1 Samuel 20:26

1Sa 20:26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he [is] not clean; surely he [is] not clean.

Ver. 26. Something hath befallen him.] Casus est, it is some of those chances wherewith men are defiled and unfitted for holy services; such as were the touching of dead bodies, nocturnal pollutions, &c. {Lev 7:19-20}

He is not clean.] Himself, then, surely was clean, sc., from those legal pollutions; but his heart was full of filth, and his hands of blood. This is the guise of hypocrites.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:26-27 A number of circumstances could render a person ceremonially unclean and thus unfit for attending a sacred festival (see Lev 7:20-21). Often, an unclean person was required to be excluded from such functions only until the evening of the same day (Lev 15). This explains why Saul became suspicious after David did not arrive the next day. • Saul referred to David as the son of Jesse (also in 1 Sam 20:31; 22:7), a description that functioned as David’s surname.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Yet he might have some business to let him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

he is not clean--No notice was taken of David's absence, as he might be laboring under some ceremonial defilement.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

26. he is not clean] Persons who were ceremonially unclean were peremptorily excluded from participating in a religious festival. See Lev_7:20-21; 1Sa_16:5.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Nevertheless, Saul spake not anything that day,.... About David's absence, took no notice of it, said nothing about it:

for he thought something had befallen him; some impurity, some nocturnal pollution, see Lev 15:16,

he is not clean, surely he is not clean; which he repeated in his mind for the confirmation of it, and in contempt, and to the reproach of David; and in this way he accounted for his absence the first day, and so was easy, it not being lawful and fitting for an unclean person in a ceremonial sense to eat of the peace offerings, which Saul and his family were now partaking of.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He is not clean - The new moon being a religious feast, and the meat to be eaten being peace-offerings, no one could assist at the feast who had any ceremonial uncleanness upon him (marginal references).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Purified, having perhaps touched some dead body, &c., Leviticus xi. 24.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Something hath befallen; some accident which hath rendered him unclean, and so unfit to partake of this feast, which consisted in part of the remainders of these peace-offerings, according to the law, Lev 7:20; unfit also to come into any company, much more into the king’s company, lest he should pollute them also. See Poole "1Sa 20:5". See also Le 11 Le 15.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. He is not clean — Some ceremonial defilement prevents his attendance at this festival of the new moon. Compare marginal references.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Something - Some accident which has rendered him unclean, and so unfit to partake of this feast, which consisted in part of the remainders of the peace-offerings, according to the law, Levit vii, 20. Unfit also to come into any company, much more, into the king's company, lest he should pollute them also.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

He is not clean; surely he is not clean

According to the law of Moses, a person who is ceremonially unclean is not to participate in the feast until the priest declares that he is clean. Saul repeats this phrase as if he is trying to convince himself.

translationWords

Saul (OT)

clean

Jesse

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Something happened. He has experienced [a discharge of] semen.

He must be impure. And he has not yet immersed himself for his [discharge of] semen, for had he immersed himself for his [discharge of] semen, he would not have to wait for sunset [to eat] ordinary food.

For he is not ritually pure. This [clause] gives reason for the matter, because he is not pure, he, therefore, did not come, so that he would not contaminate the feast.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.