1 Samuel 24:10

1Sa 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and [some] bade [me] kill thee: but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he [is] the LORD’S anointed.

Ver. 10. Behold, this day thine eyes have seen.] This is David’s defence; wherein each word hath its weight, each syllable its substance. We may lawfully, when wronged, clear our own innocence, so we do it, as here, with meekness and wisdom. Sed o quam hoc non est omnium.

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.

1Sa 24:10-12. Mine eye spared thee — A phrase signifying the taking pity on those whom we have it in our power to hurt. The eye is said to spare, because it affects the heart, and induces a person to spare. Moreover, my father — Such he was through David’s marriage of his daughter. The Lord avenge me of thee — Rather, will avenge me; that is, vindicate and deliver me from thy violent and unjust persecution. For he does not, in these words, pray God to punish Saul for the injuries he had done him, but to justify, clear, and protect himself. But my hand shall not be upon thee — He was resolved not to return evil for evil, or to avenge himself, but to leave it to God to do him right.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Contrary to the false report of them that said, David was Saul’s enemy, he proveth himself to be his friend.

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

(10) Thine eyes have seen.—David and a crowd of armed men around him were standing at the entrance of the cave which King Saul had just left; thus the king’s eye had seen—nay, was seeing that very moment—that his life had been in his enemy David’s hand.

And some bade me kill thee.—The literal translation here would be Jehovah delivered thee to-day into mine hand in the cave, and bade [me] kill thee. And this rendering has been explained by assuming that God’s allowing Saul to choose the very cavern for his midday slumber where David and his company were lodging was tantamount to directing David to slay his bitter foe, thus given over helpless into his hands; but this is contrary to the spirit of the whole narrative. The English Version has followed the Syriac and Chaldee Versions here, and by supplying “some”—better, perhaps, one—before “bade me kill thee,” has given us the sense in which the Hebrews have always understood the passage. The Vulg. here, with a very slight change in the vowel points, renders “I thought to kill thee.”

But mine eye spared thee.—The English Version supplies an obvious subject in “mine eye.” Clericus suggests more happily, “my soul,” or “my hand,” before “spared thee.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold, this day thine eyes have seen,.... Or may see; there is full proof and evidence of it, and which will be presently shown:

how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave; from whence they were both just come:

and some bade me kill thee; some of the men that were with David, some of his officers or principal friends put him upon it, having a fair opportunity, and thinking it no evil, since he was his enemy, and sought his life; or "it said, kill thee"; my heart prompted me to it, that said so at first, as Ben Gersom interprets it; some refer it to God, who in his providence said so, or so it might be understood by David, as if Providence directed him to it, by giving film such an opportunity of doing it:

but mine eye spared thee; had pity on him, and notwithstanding the suggestions of friends, and of his own heart at first, or the seeming direction of Providence, yet he had mercy on him, and forbore slaying him:

and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord; and king, whose subject I am:

for he is the Lord's anointed; the Lord has raised him to this dignity; invested him with the office of a king, and as such I regard him, and therefore have refrained mine hand from him, from hurting him,

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

Mine eye; which words are easily understood both from the nature of the thing, and from the use of this phrase in other scriptures, as Deu 7:16; 13:8. The eye is said to spare, because it affects the heart with pity, and moves a man to spare.

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

Mine eye - The eye is said to spare, because it affects the heart with pity, and moves a man to spare.

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

your eyes have seen

Here "your eyes" represent King Saul. AT: "you have seen with your own eyes" (See: Synecdoche)

put you into my hand

The word "hand" is a metonym for control. AT: "put you where I could kill you or allow you to live" (See: Metonymy)

my father

Saul was not David's real father. David calls him "father" to show that he respects Saul.

there is no evil or treason in my hand

David speaks as if evil and treason were physical objects he could hold in his hand. Here "hand" represents a person acting or doing something. AT: "I have done no evil deed against you, nor have I rebelled against you" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

translationWords

Yahweh

hand

Yahweh

ancestor

robe

evil

sin

life

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

Why do you listen. Why do you accept Do'eg's slander concerning me?

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.