1 Samuel 24:14

1Sa 24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

Ver. 14. After a dead dog, after a flea.] Egregiam vero laudem, a great praise, a great purchase sure, to kill a dead dog, to fight with a flea! Is this an employment fit for a king? an exploit worthy of such an army? {a} Caligula took his army to the ocean, as if he would have passed over into Brittany, and done great matters there: but he only caused his soldiers to pick up cockle shells that lay on the shore, and so returned to Rome: Magnifie glorians quasi oceano subacto. Ridiculum caput! {b} Domitian spent his time in catching flies: and Artaxerxes in making knife handles. Was this handsome? Aquila non captat muscas, as saith the proverb of the ancients.

{a} Facis quod est tanto rege indignum, dum me tenuissimum, infimum, et infirmissimum tanto comitatu persequeris. - Jun.

{b} Dio, in Calig.

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 24:14-15. After whom is the king of Israel come out? — David here employs every persuasive art to move Saul. He represents himself in as contemptible a light as possible; that he might convince Saul it was not for his honour to take so much pains to kill him, if he could do it. The Lord, therefore, be judge — He thought he could not repeat this too often, that as he had done hitherto, so he still resolved hereafter, to leave it to God to judge which of them was in the right, and not to avenge himself.

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

And even if he should wish to attack the king, he did not possess the power. This thought introduces Sa1 24:14 : "After whom is the king of Israel gone out? After whom dost thou pursue? A dead dog, a single flea." By these similes David meant to describe himself as a perfectly harmless and insignificant man, of whom Saul had no occasion to be afraid, and whom the king of Israel ought to think it beneath his dignity to pursue. A dead dog cannot bite or hurt, and is an object about which a king ought not to trouble himself (cf. Sa2 9:8 and Sa2 16:9, where the idea of something contemptible is included). The point of comparison with a flea is the insignificance of such an animal (cf. Sa1 26:20).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Or, the proverb of an ancient man.

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

Verse 14. After a dead dog] A term used among the Hebrews to signify the most sovereign contempt; see 2Sa 16:9. One utterly incapable of making the least resistance against Saul, and the troops of Israel. The same idea is expressed in the term flea. The Targum properly expresses both thus: one who is weak, one who is contemptible.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) After a dead dog, after a flea.—These homely but vivid similes are very common in Oriental discourse. David certainly, in his protestations of loyalty, could scarcely humble himself more than by drawing a comparison between the king of Israel in his grandeur and power and a poor dead dog—evidently an object held in special loathing by the Hebrews. “After a flea”—the original is even stronger, after “one flea” (a single flea)—“against a single flea,” which is not easily caught, and easily escapes, and if it is caught, is poor game for a royal hunter.—Berl. Bible and Lange.

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

14. after a dead dog, &c.] “A dead dog, a single flea,” express what is absolutely contemptible, harmless, and insignificant. A worthy object truly for an expedition of the King of Israel with his picked troops!

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.

After whom is the king of Israel come out?.... From his court and palace, with an army of men, and at the head of them:

after whom dost thou pursue? with such eagerness and fury:

after a dead dog; as David was in the opinion, and according to the representation of his enemies, a dog, vile, mean, worthless, of no account; a dead dog, whose name was made to stink through the calumnies cast upon him; and if a dead dog, then as he was an useless person, and could do no good, so neither could he do any hurt, not so much as bark, much less bite; and therefore it was unworthy of so great a prince, a lessening, a degrading of himself, as well as a vain and impertinent thing, to pursue after such an one, that was not worthy of his notice, and could do him neither good nor harm:

after a flea? a little contemptible animal, not easily caught, as it is observed by some, and when caught good for nothing. David, by this simile, fitly represents not only his weakness and impotence, his being worthless, and of no account, and beneath the notice of such a prince as Saul; but the circumstances he was in, being obliged to move from place to place, as a flea leaps from one place to another, and is not easily taken, and when it is, of no worth and value; signifying, that as it was not worth his pains to seek after him, so it would be to no purpose, he should not be able to take him.

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

After whom ... - i. e., was it consistent with the dignity of the king of Israel to lead armies in pursuit of a weak and helpless individual like David?

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

Thee: the tree is known by its fruit. If therefore I have behaved in this manner, no longer trust the reports of others against me. (Calmet) --- The wicked, if left to themselves, will be their own tormentors. He may thus indirectly threaten Saul, as iniquity is often put for punishment. (Menochius) --- The wicked shall at last open thier eyes, and be reclaimed. (Rabbins ap. Munster.) --- David entertained hopes that even Saul would now be convinced of his innocence. (Haydock)

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).

After a worthless, contemptible, and impotent person, such as I am. Thou disparagest thyself in contending with such a person; and even thy conquest of me will be inglorious and shameful.

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

14. After a dead dog, after a flea — A term of contempt and a term of insignificance. By these terms David represents himself as one so contemptible and insignificant that it was beneath the dignity of Israel’s royal monarch to pursue him.

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

Vers. 14, 15. Finally, David makes a pathetic appeal to Saul, contrasting him in his grandeur as the king of Israel with the fugitive whom he so relentlessly persecuted. In calling himself a dead dog he implies that he was at once despicable and powerless. Even more insignificant is a flea, Hebrew, "one flea," "a single flea." The point is lost by omitting the numeral. David means that it is unworthy of a king to go forth with 3000 men to hunt a single flea. As the king"s conduct is thus both unjust and foolish, David therefore appeals to Jehovah to be judge and plead his cause, i.e. be his advocate, and state the proofs of his innocence. For deliver me out of thy hand, the Hebrew is, "will judge me out of thy hand," i.e. will judge me, and by doing so justly will deliver me from thy power.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue?

These rhetorical questions can be translated as statements. When David asks the questions, he knows that he will answer the questions himself. AT: "Let me tell you who the king of Israel has come out after. Let me tell you who it is that you are pursuing." (See: Rhetorical Question)

After a dead dog

The words "dead dog" are a metaphor for a powerless person. This sentence can be made complete. AT: "You are pursuing a person who is as powerless as a dead dog" (See: Metaphor and Ellipsis)

After a flea

The word "flea" is a metaphor for a person whom others do not consider important. AT: "You are pursuing a person who is as unimportant as a flea" (See: Metaphor and Ellipsis)

see to it, and plead my cause

Possible meanings are 1) "do what is right, and plead my cause" or 2) "see that my cause is right and fight for me."

from your hand

The word "hand" is a metonym for power. AT: "so that you have no power over me" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

king

Israel

die

Yahweh

judge

plea

hand

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

As the ancient proverb says. The proverb of the Ancient One of the world [referring to] the Torah, which is the proverb of the Holy One, Blessed is He.

From the wicked comes wickedness. The Holy One, Blessed is He, destines the wicked to fall into the hand of the wicked like himself. And where did the Torah say this, "And God destined it into his hand," as it is stated in Maseches Makos.

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.