1 Samuel 24:21

1Sa 24:21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house.

Ver. 21. That thou wilt not cut off my seed.] His care of posterity’s good was commendable; but till now he had taken a very ill course for them; as that Roman tyrant had done, whom when the people slew together with his children, they cried out, Of so ill a litter, not one whelp is to be left alive.

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.

24:21-22 Now swear to me . . . you will not kill my family: Having descendants was a way that Saul’s name would endure among the living. David had already sworn such an oath with Jonathan (20:14-17).

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

Though this tyrant saw and confessed the favor of God toward David, yet he ceaseth not to persecute him against his own conscience.

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

Verse 21. Swear now] Saul knew that an oath would bind David, though it was insufficient to bind himself; see 1Sa 19:6. He had sworn to his son Jonathan that David should not be slain; and yet sought by all means in his power to destroy him!

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

(21) Swear now therefore unto me.—So strongly was Saul convinced at this moment that David would at no distant period of time occupy the throne of Israel that he entreated him, when that day should come, not to destroy all his (Saul’s) children. This barbarous custom has been always too common a practice in the jealous East. It seems to have been equally dreaded by Jonathan, who made—it will be remembered—this condition of mercy to be shown by David in his day of power to his (Jonathan’s) children a part of the solemn covenant concluded between them. (See 1Sa_20:15.) In the frequent dynastic changes which took place in the kingdom of Israel, we have instances of such wholesale massacres of the royal family of the fallen house. (See 1Ki_15:29, where Baasha slew King Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, and took his throne. Then Baasha, we read, “smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed; “and in 1Ki_16:11, where Zimri murdered his master, King Baasha. Zimri, “as soon as he sat on his throne, slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.”) A similar massacre is described, only with more ghastly details, in 2 Kings 10, where “Jehu slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria.” There the story is peculiarly an Oriental scene of history, with the seventy baskets containing the seventy heads of princes presented as an acceptable offering to the new stern king of Israel—Jehu. It was, therefore, no vain dread of what might happen in the future which made King Saul ask this of David. Doubtless the fear of some such awful catastrophe happening to his own loved children and friends was no small part of the punishment of Saul.

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

21. Swear now, &c] Saul pledges his successor not to follow the barbarous Oriental custom. See on 1Sa_20:14.

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.

Swear now therefore unto me by the Lord,.... By the Word of the Lord, as the, Targum:

that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me; as was usually done in despotic governments in the eastern countries, and is at this day, when one is advanced to the throne of another, by whom issue is left, who may be rivals and competitors with him:

and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house; by cutting off his seed, the same thing in different words repeated, for the confirmation of it; children bear the names of their fathers, and by them their memory is perpetuated, and cutting off them is destroying the name of their parents.

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

Swear now ... - The same request which Jonathan made 1Sa 20:15. The deep, genealogical feeling of the Israelites breaks out here as so often elsewhere.

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

Thou wilt not cut off my seed after me; as princes use to destroy their competitors, and those that have any hopes of or pretence to their crown; and Saul had endeavoured to destroy David for the same reason, and therefore he feared a retaliation.

Thou wilt not destroy my name, to wit, by cutting off my seed. So it is the same thing repeated in other words, as is usual in Scripture.

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

you will not cut off my descendants after me

"you will not kill my sons and their families." It was common for a new king who was not from the previous family line to kill off all the children of the former king to prevent any of them from challenging him for the throne.

you will not destroy my name out of my father's house

It is important for each family in Israel to have descendants from generation to generation carrying on the family name and land inheritance. AT: "you will not destroy my family and descendants" or "you will allow my family to live" (See: Metonymy)

David and his men

"David and his army"

translationWords

oath

Yahweh

descend

name

ancestor

house

David

Saul (OT)

stronghold

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

I know that you will surely reign. For I see that the Holy One, Blessed is He, saves you from my hand. The Midrash Aggadah states, that Shmuel gave him this sign, that the one who tears his robe will reign after him.

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.