1 Samuel 26:11

1Sa 26:11 The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that [is] at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

Ver. 11. And the cruse of water.] Clepsydram, the hour glass, as some render it; others understand it of a bottle of rose-water standing there to refresh him. But probably it was a cruse of common water to be used either for drink or for washing. Iudaei etiam in lecto purgantur, saith Clement of Alexandia. {a} The Jews wash by night many times. The Turks also are much in this ceremony.

{a} Strom., lib. iv. cap. 7.

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.

the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water--The Oriental spear had, and still has, a spike at the lower extremity, intended for the purpose of sticking the spear into the ground when the warrior is at rest. This common custom of Arab sheiks was also the practice of the Hebrew chiefs.

at his bolster--literally, "at his head"; perhaps, Saul as a sovereign had the distinguished luxury of a bolster carried for him. A "cruse of water" is usually, in warm climates, kept near a person's couch, as a drink in the night time is found very refreshing. Saul's cruse would probably be of superior materials, or more richly ornamented than common ones, and therefore by its size or form be easily distinguished.

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

(11) The spear.—The spear was Saul’s especial sign of royalty. “This taking away of the spear from Saul’s head as he slept was an omen of the transfer of his royalty to David.”—Bishop Patrick, quoted by Wordsworth.

And the cruse of water.—“A very ancient usage explains why the cruse of water is here brought into such special prominence. According to this custom, some high dignitary always had in keeping a costly ewer for the king’s necessary ablutions, and it was specially his duty to take it with him, and present it to the king during campaigns or other journeys, so that its disappearance would involve almost as great a disgrace to the king as the loss of his sceptre” (Ewald, in reference to Psa_60:8, states his belief that this custom existed in the time of David).—Ewald, History of Israel, “David,” ii. 3 (Note). The same scholar also writes that “there are many other instances of similar stories, in which the future conqueror and founder of a new dynasty is represented as having received at first some symbol of royalty from his predecessors by accident, as it were, or in sport. Thus Alexander at first takes the royal divining cup from Dârâ as if in sport: a story which in the Shâhnâmeh no longer appears in its original light; and in nothing was the belief in omens so strong as in the high affairs of state.”—“David,” ii. 3 (Note).

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

11. cruse] A small cup or jar. The word is found in Icelandic, Danish, and other languages, and is probably akin to crock and crucible.

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.

The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed,.... Or suffer any about him to do it; he speaks of it with the utmost detestation and abhorrence:

but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster; not to smite him with, as he desired, but to carry off, and was no other than his sceptre; See Gill on Sa1 20:33,

and the cruse of water; which stood in the same place, as appears by Sa1 26:12. Some take this to be a pot to make water in; others an hourglass, to know the time of night, in which not sand, but water, flowed for that purpose: but rather this was for his refreshment should he be hot and thirsty in the night, or to purify him from any nocturnal pollution that might happen; for, according to Clemens of Alexandria (m), it was a custom of the Jews often to purify themselves in bed: though Fortunatus Scacchus (n) thinks Saul had this pot or cup for a religious use; which he had with him, and with it gave thanks to God, the author of all good, whenever he sat down to a meal; such as the golden cup Philip king of Macedon always had under his pillow when he slept (o):

and let us go; and do nothing more; which would be sufficient to convince they had been there, and to show what was in their power to do, had they been so inclined.

(m) Stromat. l. 4. p. 531. (n) Elaeochrism. Myrothec. l. I. c. 44. col. 224. (o) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3.

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

Take thou now the spear, which will show where we have been, and what we could have done.

The cruse of water might be put there, either to wash himself, in case of any accidental pollution, which oft happened in the night; or to refresh him, and quench his thirst in that hot climate and season; or for divers other uses.

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

11. The cruse of water — Of which the king might drink if he awoke thirsty. “The cruse of water at Saul’s head.” adds Thomson, “is in exact accordance with the customs of the people at this day. No one ventures to travel over these deserts without his cruse of water, and it is very common to place one at the bolster, so that the owner can reach it during the night.”

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

Take the spear - Which will shew where we have been, and what we could have done.

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

extend my hand against

The hand is a metonym for the harm a hand can do. AT: "do anything to harm" (See: Metonymy)

let us go

David includes Abishai, so the word "us" here is inclusive. (See: Inclusive "We")

a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them

Yahweh had caused them to sleep deeply.

translationWords

Yahweh

hand

anoint

spear

David

Saul (OT)

asleep

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

Flask. Jug.

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.