1 Samuel 26:19

1Sa 26:19 Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if [they be] the children of men, cursed [be] they before the LORD; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, Go, serve other gods.

Ver. 19. Let him accept an offering.] Heb., Let him smell, viz., the savour of a sacrifice, and be reconciled through the passion of Christ, whereof those sacrifices were sacraments. And hereunto David doubted not but God would condescend, for he is gracious, and doth abundantly pardon. {Isa 55:7}

From abiding in the inheritance of the Lord.] This troubled David more than the loss of all other comforts and accommodations.

Saying, Go, serve other gods.] This they said not verbally, but interpretatively, and upon the matter, when they compelled him to sojourn in Mesech and Kedar.

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 26:19. If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me — If he hath, by the evil spirit which he hath sent, or by his secret providence, directed thy rage against me for the punishment of thine or my sins; let him accept an offering — Let us offer up a sacrifice to him to appease his wrath against us. They have driven me — From the land which God hath given to his people for their inheritance, and where he hath established his presence and worship. Saying, Go, serve other gods — This was the language of their actions. For by driving him from God’s land, and the place of his worship, into foreign and idolatrous lands, they exposed him to the peril of being either insnared by their counsels or examples, or forced by their power to worship idols.

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

26:19 If the Lord has stirred you up against me: David was perplexed by Saul’s behavior and concerned with the possibility of unintentional sin on his part. • a human scheme: Possibly a reference to Doeg (22:9-10). • worship pagan gods: The sentiment parallels Ps 137:4. Anyone who was exiled from the holy land was unable to worship the Lord by participating in sacrifice at the central sanctuary.

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

Let his anger toward us be pacified by a sacrifice.

As much as lay in them, they compelled him to idolatry because they forced him to flee to the idolaters.

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

If the Lord have stirred thee up against me--By the evil spirit He had sent, or by any spiritual offenses by which we have mutually displeased Him.

let him accept an offering--that is, let us conjointly offer a sacrifice for appeasing His wrath against us.

if they be the children of men--The prudence, meekness, and address of David in ascribing the king's enmity to the instigations of some malicious traducers, and not to the jealousy of Saul himself, is worthy of notice.

saying, Go, serve other gods--This was the drift of their conduct. By driving him from the land and ordinances of the true worship, into foreign and heathen countries, they were exposing him to all the seductions of idolatry.

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

Verse 19. Let him accept an offering] If God have stirred thee up against me, why, then, let him deliver my life into thy hand, and accept it as a sacrifice. But as the word is מנחה minchah, a gratitude-offering, perhaps the sense may be this: Let God accept a gratitude-offering from thee, for having purged the land of a worker of iniquity; for, were I not such, God would never stir thee up against me.

But if they be the children of men] If men have, by false representations, lies, and slanders, stirred thee up against an innocent man, then let them be cursed before the Lord. If I am guilty, I deserve to die; if not, those who seek my life should be destroyed.

Saying, Go, serve other gods.] His being obliged to leave the tabernacle, and the place where the true worship of God was performed, and take refuge among idolaters, said in effect, Go, serve other gods.

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

(19) Let him accept an offering.—The words here are difficult ones in a theological point of view. If, however, we are content to interpret them with Bishop Wordsworth according to the Arabic Version of the Chaldee Targum, the difficulty vanishes: “If the Lord hath stirred thee up against me for any fault of mine, let me know mine offence, and I am ready to make an offering for it to the Lord, that I may be forgiven.”—Wordsworth. But by far the greater number of scholars and expositors understand the words of David in what seems to be their plain literal sense, viz.: “If Jehovah has incited you to do this evil thing, let Him smell an offering.” The word for offering in the Hebrew is minchah, the meat offering, which signifies “sanctification of life and devotion to the Lord.” In other words, “If you think or feel that God stirs you up to take this course against me—the innocent one—pray to God that He may take the temptation—if it be a temptation—from thee.” This conception that the movement comes from God runs through the Old Testament. It is apparently expressed in such passages as “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” and in such sayings as we find here in this Book of Samuel of an evil spirit from the Lord haunting Saul. “Some have explained the conception by referring it to the intensity with which the Israelites had grasped the idea of the omnipresence of the Deity, and of His being the one power by whose energy all things exist and all acts are done; alike evil and good come from God, for He alone is the source of all . . . but it does not follow that everything to which His providence seems to lead is therefore right for man to do; on the contrary, all leadings of Providence are to be judged by God’s immutable law.”—Dean Payne Smith. These seeming leadings must be tested by prayer offered by an earnest heart: that is the meaning of the offering (minchah) here. The conception—strange as it may seem at first—is a true one, as in the case of Pharaoh, and also—though with some important modifications—of Saul. The Holy Spirit had pleaded long, and had pleaded in vain. It is possible, we know, for us to weary, or, as St. Paul puts it, quench that Spirit of God pleading within us; then at length, wearied or quenched, it wings its flight away from the wicked soul. This spreading its wings in flight may be said to be God’s work. The sad and invariable result is, the deserted heart becomes hardened, as in the case of Pharaoh; the empty shrine becomes the swept and garnished home for the evil spirit, as in the case of Saul.

But if they be the children of men.—But David goes on to say, “If the cruel, unjust thoughts are the result of the envy and hatred of men who are my enemies, may God punish them as they deserve; for see what they have done for me: they have by their calumnies—whispered in your ears—driven me into exile; they have violently bidden me to go and serve other and strange gods.” He means that, far away from the only country where Jehovah is loved and honoured, away from the influence of Jehovah’s prophets and beloved priests, he and his would be tempted to serve other gods, and to share in the foul and impious practice of the heathen nations.

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

19. If the Lord &c.] Saul may be acting as the executioner of a divine punishment. In that case David desires to obtain pardon by a propitiatory offering. This seems the obvious explanation. But according to the view of many commentators, David suggests that this perverse persecution is the consequence of the evil spirit continuing to vex Saul as a punishment for his sin, and advises him to seek the removal of it by an expiatory sacrifice.

In the language of the O. T. God is sometimes said to incite or command men to do acts in themselves evil. See 2Sa_16:11; 2Sa_24:1. The Hebrew mind was profoundly impressed with the great truth of the universal sovereignty of God, and regarding Him as the Cause of all things, did not distinguish, as we do, between what is caused or commanded, and what is permitted by Him.

let him accept an offering] Lit. smell. Cp. Gen_8:21.

if they be the children of men] See on 1Sa_24:9.

from abiding in, &c.] From being associated with the people of Israel who are Jehovah’s inheritance (1Sa_10:1). The word “to-day” is emphatic: as much as to say, ‘It has at last come to this that I must flee the country: and such a banishment is tantamount to bidding me go serve false gods, for it is only in the land of promise and at the place which He has chosen that Jehovah manifests Himself and can be worshipped.’ Cp. note on 1Sa_10:3.

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.

Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant,.... Whether David waited for an answer to his question is not certain; probably he did, and observing none returned, desired audience of what he had further to say:

if the Lord have stirred thee up against me; if he had put it into his heart to persecute him after this manner, for some sin he had committed against him, though not against Saul: did that appear to be the case:

let him accept an offering; my offering, as the Targum; or my prayer, as Jarchi; I would offer a sin offering according to the law, to make atonement for my offence, and might hope it would be accepted; or I would make my supplication to God, and entreat him to forgive mine iniquity, and so an issue be put to these troubles; or should it be a capital crime deserving of death he was guilty of, he was content to die, and satisfy for his fault in that way; or if both of them had sinned, in any respect, he proposed to join in an acceptable sacrifice to God, and so reconciliation be made, and matters adjusted in such a religious way; if it was the evil spirit from the Lord that had entered into Saul, or God had suffered a melancholy disorder to seize him, which had put him upon those measures, let an offering agreeable to the will of God be offered, or supplication made for the removal of it:

but if they be the children of men; that incited him to such violent methods, as Abner his general, or Doeg the Edomite, and others:

cursed be they before the Lord; an imprecation of the vengeance of God upon them:

for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord; meaning not from his own house and fatally, nor from the palace of Saul, but from the land of Canaan the Lord had given to his people Israel for an inheritance, and from the worship of God in it, which made it dear and precious to him; he knew if Saul went on pursuing him in this manner, he mast be obliged to quit the land, and go into a foreign country, as he quickly did; so the Targum renders it the inheritance of the people of the Lord: by being driven out of the land which was their inheritance, he should be deprived of their company and conversation, and of all social worship; the consideration of which was cutting to him, and caused the above imprecation from him on those who were concerned in it, and who in effect by their actions were

saying, go, serve other gods; for by being forced to go into an idolatrous country, he would be in the way of temptation, and be liable to be corrupted by ill examples, and to be persuaded and enticed into idolatrous practices; and if he was kept from them it would be no thanks to them, they did all they could to lead him into them; and if he was preserved, it would be owing to the power and grace of God; the Targum is,"go David among the people that worship idols;''the Jews have a saying, that he that dwells without the land of Israel, it is as if he had no God and as if he served an idol (q).

(q) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 110. 2.

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

If the Lord have stirred thee up - The meaning is clear from the preceding history. “An evil spirit from God troubling him” was the beginning of the persecution. And this evil spirit was sent in punishment of Saul’s sin 1Sa 16:1, 1Sa 16:14. If the continued persecution was merely the consequence of this evil spirit continuing to vex Saul, David advises Saul to seek God’s pardon, and, as a consequence, the removal of the evil spirit, by offering a sacrifice. But if the persecution was the consequence of the false accusations of slanderers, then “cursed” be his enemies who, by their actions, drove David out from the only land where Yahweh was worshipped, and forced him to take refuge in the country of pagan and idolaters (compare Deu 4:27; Deu 28:36).

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

Sacrifice, that he may be appeased; (Jonathan; Vatable) or rather, I am willing to fall a victim, (Menochius) and pray that thy sacrifice may be acceptable, and all thy designs against me succeed, Psalm xix. 4. --- They are. The opposition of this sentence to the preceding seems to require "let them be," &c. What in effect did not those deserve who wished to make David adore false gods? (Calmet) --- Lord in the land of Israel. --- Gods. They said so, at least by their actions. (Menochius) --- All other countries were in a manner abandoned to idol-worship, so that a person could not dwell in them, without the most imminent danger. See 2 Kings xiv. 16., and Psalm lxxxiii. 12. (Calmet)

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).

If the Lord have stirred thee up against me; if the Lord have by the evil spirit which he hath sent, or by his secret providence, directed thy rage against me for the punishment of thine or my sins.

Let him accept an offering; let us offer up a sacrifice to God to appease his wrath against us.

If they be the children of men; who by their crafty insinuations and calumnies have incensed thee against me. He showeth his prudence, and reverence, and meekness; that he accuseth not the king, but translateth the fault wholly upon his evil ministers; as the Israelites do in the like case, Exo 5:16.

From abiding in the inheritance of the Lord; from the land which God hath given to his people for their inheritance, and where he hath established his presence and worship.

Saying, Go, serve other gods: this was the language of their actions; for by driving him from God’s land, and the place of his worship, into foreign and idolatrous lands, they exposed him to the peril of being either insnared by their counsels or examples, or forced by their threats and power to worship idols.

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

19. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me — That God sometimes impels men into evil actions is seen from 2Sa_16:10; 2Sa_24:1; but those very examples show that such instigation is but a part of the punishment of sins already committed. God tempts no man to sin, and the instigations to evil above referred to are not temptations, but judgments for sins already done and demanding punishment. David therefore tells the king that if the Lord has stirred him up to this evil persecution, then he (Saul) should regard himself as a sinner, and seek reconciliation by an offering.

Let him accept an offering — Both at thy hands and at mine. David here implies that he himself is a sinner and may need atonement, but that fact does not lessen Saul’s sin.

If… the children of men — Such as the Ziphites and Doeg the Edomite.

Go, serve other gods — This was the effect of their driving him out of the inheritance of the Lord, that is, from among the chosen people, Israel. They thereby obliged him to be far away from the tabernacle and all the sacred services required by the law. Perhaps Psalms xlii and xliii were composed about this time.

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

The Lord - If the Lord hath by the evil spirit which he hath sent, or by his secret providence, directed thy rage against me for the punishment of thine, or my sins. An offering - Let us offer up a sacrifice to God to appease his wrath against us. Driven me - From the land which God hath given to his people for their inheritance, and where he hath established his presence and worship. Go serve - This was the language of their actions. For by driving him from God's land, and the place of his worship, into foreign and idolatrous lands, they exposed him to the peril of being either ensnared by their counsels, or examples; or forced by their power to worship idols.

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

you, let my master the king listen to the words of his servant ... the king of Israel

David speaks as if he and the king were other people to show respect to Saul. AT: "you my king, listen to my words ... you" (See: Pronouns)

stirred you up against me

"caused you to be angry with me"

let him accept an offering

You may need to make explicit the reason he will give an offering. AT: "I will give him an offering so he will no longer cause you to be angry with me" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

may they be cursed in the sight of Yahweh

This can be translated in active form. AT: "may Yahweh decide to punish them" (See: Active or Passive)

for they have today driven me out, that I should not cling to the inheritance of Yahweh; they have said to me, 'Go worship other gods.'

"for they have today driven me out. It is as if they want me to stop clinging to the inheritance of Yahweh. It is as if they have said to me, 'Go worship other gods.'"

that I should not cling to the inheritance of Yahweh

"so that I will no longer trust that Yahweh will give me what he has promised me"

do not let my blood fall to the earth

This is a polite way of saying "do not kill me." (See: Euphemism)

the one flea

David uses the word "flea" as a metaphor for a person, himself, who cannot do any great harm. AT: "this single flea" or "me, and I cannot harm you any more than one flea can" (See: Metaphor)

as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains

Saul is chasing David as if he were hunting a valuable wild bird. (See: Simile and Translate Unknowns)

translationWords

lord

king

word

servant

Yahweh

sacrifice

curse

inherit

worship

false god

blood

Israel

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

Who has incited you against me. To hate me. Every expression of הֲסָתָה means setting; ametement in O.F.

Let my offering be pleasing to Him. He will accept with mercy my prayer to turn your anger away from me.

For they have driven me away. From Eretz Yisroel.

Go serve other gods. Whoever goes out of Eretz Yisroel to other lands during the time of the Temple is considered as though he worshipped idols. Targum Yonoson renders, 'Go, Dovid, among nations who worship idols.'

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.