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1 Samuel 19:11

in 1 Samuel 19

Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Saul sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou wilt be slain.

KJV

Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 19

Commentary

11 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Josephus says the design was to seize him and to hurry him before a court of justice that was ordered to condemn him and put him to death as a traitor; but we are here told it was a shorter way they were to take with him: they were ordered to slay him.

This site's exposition

to watch him, and to slay him

on 1 Samuel 19:11-13

Saul now moves from his own hand to a cordon of messengers watching David's house through the night, meaning to take him the moment he steps outside in the morning. Michal, Saul's own daughter, warns her husband and lets him down through a window, a rescue the older commentators compare to Rahab lowering the spies at Jericho. In David's place she lays an image, the teraphim, on the bed with a pillow of goats' hair for its head. The text never says why a household image was under this roof at all, and the readings run from an ordinary object kept without David's knowledge to Michal's own private use, with Gill noting plainly that David would not have allowed it in his house had he known.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Cassiodorus

EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 58.1 · Written before 585.

proposed

"Then Saul sent and watched his house to kill him." This too is fittingly associated with the Lord's passion, for house indicates the tomb where he rested in a three-day death. The Jews' leaders sent men to guard it, to destroy so to say the …

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.264 · Written before 395.

proposed

The story relates how, when the vehement emotion of the demonic spirit had settled on Saul and the holy David quieted the disturbance of the passion by means of his psaltery, Saul found the spear that was standing by him, aimed it straight at David and hurled it against his benefactor. David, however, avoided the attack on himself by means of the divine alliance, and the assault of the spear fixed itself deeply in the wall. He fled the royal dwellings and was in his own house, in the hope that repentance would alter the king's anger.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

Therefore Saul sent his messengers to David's house, etc. The chief priests and Pharisees sent their messengers to the Lord's tomb to guard it, hoping that by denying the truth of the resurrection, the memory of His name would be erased in the future. The …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Often is the devil out-shot with his own bow. How Michal came to know the danger her husband was in does not appear; perhaps she had notice sent her from court, or rather was herself aware of the soldiers about the house, when they were going to bed, though they kept so still and silent that they said, Who dost hear? which David takes notice of, Ps. lix.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

David himself was better versed in the art of fighting than of flying, and had it been lawful it would have been easy for him to have cleared his house, by dint of sword, from those that haunted it; but Michal let him down through a window (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

4 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

"God," says Mr. Henry, "inclined the heart of Saul to hearken to the voice of Jonathan." 8. And David, &c. - So David continues his good service, tho' it was ill requited. They who are ill paid for doing good, yet must not be weary of well doing, remembering how bountiful a benefactor God is, even to the evil and unthankful.
And Saul sent messengers unto David's house,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

To slay him in the morning - When they might be able to distinguish between him and Michal his wife; for, had they attempted his life in the night season, there would have been some danger to Michal’s life. Besides, Saul wished to represent him as a traitor; and consequently an attack upon him was justifiable at any time, even in the fullest daylight.
Saul’s plan was to surround the house at night, and to have David killed as soon as he came abroad unsuspectingly in the morning.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּשְׁלַח֩and he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • שָׁא֨וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • מַלְאָכִ֜יםmessengers

    malakhimH4397 →213 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בֵּ֤ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לְשָׁמְר֔וֹto watch for him

    leshameroH8104 →468 times

  • וְלַהֲמִית֖וֹand to kill him

    velahamitoH4191 →839 times

  • בַּבֹּ֑קֶרin the morning

    babokerH1242 →214 times

  • וַתַּגֵּ֣דand she told

    vatagedH5046 →370 times

  • לְדָוִ֗דto David

    ledavidH1732 →999 times

  • מִיכַ֤לMichal

    mikhalH4324 →18 times

  • אִשְׁתּוֹ֙wife his

    ʾishtoH802 →781 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • אֵ֨ינְךָ֜not you

    ʾeinekhaH369 →789 times

  • מְמַלֵּ֤ט[are] delivering

    memaletH4422 →95 times

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נַפְשְׁךָ֙life your

    nafshekhaH5315 →754 times

  • הַלַּ֔יְלָהthis night

    halaylahH3915 →233 times

  • מָחָ֖רtomorrow

    macharH4279 →52 times

  • אַתָּ֥הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • מוּמָֽת׃[will be] put to death

    mumatH4191 →839 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 19:17As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”10 worksPsalms 59:1–17Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me.5 worksJudges 16:2When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait until dawn; then we will kill him.”3 works1 Samuel 19:20he sent messengers to capture him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.3 worksProverbs 16:29A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.3 worksPsalms 36:4Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.2 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 55:10Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.2 worksPsalms 59:6They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.2 worksPsalms 71:10For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,2 worksPsalms 11:1In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!2 worksMatthew 27:1When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.1 works

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Judges 16:2

    When the Gazites heard that Samson was there, they surrounded that place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They were quiet throughout the night, saying, “Let us wait…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 118:10–12

      All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.

    • 1 Samuel 23:26

      Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on…

    • Acts 9:24

      but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.

    • Judges 15:18

      And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

    • Acts 23:15

      Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.”

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

David Escapes through a Window — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Escapes through a Window — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 19 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 58.1; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.264; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 19 →