1 Samuel 19:12
in 1 Samuel 19So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.
KJV
So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSo Michal let David down through a window,.... In like manner as Rahab let down the spies from her house in Jericho, when the king's messengers were in quest of them, Jos 2:15; and as the disciples let down the Apostle Paul at Damascus, to preserve him from the designs of the Jews upon him: and he went, and fled, and escaped; he departed from his house, and ran with all the haste he could, and escaped the messengers that had beset the house, and were waiting for 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
"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 NyssaON 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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And now it was that, either in his own closet before he went or in the hiding-place to which he fled, he penned that fifty-ninth Psalm , which shows that, in his fright and hurry, his mind was composed, and, in this great danger, his faith was strong and fixed on God; and, whereas the plot was to slay him in the morning, he speaks there with the greatest assurance (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
"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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Let David down through a window - As Saul’s messengers were sent to David’s house to watch him, they would naturally guard the gate, or lie in wait in that place by which David would come out. Michal, seeing this let him down to the ground through a window probably at the back part of the house; and there being neither entrance nor issue that way, the liers in wait were easily eluded.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Michal took. So that they would not realize that he fled, and pursue him.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֧רֶד | vatored | and she let down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִיכַ֛ל | mikhal | Michal | H4324 → | 18 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| בְּעַ֣ד | bead | through | H1157 → | 105 times |
| הַחַלּ֑וֹן | hachalon | the window | H2474 → | |
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וַיִּבְרַ֖ח | vaiyivrach | and he fled | H1272 → | 63 times |
| וַיִּמָּלֵֽט׃ | vaiyimalet | and he escaped | H4422 → | 95 times |
וַתֹּ֧רֶדand she let down
vatoredH3381 →381 times
מִיכַ֛לMichal
mikhalH4324 →18 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דָּוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
בְּעַ֣דthrough
beadH1157 →105 times
הַחַלּ֑וֹןthe window
hachalonH2474 →
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
וַיִּבְרַ֖חand he fled
vaiyivrachH1272 →63 times
וַיִּמָּלֵֽט׃and he escaped
vaiyimaletH4422 →95 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Psalms 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:17
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.
- 1 Peter 4:12–13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
- Psalms 34:6
This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- John 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
- Psalms 34:17
Through
Joshua 2:15Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city.
it leads to
- Acts 9:25
One night, however, his disciples took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.
- 2 Corinthians 11:33
But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.
- Joshua 6:20
So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into…
- Acts 9:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.