1 Samuel 19:14
in 1 Samuel 19When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
KJV
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseNow Michal's name means "reign," because sin reigned over our nature up to that time. And at the very time he himself was born, he [the Lord in the figure of David] went out through a window. And the window indicates the return to the light again of the one who made himself known to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.And his image is seen on the bed. For the angel says to those seeking the Lord in the tomb, "Why do you seek the living with the dead? He is not here; he is risen."
This site's exposition
she said, He is sick
on 1 Samuel 19:14-15
Michal's lie buys another day, and Saul's answer in verse 15 shows how far the pursuit has run: bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him, ordering a sick man killed where he lies rather than risk his recovering to escape again. The command exposes the kill order for what it always was, a private hatred rather than justice against a rebel, one that will not wait for due order. Henry calls it base to hunt a man believed dying by nature's own hand, and worse still to demand the body as proof.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And not in war only, but also in peace the need of deceit may be found, not merely in reference to the affairs of the state but also in private life, in the dealings of husband with wife and wife with husband, son with father, friend with friend, and also children with a parent. For the daughter of Saul would not have been able to rescue her husband out of Saul's hands except by deceiving her father. And her brother, wishing to save him whom she had rescued when he was again in danger, made use of the same weapon as the wife.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Saul, however, sent messengers to seize David, etc. The unbelieving Jews sent ambushers immediately after the celebration of the Lord's resurrection, who, probing the hearts of the faithful, would seize from them the love of Christ either by flattery or by threats. But they, still …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"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 when Saul sent messengers to take David,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| שָׁא֛וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֖ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| לָקַ֣חַת | lakachat | to fetch | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּוִ֑ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַתֹּ֖אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חֹלֶ֥ה | choleh | [is] sick | H2470 → | 76 times |
| הֽוּא׃ פ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַ֥חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
שָׁא֛וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
מַלְאָכִ֖יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
לָקַ֣חַתto fetch
lakachatH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דָּוִ֑דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וַתֹּ֖אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
חֹלֶ֥ה[is] sick
cholehH2470 →76 times
הֽוּא׃ פhe
hu'H1931 →1879 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
2 Samuel 17:20When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” “They have crossed over the brook,” she replied. The men searched but did not find them, so…
it leads to
- Exodus 1:19
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”
- 1 Samuel 27:11–12
David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the…
- 1 Samuel 21:2
“The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission or charge. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a…
- 1 Samuel 19:12–17
So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
- Joshua 2:22–23
So the spies went out into the hill country and stayed there three days, until their pursuers had returned without finding them, having searched all along the road.
- Exodus 1:19
Through
Joshua 2:5At dusk, when the gate was about to close, the men went out, and I do not know which way they went. Pursue them quickly, and you may catch them!”
it leads to
- Revelation 21:25
Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
- Jeremiah 50:20
In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for…
- Isaiah 60:11
Your gates will always stand open; they will never be shut, day or night, so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you, with their kings being led in procession.
- Revelation 21:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonUnited monarchySaulIsrael's first king, head and shoulders above the people; began in humility, ended in rejection — sparing what God devoted, consul…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.272-73; John Chrysostom, ON THE PRIESTHOOD 1.8; 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.