1 Samuel 24:5
in 1 Samuel 24Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
KJV
And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 24
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhen, therefore, he was alone and had removed his robe and laid it down somewhere beside him, the light from the mouth of the cave made him visible to those hidden within the darkness. All of David's companions wanted to rush upon the enemy and avenge themselves on the one who had come to kill them, since God had given the enemy into the hands of those who were being pursued for slaughter. But David forbade them to attack, considering an assault against their king unlawful. He drew his own sword from its sheath and imperceptibly stood behind Saul.
This site's exposition
cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe
on 1 Samuel 24:4-5
David's men read Saul's arrival as the answer to a promise David had received of the throne, though Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown both note that God had never actually promised to deliver Saul himself into David's hand that day. David cuts off the skirt of Saul's robe rather than take the life his men are urging, and the next verse turns the whole scene on its hinge: his heart smites him for the cloth alone. Gill reads that reaction as conscience working on a lesser act than the one his men proposed, which measures how far David will not go.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
In this way, too, the kingdom of Saul himself, who certainly was reprobated and rejected, was the shadow of a kingdom yet to come which should remain to eternity. For, indeed, the oil with which he was anointed, and from that chrism he is called Christ, is to be taken in a mystical sense, and is to be understood as a great mystery; which David himself venerated so much in him, that he trembled with smitten heart when, being hid in a dark cave, which Saul also entered when pressed by the necessity of nature, he had come secretly behind him and cut off a small piece of his robe, that he might be able to prove how he had spared him when he could have killed him, and might thus remove from his mind the suspicion through which he had vehemently persecuted the holy David, thinking him his enemy. Therefore he was much afraid lest he should be accused of violating so great a mystery in Saul, because he had thus meddled even his clothes. For thus it is written: "And David's heart smote him because he had taken away the skirt of his cloak." But to the men with him, who advised him to destroy Saul thus delivered up into his hands, he saith, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's christ, to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord's christ." Therefore he showed so great reverence to this shadow of what was to come, not for its own sake, but for the sake of what it prefigured.
This is why the coming together of Saul, who was in pursuit of murder, and of David, who was shunning murder, in the cave is described after many events which it had preceded.
You have grounds for complaint against the leaders of our people, since you are redeeming those whom they very often permitted to be taken captive or even themselves reduced to servitude. Scripture gives us an example of singular praise when it extols David to the …
The Medieval Church1 voice
After these things, David's heart struck him, etc. The Lord groaned for the human race, from which he took flesh, with the affection of compassion, because by its merits he was compelled to take away some part of its royal ornament, preferring that it might …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him,.... His conscience accused him, and he repented of what he had done: because he had cut off Saul's skirt; which though less than what his servants put him upon, and he might have thoughts of doing, yet was considered by him as a great indignity to his sovereign, and therefore sat uneasy on his mind.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He produces undeniable evidence to prove the falsehood of the suggestion upon which Saul's malice against him was grounded. David was charged with seeking Saul's hurt: " See, " says he, " yea, see the skirt of thy robe,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand--God had never made any promise of delivering Saul into David's hand; but, from the general and repeated promises of the kingdom to him, they concluded that the king's death was to be effected by taking advantage of some such opportunity as the present.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
David’s heart smote him - He thought the action inconsistent with the respect which he owed to the king.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵי־ | ʾacharei- | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵ֔ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| וַיַּ֥ךְ | vaiyakh | and it struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| לֵב־ | lev- | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| דָּוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֹת֑וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַ֚ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כָּרַ֔ת | karat | he had cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּנָ֖ף | kanaf | [the] skirt | H3671 → | 109 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְשָׁאֽוּל׃ ס | leshaul | [belonged] to Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
אַֽחֲרֵי־after
ʾacharei-H310 →715 times
כֵ֔ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
וַיַּ֥ךְand it struck
vaiyakhH5221 →499 times
לֵב־[the] heart of
lev-H3820 →595 times
דָּוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אֹת֑וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
עַ֚לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
כָּרַ֔תhe had cut off
karatH3772 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּנָ֖ף[the] skirt
kanafH3671 →109 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לְשָׁאֽוּל׃ ס[belonged] to Saul
leshaulH7586 →402 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 Kings 22:19because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse,…
it leads to
- Psalms 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- 1 Kings 21:29
“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity during his days, but I will bring it upon his house…
- Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
- Exodus 10:3
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people…
- 1 Peter 5:5–6
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Psalms 51:17
Through
2 Samuel 24:10After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- 1 Samuel 13:13
“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- 2 Samuel 12:13
Through
2 Samuel 12:9Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:19
So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
- 1 Samuel 15:19
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, THE CITY OF GOD 17.6; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.14.227-28; Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Magnus Felix Ennodius, Commentary (church-history corpus) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.