1 Samuel 26:20
in 1 Samuel 26So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Jehovah: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
KJV
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 26
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAs when one doth hunt a partridge - It is worthy of remark that the Arabs, observing that partridges, being put up several times, soon become so weary as not to be able to fly; they in this manner hunt them upon the mountains, till at last they can knock them down with their clubs. It was in this manner that Saul hunted David, coming hastily upon him, and putting him up from time to time, in hopes that he should at length, by frequent repetitions of it, be able to destroy him. See Harmer.
This site's exposition
as when one doth hunt a partridge
David's closing image is self-deprecation aimed to disarm: the king of Israel, with three thousand chosen men, come out after a single flea, hunted the way men hunt a partridge in the mountains, put up again and again until it tires enough to be clubbed. Every figure in the speech shrinks David and enlarges the disproportion of Saul's whole campaign, from a flea to a bird that only flies rather than fights. The plea that his blood not fall before the face of the Lord ties the whole appeal back to the inheritance he says he has been driven out of a verse earlier.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He compares himself to a partridge, a very innocent harmless bird, which, when attempts are made upon its life, flies if it can, but makes no resistance. And would Saul bring the flower of his army into the field only to hunt one poor partridge? What a disparagement was this to his honour!
23 The L ORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the L ORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the L ORD 's anointed. 24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the L ORD , and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:89%@v23-24
Now therefore let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Then David . . . stood on the top of an hill afar off . . . and cried to the people--(See on Jud 9:7). The extraordinary purity and elasticity of the air in Palestine enable words to be distinctly heard that are addressed by a speaker from the top of one hill to people on that of another, from which it is separated by a deep intervening ravine.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
as when one doth hunt a partridge--People in the East, in hunting the partridge and other game birds, pursue them, till observing them becoming languid and fatigued after they have been put up two or three times, they rush upon the birds stealthily and knock them down with bludgeons [SHAW, Travels]. It was exactly in this manner that Saul was pursuing David.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יִפֹּ֤ל | yipol | it fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| דָּֽמִי֙ | dami | blood my | H1818 → | 360 times |
| אַ֔רְצָה | ʾartzah | [the] ground towards | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִנֶּ֖גֶד | mineged | from before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| פְּנֵ֣י | penei | [the] presence of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָצָ֞א | yatza' | he has come out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ | levakesh | to seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֣שׁ | parosh | a flea | H6550 → | |
| אֶחָ֔ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִרְדֹּ֥ף | yirdof | someone pursues | H7291 → | 143 times |
| הַקֹּרֵ֖א | hakore' | the partridge | H7124 → | |
| בֶּהָרִֽים׃ | beharim | in the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
וְעַתָּ֗הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יִפֹּ֤לit fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
דָּֽמִי֙blood my
damiH1818 →360 times
אַ֔רְצָה[the] ground towards
ʾartzahH776 →2504 times
מִנֶּ֖גֶדfrom before
minegedH5048 →151 times
פְּנֵ֣י[the] presence of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָצָ֞אhe has come out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לְבַקֵּשׁ֙to seek
levakeshH1245 →225 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פַּרְעֹ֣שׁa flea
paroshH6550 →
אֶחָ֔דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
יִרְדֹּ֥ףsomeone pursues
yirdofH7291 →143 times
הַקֹּרֵ֖אthe partridge
hakore'H7124 →
בֶּהָרִֽים׃in the mountains
beharimH2022 →546 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
1 Samuel 2:9He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:5
who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 91:11–12
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Psalms 121:3
He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.
- Psalms 33:16–17
No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Psalms 94:18
If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me.
- 1 Peter 1:5
Through
1 Samuel 25:29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling…
it leads to
- John 17:21
that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
- Matthew 10:29–30
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
- Malachi 3:17
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- John 17:21
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.