Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament · 1 Samuel Capitolo 24

To confirm what he said, he then showed him the lappet of his coat which he had cut off, and said, “ My father, see.” In these words there is an expression of the childlike reverence and affection which David cherished towards the anointed of the Lord. “ For that I cut off the lappet and did not kill thee, learn and see (from this) that (there is) not evil in my hand (i.e., that I do not go about for the purpose of injury and crime), and that I have not sinned against thee, as thou nevertheless layest wait for my soul to destroy it.”

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And even if he should wish to attack the king, he did not possess the power. This thought introduces 1 Samuel 24:14: “ After whom is the king of Israel gone out? After whom dost thou pursue? A dead dog, a single flea.” By these similes David meant to describe himself as a perfectly harmless and insignificant man, of whom Saul had no occasion to be afraid, and whom the king of Israel ought to think it beneath his dignity to pursue. A dead dog cannot bite or hurt, and is an object about which a king ought not to trouble himself (cf. 2 Samuel 9:8 and 2 Samuel 16:9, where the idea of something contemptible is included). The point of comparison with a flea is the insignificance of such an animal (cf. 1 Samuel 26:20).

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As Saul had therefore no good ground for persecuting David, the latter could very calmly commit his cause to the Lord God, that He might decide it as judge, and deliver him out of the hand of Saul: “ Let Him look at it, and conduct my cause,” etc.

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“ If a man meet with his enemy, will he send him (let him go) in peace? ” This sentence is to be regarded as a question, which requires a negative reply, and expresses the thought: When a man meets with an enemy, he does not generally let him escape without injury. But thou hast acted very differently towards me. This thought is easily supplied from the context, and what follows attaches itself to this: “ The Lord repay thee good for what thou hast done to me this day.”

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