Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Samuel
Chapter 19: Slay David Without a Cause
Saul's jealousy hardens into open murder. Jonathan pleads for the innocent David, and Saul swears he will not kill him, only to hurl the javelin again. As Saul sends assassins and hunters, God protects His anointed at every turn, even overpowering Saul's own men, and Saul himself, with His Spirit.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Samuel chapter 19. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 19 shows Saul's murderous hatred of the innocent David, and God's sovereign protection of His anointed. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Jonathan Pleads for David (1 Samuel 19:1-7)
Jonathan intercedes for his friend, reminding Saul of David's innocence and service, and wins a reprieve.
Why Wilt Thou Sin Against Innocent Blood?
"And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself: And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee. And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past."
Word Study
"without a cause," Hebrew chinnam (חִנָּם), "for nothing, freely, without reason or fault." Jonathan pleads that Saul would "sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause (chinnam)." David had done nothing to deserve Saul's hatred; his "works have been to thee-ward very good." He is the innocent, hated for no reason but envy. This is the language later used of the Messiah: "they that hate me without a cause" (Psalm 69:4), the same chinnam, which Jesus applied to Himself, "they hated me without a cause" (John 15:25). David, the righteous man persecuted by a jealous king though he had done only good, foreshadows Christ, the truly innocent One, hated and hunted "without a cause," who "did no sin" yet was condemned. To suffer wrongfully, hated for doing good, is to walk in the footsteps of David and, above him, of the Lord Jesus, who "when he was reviled, reviled not again" (1 Peter 2:23).
Explanation
Saul now drops all pretense and openly orders Jonathan and his servants to kill David. But Jonathan, who "delighted much in David," warns his friend and then becomes his advocate. Standing before his father, he pleads David's case with courage and reason: David "hath not sinned against thee," his works have been "very good," he risked his life to save Israel, and Saul himself rejoiced in the victory. To kill him would be to "sin against innocent blood... without a cause." Jonathan's intercession works, for the moment: Saul swears, "As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain," and David is restored to court. A faithful friend and advocate has spoken for the innocent and won him a reprieve.
Gospel Focus
Jonathan is a beautiful picture of an advocate, one who stands before an angry authority to plead the cause of another. He risked his own standing to speak for David, and his plea was grounded in David's innocence. This points us to our great Advocate: "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). But there is a difference: Jonathan pleaded David's innocence, while Christ pleads for the guilty on the ground of His own righteousness and blood. And David himself, the innocent hated "without a cause," foreshadows Christ the sufferer. The gospel calls us both to imitate Jonathan, speaking up for the wronged and interceding for others, and to rest in the Advocate who ever pleads our cause before the Father.
The Javelin and the Window (1 Samuel 19:8-17)
Saul breaks his oath, hurls the javelin again, and sends men to David's house, but Michal helps him escape by night.
Michal Let David Down Through a Window
"And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him. And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night. Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster. And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?"
Word Study
"escaped," Hebrew malat (מָלַט), "to slip away, escape, be delivered." The word recurs through this section, David "escaped that night," "let him down... and he escaped." Again and again David slips out of Saul's hand, not by his own cleverness alone, but under the protecting providence of God. Though Saul had sworn not to kill him, the javelin flies and the assassins gather, yet David always malat, escapes. This is the experience of the righteous under persecution: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19). David would later sing of this very kind of rescue, "he sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters" (Psalm 18:16). The God who was with David made sure that no scheme of Saul could take him before his time. Our lives, too, are held in God's hand; the enemy cannot cut them short until God's purpose is complete. "My times are in thy hand" (Psalm 31:15).
Explanation
The reprieve is short-lived. After David wins another victory, Saul's evil spirit returns, and he hurls the javelin yet again, breaking his sworn oath; David slips away and it strikes the wall. Now Saul escalates to a manhunt: he sends men to watch David's house and kill him at dawn. But Michal, David's wife and Saul's own daughter, warns him and lowers him through a window to escape by night, then places an idol-image in the bed to buy time, telling the assassins he is sick. When the ruse is discovered, she deflects Saul's fury with a self-protective excuse. David is safe, delivered again. Saul's own children, Jonathan and Michal, keep siding with the innocent David against their murderous father, a house divided by Saul's sin.
Gospel Focus
God protected David through the most ordinary means, a warning, a window, a wife's quick thinking, showing that His providence often works through everyday people and events. The LORD who was with David used Jonathan's words, Michal's window, and David's own swift feet to preserve His anointed. We should not despise the humble means God uses to deliver us; a friend's warning, an open window, a timely escape may be the hand of God. And David's repeated escapes assure us that "the LORD delivereth him out of them all." No javelin, no assassin, no scheme can take the life God is preserving for His purpose. Rest, like David, in the God whose providence guards you, and remember that your "times are in his hand," not the enemy's.
Saul Prophesies at Naioth (1 Samuel 19:18-24)
David flees to Samuel, and God overpowers wave after wave of Saul's assassins, and finally Saul himself, with His Spirit.
The Spirit of God Was Upon Him Also
"So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Word Study
"the Spirit of God was upon him also," a sovereign, overpowering restraint. David flees to Samuel, and Saul sends assassins, but when they reach the prophets, "the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied." Three waves of killers are stopped the same way, and finally Saul himself comes, and "the Spirit of God was upon him also," and he prophesies and lies helpless "all that day and all that night." Here God sovereignly overrules to protect David, seizing the very men sent to kill him. Note the difference from earlier: at his anointing the Spirit came upon Saul to equip him (1 Samuel 10); here the Spirit comes upon him to restrain and humble him, stripping the murderous king powerless before the prophet. God is not mocked; He can halt the hand of the mightiest king in an instant. "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD... he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). When God chooses to protect His own, no army of assassins can prevail; He can turn hunters into worshippers on the spot.
Explanation
David flees to Samuel at Ramah, and they stay at Naioth among the company of the prophets. Saul, learning David's location, sends assassins, but when they arrive amid the prophesying prophets, the Spirit of God falls on them and they prophesy too, unable to carry out their mission. Saul sends a second group, then a third, with the same result. Finally Saul goes himself, and the Spirit overpowers even him: he prophesies all the way, strips off his royal robes, and lies helpless before Samuel a full day and night. The old proverb returns, "Is Saul also among the prophets?", but now with dark irony: earlier it marked God's grace on him; now it marks God's restraint over a rejected king. God has utterly protected David without David lifting a finger.
Gospel Focus
This scene is a stunning display of God's sovereign protection of His anointed. David did nothing; he simply fled to God's prophet, and God did the rest, disarming three squads of assassins and the king himself with His Spirit. When the LORD is determined to protect His own, He can stop the enemy in his tracks and even turn the weapons of persecution into instruments of praise. "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways" (Psalm 91:11). The believer under attack may rest in this: God is able to restrain the hand of every enemy, however powerful, and to preserve His servant until His purpose is done. And the humbling of the proud king, stripped and helpless before the Spirit, warns that no one, not even a king, can stand against God. Better to bow to the Spirit in worship than to be overpowered by Him in judgment.
Chapter 19 in Review
1 Samuel 19 shows Saul's jealousy hardening into open, relentless murder, and God's steadfast protection of the innocent David. Jonathan bravely intercedes, pleading that Saul would not "sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause," and wins a reprieve, but Saul breaks his oath, hurls the javelin, and launches a manhunt. God delivers David again and again, through Jonathan's advocacy, Michal's window, and finally by overpowering three waves of assassins, and Saul himself, with His Spirit, so that the hunters prophesy and the king lies helpless before Samuel.
For the Apostolic reader, David the innocent, hated "without a cause," foreshadows Christ, hated without a cause though He did only good. Jonathan the advocate points to our Advocate with the Father. And the sovereign restraint of God, seizing the very assassins and the king, assures us that "the LORD delivereth" the righteous "out of them all," and that no enemy can prevail against those He is determined to protect. Our times are in His hand.
- David was hated "without a cause," foreshadowing Christ, hated chinnam though He did only good.
- Jonathan the advocate pleaded the innocent's cause, pointing to our Advocate, Jesus Christ.
- God delivered David through humble means, a warning, a window, and swift feet; despise not the ordinary.
- God overpowered assassins and the king with His Spirit; He can restrain any enemy to protect His own.
Questions for Reflection
- Have you suffered wrongfully, hated for doing good? How does David's, and Christ's, example steady you?
- Will you be a Jonathan, an advocate who speaks up for the wronged and intercedes for others?
- Can you rest in the God who protected David, trusting that your "times are in his hand"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Jonathan's intercession; hated without a cause: 1 Samuel 19:1-7; Psalm 69:4; John 15:25; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 John 2:1.
- The javelin and the window; the LORD delivers: 1 Samuel 19:8-17; Psalm 34:19; 18:16; 31:15.
- The Spirit overpowers the assassins and Saul; God's protection: 1 Samuel 19:18-24; Proverbs 21:1; Psalm 91:11.