1 Samuel 22:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 22:17
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
footmen
לָרָצִים֩la.ra.Tzim
H7323
to run (for whatever reason · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
stood
הַנִּצָּבִ֨יםha.ni.tza.Vim
H5324
to station · definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Turn
סֹ֥בּוּSo.bu
H5437
to revolve · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
slay
וְהָמִ֣יתוּve.ha.Mi.tu
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 1:17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
1 Samuel 14:45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there sh…
2 Kings 1:13-14 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before…
1 Samuel 8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his ch…
1 Samuel 20:33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
1 Samuel 22:13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and has…
1 Samuel 25:17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such…
2 Samuel 15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 22:6-19
We have seen the progress of David's troubles; now here we have the progress of Saul's wickedness. He seems to have laid aside the thoughts of all other business and to have devoted himself wholly to the pursuit of David. He heard at length, by the common fame of the country, that David was discovered (that is, that he appeared publicly and enlisted men into his service); and hereupon he called all his servants about him, and sat down under a tree, or grove, in the high place at Gibeah, with his spear in his hand for a sceptre, intimating the force by which he designed to rule, and the present temper of his spirit, or its distemper rather, which was to kill all that stood in his way. In this…
SAUL COMMANDS TO KILL THE PRIESTS. (Sa1 22:17-19)
the footmen that stood about him--his bodyguard, or his runners (Sa1 8:11; Sa2 15:1; Kg1 1:5; Kg1 14:28), who held an important place at court (Ch2 12:10). But they chose rather to disobey the king than to offend God by imbruing their hands in the blood of his ministering servants. A foreigner alone (Psa 52:1-3) could be found willing to be the executioner of this bloody and sacrilegious sentence. Thus was the doom of the house of Eli fulfilled [Sa1 2:30-36].
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 22:17
But the servants of the king would not - They dared to disobey the commands of the king in a case of such injustice, inhumanity, and irreligion.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 22:17
And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him,.... Or the "runners" (f); the running footmen, that used to run before him when he went out from place to place, and were here waiting on him, ready to set out whenever he should give the orders to go elsewhere. The tradition of the Jews is, that these were Abner and Amasa (g); but, as Kimchi observes, they were not footmen, but princes, captains in the army, and the first of them the general of it:
turn and slay the priests of the Lord; he owns them to be the priests of the Lord, and calls them so, and yet gave orders to put them to death, though innocent; one would have thought this their character would have flown in his face, and…
The Church Fathers
And the king said to the emissaries, etc. We always perceive a different state of the wicked and the good. For some, ascending to the highest peak of wickedness, become authors of persecution; whom Saul himself designates by persecuting David. Some openly submit to nefarious authority by supporting the fury of the same persecution in evil; of whom Doeg the Edomite holds the type. Some, as if of a milder nature, abstain from teaching neighbors, or from extorting punishments, although they seem to keep their hands innocent from impiety; to which the servants of Saul, refraining from injuring the priests of the Lord, are properly fitted. Likewise, among the faithful to be tested by the temptations of the wicked, there are some who struggle for the truth even unto blood; who are shown by the example of the priests of Nob with their destroyed ones, who, with equal faith and love, but endowed with lesser courage to endure tribulation, rather take refuge in flight; knowing that indeed the high mountains are a refuge for stags, but the rock is a refuge for hedgehogs and hares (Psalm 104), to which one, the priest who escaped the striking hand of Saul, is figuratively equated. Since we have seen this disparity of merits and manners in the past, we also believe it will occur in the final, although greater persecution to come; namely, that due to the savagery and infanda authority of the impious authors, among the mute who obediently yield to evil, there will not be those who keep themselves immune from hurting the good; nor could the slightest modesty of such people remove the fervor of the most savage tribulation. For it follows:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abiathar — Father of abundance, or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest. He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent from Eli. When his father was slain with the priests of Nob, he…
Ahimelech — Brother of the king, the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar (1 Sam. 22:20-23). He descended from Eli in the line of Ithamar. In 1 Chr. 18:16 he is called Abimelech, and is probably the same as…
Footman — a word employed in the English Bible in two senses:
Guard — (1.) Heb. tabbah (properly a “cook,” and in a secondary sense “executioner,” because this office fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries), the bodyguard of the kings of Egypt (Gen. 37:36)…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Mizpah — Or Miz’peh, watch-tower; the look-out. (1.) A place in Gilead, so named by Laban, who overtook Jacob at this spot (Gen. 31:49) on his return to Palestine from Padan-aram. Here Jacob and Laban set up…
Nob — High place, a city of the priests, first mentioned in the history of David’s wanderings (1 Sam. 21:1). Here the tabernacle was then standing, and here Ahimelech the priest resided. (See AHIMELECH.)…
Post — (1.) A runner, or courier, for the rapid transmission of letters, etc. (2 Chr. 30:6; Esther 3:13, 15; 8:10, 14; Job 9:25; Jer. 51:31). Such messengers were used from very early times. Those employed…
Abiathar · in the City of Nob — in the City of Nob
Ahijah · .Killed — .Killed
Ahimelech · .Killed by the command of Saul — .Killed by the command of Saul
priests
כֹּהֲנֵ֣יko.ha.Nei
H3548
literally one officiating · noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hand
יָדָם֙ya.Dam
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
David
דָּוִ֔דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
knew
יָֽדְעוּ֙ya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
fled
בֹרֵ֣חַvo.Re.ach
H1272
to bolt · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
shew
גָל֖וּga.Lu
H1540
to denude (especially in a disgraceful sense) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
servants
עַבְדֵ֤י'av.Dei
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct
king
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
would
אָב֞וּ'a.Vu
H14
to breathe after · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
forth
לִשְׁלֹ֣חַlish.Lo.ach
H7971
to send away · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
hand
יָדָ֔םya.Dam
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
fall
לִפְגֹ֖עַlif.Go.a'
H6293
to impinge · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
priests
בְּכֹהֲנֵ֥יbe.kho.ha.Nei
H3548
literally one officiating · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Notwithstanding this truthful assertion of his innocence, Saul pronounced sentence of death, not only upon the high priest, but upon all the priests at Nob, and commanded his רצים, "runner," i.e., halberdiers, to put the priests to death, because, as he declared in his wrath, "their hand is with David (i.e., because they side with David), and because they knew that he fled and did not tell me." Instead of the Chethibh אזנו, it is probably more correct to read אזני, according to the Keri, although the Chethibh may be accounted for if necessary from a sudden transition from a direct to an indirect form of address: "and (as he said) had not told him." This sentence was so cruel, and so nearly b…
your son-in-law: David had married Saul’s daughter (18:17-29).
Rashi on 1 Samuel 22:17
To the runners who stood near him. Referring to Avneir and Amoso.
Did not want. They expounded [Scripture's] "but's and only's." Scripture states: "Every man who rebels against your command [shall be put to death]."8Yehoshua 1:18. One may think that this means even [if "your command" was] to commit a sin; Scripture, therefore states: "Only" [to exclude this condition].
Kings · Often exercised power arbitrarily — Often exercised power arbitrarily
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
