1 Samuel 24:6

6 He said to his men, "May the LORD keep me from doing a thing like that to my master again. He is the LORD's anointed king. So I promise that I will never lift my hand to strike him down. The LORD has anointed him."

1 Samuel 24:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:6

And he said unto his men
When he returned and brought the skirt of Saul's garment in his hand; or else he said this before that, though here mentioned, when they moved it to him to dispatch him, as he had a fair opportunity of doing it:

God forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's
anointed;
and which he could not think of but with detestation and abhorrence, since he was his sovereign lord and master, and he a subject of his, and was anointed by the order of God, and his person sacred:

to stretch forth my hand against him;
to take away his life; to cut off the skirt of his garment gave him uneasiness; but to slay him, the thought of it was shocking to him:

seeing he [is] the anointed of the Lord;
anointed by Samuel to be king, ( 1 Samuel 10:1 ) , by order of the Lord, ( 1 Samuel 9:17 ) .

1 Samuel 24:6 In-Context

4 David's men said, "This is the day the LORD told you about. He said to you, 'I will hand your enemy over to you. Then you can deal with him as you want to.' " So David came up close to Saul without being seen. He cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

5 Later, David felt sorry that he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

6 He said to his men, "May the LORD keep me from doing a thing like that to my master again. He is the LORD's anointed king. So I promise that I will never lift my hand to strike him down. The LORD has anointed him."

7 David said that to warn his men. He didn't allow them to attack Saul. So Saul left the cave and went on his way.

8 Then David went out of the cave. He called out to Saul, "King Saul! My master!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down. He lay down flat with his face toward the ground.