1 Samuel 26:21

21 Entonces Saúl confesó:
—He pecado. Hijo mío, vuelve a casa, y ya no trataré de hacerte daño, porque hoy has valorado mi vida. He sido un tonto, y he estado muy, pero muy equivocado.

1 Samuel 26:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:21

Then said Saul, I have sinned
Which is more than he acknowledged before, and yet, it is to be feared he had no true sense of his sin, and real repentance for it; but, like Pharaoh, his guilty conscience for the present forced this confession from him; see ( Exodus 9:27 ) ;

return, my son David:
meaning to his own house, or rather to his palace, since he had disposed of his wife to another man:

for I will no more do thee harm:
or seek to do it by pursuing him from place to place, as he had done, which had given him a great deal of trouble and fatigue:

because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day;
and therefore spared, when he could have taken it away; which showed that his life was dear to him, of great worth and value in his account; and therefore he would neither take it away himself, nor suffer another to do it:

behold, I have played the fool, and erred exceedingly:
in seeking after his life, and pursuing him again, when he had such a convincing proof of his sincerity and faithfulness, and of his cordial affection for him, when he only cut off the skirts of his garment in the cave, and spared his life.

1 Samuel 26:21 In-Context

19 Pero ahora que mi señor el rey escuche a su siervo. Si el Señor
lo ha incitado en mi contra, entonces que él acepte mi ofrenda. Pero si esto es solo un plan humano, entonces que los que estén involucrados sean malditos por el Señor
. Pues me han expulsado de mi hogar, y ya no puedo vivir entre el pueblo del Señor
y han dicho: “Ve, rinde culto a dioses paganos”.

20 ¿Debo morir en tierra extranjera, lejos de la presencia del Señor
? ¿Por qué el rey de Israel ha salido a buscar a una sola pulga? ¿Por qué me persigue como a una perdiz en las montañas?

21 Entonces Saúl confesó:
—He pecado. Hijo mío, vuelve a casa, y ya no trataré de hacerte daño, porque hoy has valorado mi vida. He sido un tonto, y he estado muy, pero muy equivocado.

22 —Aquí está su lanza, oh rey —dijo David—. Permita que uno de sus jóvenes venga por ella.

23 El Señor
da su propia recompensa por hacer el bien y por ser leal, y yo rehusé matarlo, aun cuando el Señor
lo puso en mi poder, porque usted es el ungido del Señor
.