Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and kill the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and didn’t disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king wouldn’t put out their hand to fall on the priests of Yahweh.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
- NASB And the king said to the guards who were attending him, “Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not inform me.” But the servants of the king were unwilling to reach out with their hands to attack the priests of the Lord.
- NLT And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the Lord, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn’t tell me!” But Saul’s men refused to kill the Lord’s priests.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Saul orders his guards to kill the priests, but they refuse to harm the LORD's servants.
Overview
Saul commands his soldiers to execute the priests of the LORD, but they will not raise a hand against God's anointed ministers. The guards' refusal shows a reverence for God that the king himself has abandoned. Their fear of the LORD stands as a silent rebuke to Saul's murderous rage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 1:17But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
- 1 Sam 14:45The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn’t die.
- 2 Kgs 1:13–14Again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “Man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty of your servants, be precious in your sight.
- 1 Sam 25:17Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house; for he is such a worthless fellow that one can’t speak to him.”
- 1 Sam 22:13Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”
- 1 Kgs 1:5Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
- 1 Sam 20:33Saul cast his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
- 1 Kgs 18:4for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Sam 8:11He said, “This will be the way of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots.
- 2 Kgs 10:25As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in and kill them! Let no one escape.” So they struck them with the edge of the sword. The guard and the captains threw the bodies out, and went to the inner shrine of the house of Baal.
- Acts 4:19But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
- 2 Sam 15:1After this, Absalom prepared a chariot and horses for himself, and fifty men to run before him.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 22:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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