The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
- BSB May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you, but my hand will never be against you.
- NKJV Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.
- NASB May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me; but my hand shall not be against you.
- NLT “May the Lord judge between us. Perhaps the Lord will punish you for what you are trying to do to me, but I will never harm you.
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
David commits his cause to God as judge, refusing to take personal revenge. He entrusts justice to the Lord rather than his own hand.
Overview
David appeals to Yahweh to judge between him and Saul and to avenge any wrong, while vowing his own hand will not touch the king. This is the heart of biblical patience under persecution: leaving room for God's justice rather than repaying evil for evil. It anticipates Romans 12, 'Vengeance is mine, says the Lord,' and reflects the trust Christ Himself showed in committing Himself to the One who judges righteously.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Judg 11:27Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
- Ps 43:1Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
- Ps 35:1Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
- Gen 16:5And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
- Ps 94:1O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
- Rom 12:19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
- 1 Pet 2:23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
- Job 5:8I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
- Ps 7:8–9The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
- 1 Sam 26:23The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’s anointed.
- 1 Sam 26:10–11David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
- Rev 6:10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
- Gen 31:53The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:12 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.