David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to men’s words, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you?’
Parallel translations
- KJV And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
- BSB and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?
- NKJV And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’?
- NASB And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David is seeking to harm you’?
- NLT Then he shouted to Saul, “Why do you listen to the people who say I am trying to 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 asks why Saul listens to slanderers who claim David seeks his harm. He confronts the lies that have fueled the persecution.
Overview
David identifies false counselors and rumor-mongers as a root of Saul's hostility, appealing to Saul to weigh the truth for himself. He distinguishes between the gossip Saul has believed and his own actual conduct. The verse exposes how slander poisons relationships and how the righteous must sometimes answer accusations plainly, trusting God to vindicate the truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 29:12If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.
- Eccl 7:21–22Also don’t take heed to all words that are spoken, lest you hear your servant curse you;
- Prov 17:4An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
- Prov 26:28A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.
- 1 Sam 26:19Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that Yahweh has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before Yahweh; for they have driven me out today that I shouldn’t cling to Yahweh’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’
- Prov 16:28A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
- Prov 26:20–22For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
- Prov 25:23The north wind produces rain; so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.
- Lev 19:16“‘You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. “‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
- Ps 141:6Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock. They will hear my words, for they are well spoken.
- Jas 3:6And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna.
- Ps 101:5I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited.
- Prov 18:8The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person’s innermost parts.
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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 24:9 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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