David 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB David said, “As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.
- BSB David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
- NKJV David said furthermore, “As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish.
- NASB David also said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord certainly will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down in battle and perish.
- NLT Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle.
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 entrusts Saul's fate entirely to the LORD, who will strike him in His own time and way. He refuses to take into his own hands what belongs to God's judgment.
Overview
David lists the ways God might bring Saul's end: a direct stroke, natural death, or death in battle. By naming these, he commits Saul's life to divine providence rather than seizing the moment himself. This trust in God as the righteous Judge models the faith later urged on believers: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord' (Romans 12:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 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.
- Gen 47:29And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
- Deut 31:14And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.
- Ps 37:13The LORD shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
- 1 Sam 25:38And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.
- 1 Sam 31:6So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
- 1 Sam 25:26Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
- Deut 32:35To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
- Ps 37:10For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
- Rev 18:8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
- Job 14:5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
- Ps 94:1–2O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
- Job 14:14If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
- 1 Sam 24:15The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
- Luke 18:7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
- Eccl 3:2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
- Heb 9:27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- Job 7:1Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
- Ps 94:23And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
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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 26:10 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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