1 Samuel 19:16
Ver. 16. And when the messengers were come in,.... To David's house, and into the room where he was supposed to lie:
behold, [there was] an image in the bed to their great surprise; they expected to see David, but instead of him the teraphim, as in 1Sa 19:13; if they had been in the room before, and thought they had seen David in the bed, they might be the more surprised to find that it was only an image they saw:
with a pillow of goats' [hair] for his bolster; See Gill on "1Sa 19:13". 1 Samuel 19:17Ver. 17. And Saul said unto Michal,.... After the messengers returned and reported what they had seen, when Saul either came to her at her house, or sent for her to his palace:why hast thou deceived me so; for deceiving his messengers was deceiving him, by pretending David was sick and in bed, when she had placed an image there, and had let him down through a window, and he was gone:and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? as if she was more obliged to gratify the wicked passion of a father, than to provide for the safety of her husband:and Michal answered Saul, he said unto me, let me go, why should I kill thee? though she was concerned for the preservation of her husband, yet not for his honour and credit, nor for her own veracity; she attempted not to vindicate her husband from the charge of being an enemy to Saul, as she might; but suggested that he was so desperate a man, that if she had offered to have detained him, he would have murdered her, and threatened, if she did, he would do when both were false; that he should say to her let me go, when it was she that advised him to go, and that if she refused he would kill her; which lies were framed by her to excuse herself, at the expense of her husband's reputation. 1 Samuel 19:18Ver. 18. So David fled and escaped,.... Fled from his own house, and escaped falling into the hands of the messengers of Saul, and so of Saul himself:and came to Samuel to Ramah; the place where Samuel dwelt: to him David chose to come, by whom he had been anointed king, that his faith might be strengthened by him with respect to the kingdom, which might be weakened by what had happened to him; and that he might have some advice and direction from him what he should do, and what course he should take in his present circumstances, and that he might receive some comfort from him under his present troubles:and told him all that Saul had done to him; how he had spoken to his servants to kill him, had cast a javelin at him himself, and had sent messengers to his house to slay him:and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth; which was in or near to Ramah, as appears by 1Sa 19:19; which perhaps was a more retired place, and so chosen for the sake of conversation between them, or reckoned a more safe place. Here being a school or college of the prophets, might be a kind of an asylum, and where it might be thought Saul would not attempt to lay hands on David, should he know where he was; for if the Philistines gave no disturbance to the hill of God, and the prophets in it, 1Sa 10:5; it might be reasonably concluded Saul would not; so the Targum paraphrases it, "he and Samuel went and dwelt in the house of doctrine", or in the school, the school of the prophets. R. Abimi the Nothite, or Naiothite, mentioned in the Talmud {i}, is supposed {k} to be of this place; it is said {l} to be six miles from Jerusalem to the north.{i} T. Bab. Sabbat, c. 1. fol. 17. 2. Avodah Zarah, c. 2. fol. 36. 1. {k} Aruch in voce twwn, fol. 98. 4. Juchasin, fol. 74. 2. {l} Adrichom, Theatrum T. S. fol. 28. 2. 1 Samuel 19:19Ver. 19. And it was told Saul,.... By some officious persons who saw David at Ramah, and observed that he and Samuel went together to Naioth:saying, behold, David [is] at Naioth, in Ramah; or near it; according to R. Isaiah, Ramah was the name of a hill, or mountain, so called from its height, and Naioth the name of a place on it; it signifies pastures and pleasant places, as meadows and pastures are; and here in the fields near Ramah was the house of doctrine, as the Targum calls it, or the school of the prophets, being pleasant and retired, and fit for study. 1 Samuel 19:20Ver. 20. And Saul sent messengers to take David,.... Notwithstanding the sacred place he was in, so bent was he upon his destruction:and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying; or praising, as the Targum; singing hymns and songs of praise to God, under the inspiration and influence of the Spirit of God, who endited these songs for them, and excited them to sing them; these prophets belonged to the school or college of prophets at Naioth, whom the messengers saw when they came thither, and found them thus employed; or "when he saw" {m}, for the word is singular, that is, the chief of the messengers, or everyone of them, so Kimchi:and Samuel standing [as] appointed over them; he was president of the college, and he stood to instruct and teach them in the knowledge of divine things: so the Targum,"standing, teaching over them or by them,''and to direct and assist them in singing their songs of praise:the Spirit of the Lord was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied: or praised, as the Targum; sung hymns and songs of praise as the prophets did, and were so taken up with these religious exercises, that they forgot, or were inattentive to the business they were sent to do. Ben Gersom thinks they foretold things to come, and so Abarbinel; and particularly that they prophesied that David should rule over all Israel, and that God would not suffer Saul to slay him; and so were indifferent to, and negligent of doing the errand they were sent on, yea, purposely avoided it.{m} aryw "et vidit", Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version; "et vidit quisque [vel] unusquisque illorum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. 1 Samuel 19:21Ver. 21. And when it was told Saul,.... That the messengers he had sent, instead of seizing on David, were prophesying of him, or however were attending to services of a different nature than what they were sent upon:he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise; when they came to the same place:and Saul sent messengers again a third time, and they prophesied also; joined the rest in singing praises, or foretelling future events. 1 Samuel 19:22Ver. 22. Then went he also to Ramah,.... That is, Saul; his messengers not returning to him, when he sent one after another to take David, at length he set out himself from Gibeah to Ramah:and came to a great well that [is] in Sechu; which was either the name of a man, the owner of the well, or a place near to which the well was, and is commonly thought to be the same with Shochoh, 1Sa 17:1; at such places there was generally a concourse of people at certain times, to fetch water for the inhabitants of the place, and for the watering of flocks and herds, and so a proper place to stop at, and ask the following questions:and he asked and said, where [are] Samuel and David? for his messengers not returning to him, he could not be sure where they now were, though he had heard they were at Naioth:and [one] said, behold, [they be] at Naioth in Ramah; at the house of doctrine, or school in Ramah, as the Targum; thus one at the well replied, in answer to his question, who had seen them go there, or knew they were there. 1 Samuel 19:23Ver. 23. And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah,.... He went on from the well towards the place:and the Spirit of God was upon him also; as well as upon his messengers; even the spirit of prophecy, as the Targum:and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah: in this he differed from his messengers; they did not prophesy till they came to that place, but Saul began to prophesy before he came thither, as he was in his way from the well to it. 1 Samuel 19:24Ver. 24. And he stripped off his clothes also,.... Not all his clothes, but his upper garments, as men in such circumstances used to do, as the prophets sometimes did, and as it seems his messengers had done; according to Jarchi, R. Isaiah, and others {n}, he stripped himself of his royal robes, and put on the habit of the scholars, the disciples, and sons of the prophets:and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, as the messengers had done, singing such like songs, or foretelling such like things as they did; he and they speaking not of themselves, but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; for such gifts have sometimes been bestowed on men that were destitute of the grace of God, as Balaam, Caiaphas, and others;and lay down: or "fell down" {o}, as persons in an ecstasy or trance: and laynaked all that day, and all that night; not entirely naked, both without his upper garment or royal robes, or else his armour; so an unarmed man is said to be naked, though otherwise he has his clothes on: thus Gelon having conquered the Carthaginians, and made himself master of all Sicily, went into the forum "naked" (i.e. unarmed), and declared he would restore the government to the citizens, wherefore a naked statue for him was erected in the temple of Juno {p}; so Quinctius Cincinnatus was found ploughing naked {q}, who cannot be supposed to be without any clothes on him. Jarchi, from Menachem, reports, that he had heard from an Arabian, that the word the Targum makes use of for "naked", signifies, in the Arabic language, one that is furious or mad, as persons in an ecstasy, or under a prophetic spirit, sometimes seemed to be; now Saul was kept and held in such circumstances a whole day and night, that David might have an opportunity of making his escape, and getting at such a distance from him that he could not overtake him:wherefore they say, [is] Saul also among the prophets? this became a common saying, a proverbial expression, at least was now revived and observed with admiration; that Saul, who had behaved himself in so ill a manner, as an enemy to so good a man, should be found among the prophets of the Lord, and prophesying as they did.{n} Vid. Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 76. G. {o} lpyw "et cecidit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, "et corruit", Vatablus. {p} Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 6. c. 11. {q} Aurel. Victor. de Vir. Illustr. c. 20.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.