1 Samuel 22:19

“And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, etc.] Either Doeg or Saul; who, as Josephus f460 says, sent men thither to slay all the inhabitants of it: both men and women, children and sucklings; not sparing sex nor age: and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword; Saul, who was so tender hearted and merciful in the case of the Amalekites, when his orders from the Lord were utterly to destroy them, (<091502>1 Samuel 15:2,3), that he spared their king, and the best of their cattle, (<091507>1 Samuel 15:7-9); yet now so cruel to a city of the priests, as to destroy all the inhabitants of it, and cattle in it; and yet this bloody affair of Saul’s is not…”

“Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword--The barbarous atrocities perpetrated against this city seem to have been designed to terrify all the subjects of Saul from affording either aid or an asylum to David. But they proved ruinous to Saul's own interest, as they alienated the priesthood and disgusted all good men in the kingdom.”

“Both men and women ... - The language employed in the case of the Amalekites 1 Samuel 15:3 and of Jericho Joshua 6:21. Nothing could be more truculent than Saul’s revenge. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Both men, &c. - In all the life of Saul, there is no wickedness to be compared to this. He appears now to be wholly under the power of that evil spirit which had long tormented him. And this destruction could not but go to the heart of every pious Israelite, and make them wish a thousand times, they had been content with the government of Samuel. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:20”

“22:19 Saul had been unwilling to carry out God’s orders to destroy completely the Amalekites and their possessions (15:3, 9). Yet now, in his rage, he did not hesitate to decimate the priests’ families and their possessions (see Prov 14:29; 16:14; 27:4).”

“Nob: Sa1 22:9, Sa1 22:11, Sa1 21:1; Neh 11:32; Isa 10:32 men: Sa1 15:3, Sa1 15:9; Jos 6:17, Jos 6:21; Hos 10:14; Jam 2:13 with the edge: This is one of the worst acts of Saul's life. his malice was implacable, and his wrath cruel; and there is no motive of justice or policy by which such a barbarous massacre can be justified. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:20”

“But not content with even this revenge, Saul had the whole city of Nob destroyed, like a city that was laid under the ban (vid., Deu 13:13.). So completely did Saul identify his private revenge with the cause of Jehovah, that he avenged a supposed conspiracy against his own person as treason against Jehovah the God-king. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 22:20”