Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 18:6
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Saul's jealousy towards David. (Note: The section Sa1 18:6-14 is supposed by Thenius and others to have been taken by the compiler from a different source from the previous one, and not to have been written by the same author: (1) because the same thing is mentioned in Sa1 18:13, Sa1 18:14, as in Sa1 18:5, though in a somewhat altered form, and Sa1 18:10, Sa1 18:11 occur again in Sa1 19:9-10, with a few different words, and in a more appropriate connection; (2) because the contents of Sa1 19:9, and the word ממּחרת in Sa1 19:10, are most directly opposed to Sa1 18:2 and Sa1 18:5. On these grounds, no doubt, the lxx have not only omitted the beginning of Sa1 18:6 from their version, but also Sa1 18:9-11. But the supposed discrepancy between Sa1 18:9 and Sa1 18:10 and Sa1 18:2 and Sa1 18:5, \- viz., that Saul could not have kept David by his side from attachment to him, or have placed him over his men of war after several prosperous expeditions, as is stated in Sa1 18:2 and Sa1 18:5, if he had looked upon him with jealous eyes from the very first day, or if his jealousy had broken out on the second day in the way described in Sa1 18:10, Sa1 18:11, \- is founded upon two erroneous assumptions; viz., (1) that the facts contained in Sa1 18:1-5 were contemporaneous with those in Sa1 18:6-14; and (2) that everything contained in these two sections is to be regarded as strictly chronological. But the fact recorded in Sa1 18:2, namely, that Saul took David to himself, and did not allow him to go back to his father's house any more, occurred unquestionably some time earlier than those mentioned in Sa1 18:6. with their consequences. Saul took David to himself immediately after the defeat of Goliath, and before the war had been brought to an end. But the celebration of the victory, in which the paean of the women excited jealousy in Saul's mind, did not take place till the return of the people and of the king at the close of the war. How long the war lasted we do not know; but from the fact that the Israelites pursued the flying Philistines to Gath and Ekron, and then plundered the camp of the Philistines after that ( Sa1 17:52-53), it certainly follows that some days, if not weeks, must have elapsed between David's victory over Goliath and the celebration of the triumph, after the expulsion of the Philistines from the land. Thus far the events described in the two sections are arranged in their chronological order; but for all the rest the facts are arranged antithetically, according to their peculiar character, whilst the consequences, which reached further than the facts that gave rise to them, and were to some extent contemporaneous, are appended immediately to the facts themselves. Thus David's going out whithersoever Saul sent him ( Sa1 18:5) may indeed have commenced during the pursuit of the flying Philistines; but it reached far beyond this war, and continued even while Saul was looking upon him with jealous eyes. Sa1 18:5 contains a general remark, with which the historian brings to a close one side of the relation between David and Saul, which grew out of David's victory. He then proceeds in Sa1 18:6 to give the other side, and rounds off this paragraph also ( Sa1 18:14-16) with a general remark, the substance of which resembles, in the main, the substance of Sa1 18:5. At the same time it implies some progress, inasmuch as the delight of the people at the acts performed by David ( Sa1 18:5) grew into love to David itself. This same pro…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.