Chapter Nineteen

The beginning of open persecution of David by Saul. David’s flight to Ramah, to the prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 19:1. And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, loved David greatly. Having lost hope of destroying David secretly, Saul casts off the mask of his last composure and openly declares to his courtiers his feelings and intentions regarding the son of Jesse.

1 Samuel 19:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak about you to my father, and what I see, I will tell you. “In the field,” taking advantage of the king’s good humor during a walk.

1 Samuel 19:6. And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore by Saul: As the Lord lives, David shall not be put to death. 1 Samuel 19:7. And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words, and Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was with him as on the day before and the day after. Outwardly Saul could not help but agree with Jonathan’s reasonable arguments, but in his soul, he certainly remained as ill-disposed toward David as before.

1 Samuel 19:19. And they told Saul, saying: Behold, David is in Naioth, in Ramah. In Naioth, in Ramah (see note to 1 Sam 10:5). “Naioth” is ordinarily translated as a proper name and probably was indeed used as a proper name; but it, from all signs, contains a common noun meaning that which we call a “common house”; some interpreters translate the word “Naioth” as “shepherd’s house, inn,” and the Chaldean translator as “house of teaching.” Bearing in mind that in Naioth there was a company of prophets, one may suppose that Naioth was a common dwelling, a nursery, a “seminarium” of the sons of the prophets in Samuel’s Ramah (Ia. Bogorodskii, “Hebrew Kings,” p. 92–93, note).

1 Samuel 19:20. And Saul sent servants to take David, and when they saw the company of prophets prophesying and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s servants, and they prophesied. 1 Samuel 19:21. And it was reported to Saul, and he sent other servants, but they too prophesied. Then Saul sent servants a third time, and they too prophesied. 1 Samuel 19:22. [Angered,] Saul himself went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu, and asked, saying: Where are Samuel and David? And they said: Behold, in Naioth, in Ramah. 1 Samuel 19:23. And he went there to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he went on, prophesying, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 1 Samuel 19:24. And he also removed his clothes, and prophesied before Samuel, and lay naked all that day and all that night; therefore they say: “Is Saul also among the prophets? “And they began to prophesy.” See note to 1 Sam 10:5. There is nothing impossible in the supposition that those sent to take David belonged with their whole soul to the wrongfully persecuted victor over the Philistines and perhaps suffered much inwardly while carrying out their duty of obedience to Saul. “And behold, they come to Ramah. With the feeling of reverence mixed with fear natural to a Hebrew, they approach the mysterious dwelling of the prophets, and to their eyes appears an astounding spectacle: a multitude of men and youths, with a venerable elder at the head, in a solemn posture, with an inspired gaze, with a mighty but harmonious voice singing exalted hymns, glorifying the greatness and wonderful deeds of Jehovah. Deeply moved, the warriors involuntarily stop, remember the affair for which they came, and are seized with reverent awe. With striking clarity they see all the unnaturalness, all the sinfulness of the deed for which they came. With strong agitation they began to communicate to one another their thoughts and feelings, to glorify the exploits and piety of David and in the end became so inspired that they began to echo, as much as they could, the mighty chorus of the prophets” (Ia. Bogorodskii, “Hebrew Kings,” p. 95–96). The charm of the company of prophets was so great that Saul himself did not escape it (verses 23–24, cf. 1 Sam 10:10-13).