Atlas Biblica

    1 Samuel · 25 verses

    1 Samuel 26

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    A king’s whole camp sleeps through the theft of his spear, and then the thief holds it up from across a wide gulf while asking where it has gone.

    The spear beside the sleeping kingvv. 1–12

    The Ziphites send Saul to Hachilah, and Saul arrives with three thousand chosen men of Israel. David checks the report, then walks into the camp with Abishai while Saul, Abner, and the troops sleep in a circle around the king. Abishai sees a splendid opportunity for one-stroke housekeeping, but David refuses to touch the LORD’s anointed. The spear and water jug are carried away, and the entire camp sleeps on: “a deep sleep from the LORD.”

    A flea, a partridge, and an absent spearvv. 13–25

    At a distance, David calls out to Abner and asks what became of the king’s protection. Saul recognizes David’s voice, and David answers with the measured indignation of a man who has just crossed an army’s sleeping arrangements and found the guards decorative. He asks why Saul pursues him, compares the expedition to hunting a flea and a partridge, and presents the missing spear as evidence. Saul admits his sin, calls himself a fool, and promises no further harm. David keeps his distance; Saul blesses him, and each man goes his own way.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. 1 Sam 26:1Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

    2. 1 Sam 26:2So Saul, accompanied by three thousand chosen men of Israel, went down to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

    3. 1 Sam 26:3Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon, but David was living in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had followed him there,

    4. 1 Sam 26:4David sent out spies to verify that Saul had arrived.

    5. 1 Sam 26:5Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp, with the troops camped around him.

    6. 1 Sam 26:6And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” “I will go with you,” answered Abishai.

    7. 1 Sam 26:7That night David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the troops were lying around him.

    8. 1 Sam 26:8Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”

    9. 1 Sam 26:9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

    10. 1 Sam 26:10David 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.

    11. 1 Sam 26:11But the LORD forbid that I should extend my hand against the LORD’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and water jug by his head, and let us go.”

    12. 1 Sam 26:12So David took the spear and water jug by Saul’s head, and they departed. No one saw them or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up; they all remained asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

    13. 1 Sam 26:13Then David crossed to the other side and stood atop the mountain at a distance; there was a wide gulf between them.

    14. 1 Sam 26:14And David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner, “Will you not answer me, Abner?” “Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner replied.

    15. 1 Sam 26:15So David said to Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And who in Israel is your equal? Why then did you not protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?

    16. 1 Sam 26:16This thing you have done is not good. As surely as the LORD lives, all of you deserve to die, since you did not protect your lord, the LORD’s anointed. Now look around. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were by his head?”

    17. 1 Sam 26:17Then Saul recognized David’s voice and asked, “Is that your voice, David my son?” “It is my voice, my lord and king,” David said.

    18. 1 Sam 26:18And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?

    19. 1 Sam 26:19Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

    20. 1 Sam 26:20So do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to look for a flea, like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

    21. 1 Sam 26:21Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”

    22. 1 Sam 26:22“Here is the king’s spear,” David answered. “Let one of the young men come over and get it.

    23. 1 Sam 26:23May the LORD repay every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. For the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I would not extend my hand against the LORD’s anointed.

    24. 1 Sam 26:24As surely as I valued your life today, so may the LORD value my life and rescue me from all trouble.”

    25. 1 Sam 26:25Saul said to him, “May you be blessed, David my son. You will accomplish great things and will surely prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned home.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 175 passages were voted onto 22 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 92 Samuel 1:14So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
    • 10Genesis 47:29When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise to show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt,
    • 10Deuteronomy 31:14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the time of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
    • 10Romans 12:19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
    • 12Genesis 2:21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
    • 181 Samuel 24:9and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?
    • 192 Samuel 14:16For the king will hear and deliver his maidservant from the hand of the man who would cut off both me and my son from God’s inheritance.’
    • 11 Samuel 23:19Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
    • 21 Samuel 24:2So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to look for David and his men in the region of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
    • 51 Samuel 17:55As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”
    • 6Judges 7:10–11But if you are afraid to do so, then go down to the camp with your servant Purah
    • 9Psalms 105:15“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
    • 92 Samuel 1:16For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
    • 101 Samuel 31:6So Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men died together that same day.
    • 10Psalms 37:13but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.
    • 101 Samuel 25:38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

    Onward

    Keep reading

    Next chapter1 Samuel 2712 verses.Named herehusband of ZeruiahEverything the graph connects to this name.Book1 SamuelAll 31 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.