The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
David Serves Saul
1 Samuel 16:14–23 — David Serves Saul. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
14Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·rū·aḥ Yah·weh sā·rāh mê·‘im šā·’ūl rū·aḥ- rā·‘āh mê·’êṯ Yah·weh ū·ḇi·‘ă·ṯat·tū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-spirit-of YHWH departed from-with Saul, and-terrified-him a-spirit evil from-with YHWH.”
Where the English smooths the original
Saul’s apostasy was punished not merely by the withdrawal of the grace which had been given as the endowment of his office, but by positive assaults from the powers of evil, akin to the demoniacal possession of the N. T.
but a higher evil power, which took possession of him, and not only deprived him of his peace of mind, but stirred up the feelings, ideas, imagination, and thoughts of his soul to such an extent that at times it drove him even into madness.
The wicked spirits are at God's commandment to execute his will against the wicked.Geneva's gloss is the sharpest form of the claim and also the most exposed: it makes the evil spirit an instrument under orders. The text says only that it came from with YHWH.
15Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl ‘aḇ·ḏê- way·yō·mə·rū ’ê·lāw hin·nêh- nā rū·aḥ- rā·‘āh ’ĕ·lō·hîm mə·ḇa·‘it·te·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-said the-servants-of Saul unto-him: Behold now, a-spirit-of-God, evil, is-terrifying-thee.”
Where the English smooths the original
The form in which the evil spirit manifested itself in Saul was apparently an incurable melancholy, which at times blazed forth in fits of uncontrollable jealous anger.
the disorder was not from any natural cause, or any bodily disease, and therefore out of the reach of physicians to do any service, but was from an evil spirit suffered of God to harass and disturb him.Gill has just suggested the speakers may have been Saul's physicians; his point is that the physicians themselves rule out physic.
16Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’ă·ḏō·nê·nū yō·mar- nā ‘ă·ḇā·ḏe·ḵā lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā yə·ḇaq·šū ’îš yō·ḏê·a‘ mə·nag·gên bak·kin·nō·wr wə·hā·yāh bih·yō·wṯ rū·aḥ- rā·‘āh ’ĕ·lō·hîm ‘ā·le·ḵā wə·nig·gên bə·yā·ḏōw lāḵ wə·ṭō·wḇ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Let-say now our-lord: thy-servants before-thee will-seek-out a-man knowing, playing-the-strings on-the-harp. And-it-shall-be, when-there-is upon-thee a-spirit-of-God, evil, then-he-shall-play with-his-hand, and-good to-thee.”
Where the English smooths the original
And seeing music prepared the Lord’s prophets for the entertainment of the good Spirit, as 2 Kings 3:15 , why might it not dispose Saul to the resistance of the evil spirit?
The music attracted his attention; by degrees the disease gave way, and the King was restored to his usual health.Cambridge is relaying Kitto's account of Philip V of Spain and the singer Farinelli as an illustrative parallel, not as an exegetical claim about this text.
It is deeply interesting to have the youthful David thus brought before us, as using music for its highest purpose, that of turning the soul to the harmony of peace and love.
17And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl way·yō·mer ’el- ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw rə·’ū- nā lî ’îš lə·nag·gên mê·ṭîḇ wa·hă·ḇî·’ō·w·ṯem ’ê·lāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-said Saul unto his-servants: See now for-me a-man doing-well to-play, and-ye-shall-bring-him unto-me.”
Where the English smooths the original
for being a sovereign prince, he could command whom he would to attend to his person and service.
His own gloomy reflections, the consciousness that he had not acted up to the character of an Israelitish king, the loss of his throne, and the extinction of his royal house, made him jealous, irritable, vindictive, and subject to fits of morbid melancholy.JFB's note covers vv. 14 to 18 as a block and is a psychological reading; it does not engage the narrator's own attribution of the spirit to YHWH.
18One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’e·ḥāḏ mê·han·nə·‘ā·rîm way·yō·mer hin·nêh way·ya·‘an rā·’î·ṯî bên lə·yi·šay bêṯ hal·laḥ·mî yō·ḏê·a‘ nag·gên wə·ḡib·bō·wr ḥa·yil wə·’îš mil·ḥā·māh ū·nə·ḇō·wn dā·ḇār wə·’îš tō·’ar Yah·weh ‘im·mōw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-answered one of-the-young-men and-said: Behold, I-have-seen a-son to-Jesse the-Bethlehemite, knowing to-play, and-mighty-of valor, and-a-man-of war, and-discerning-of speech, and-a-man-of form, and-YHWH is-with-him.”
Where the English smooths the original
David is not only skilful in music, of which art he would have had ample scope to manifest his powers in the service of the sanctuary at Ramah, but he is also a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, or, rather, intelligent in speech (see margin), as well as handsome and successful.Pulpit goes on to admit the difficulty this creates with 1 Samuel 17, where David appears untried in war; it offers a reconstruction rather than a solution.
It is probable that some of his early Psalms were originally composed while watching his father’s sheep among those hills and vales round the village of Bethlehem, where “in later centuries shepherds were still watching over their flocks by night, when the angel host appeared to them to tell them of the birth of a child in Bethlehem.
We need not wonder that David was so suddenly advanced from a poor shepherd to so great a reputation; for this was the effect of those graces and gifts of the Divine Spirit which he had received when he was anointed.
19So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl way·yiš·laḥ mal·’ā·ḵîm ’el- yi·šāy way·yō·mer šil·ḥāh ’ê·lay ’eṯ- bin·ḵā dā·wiḏ ’ă·šer baṣ·ṣōn
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-sent Saul messengers unto Jesse, and-said: Send unto-me David thy-son who is-with the-flock.”
Where the English smooths the original
In the East the command of a king is imperative; and Jesse, however reluctant and alarmed, had no alternative but to comply.
he had learnt his name, and what was his employment; and which last he mentions not by way of contempt, it not being reckoned mean and despicable even in the sons of great personages, in those times and countries, to attend flocks and herds
20And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat and sent them to Saul with his son David.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
yi·šay way·yiq·qaḥ ḥă·mō·wr le·ḥem wə·nōḏ ya·yin ’e·ḥāḏ ū·ḡə·ḏî ‘iz·zîm way·yiš·laḥ ’el- šā·’ūl bə·yaḏ- bə·nōw dā·wiḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-took Jesse a-donkey-of bread, and-a-skin-of wine, and-kid-of goats one, and-sent by-the-hand-of David his-son unto Saul.”
Where the English smooths the original
Jesse, the sheik of Bethlehem, would thus be expected on sending his son to the court of Saul to acknowledge his sovereign by some token of homage.
These presents show how simple were the customs of Israel and in the court of Saul at that time.
there is little doubt that a word has been omitted, and that we should read, with the Syriac, "And Jesse took an ass, and laded it with bread, and a skin of wine, and a kid." It was not an ass laden with bread, as in the A.V., but all three things were placed upon the animal.Pulpit is proposing a conjectural restoration from the Syriac. The Masoretic consonants read as they stand; the reader should weigh the conjecture, not inherit it.
21When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ḏā·wiḏ way·yā·ḇō ’el- šā·’ūl way·ya·‘ă·mōḏ lə·p̄ā·nāw way·ye·’ĕ·hā·ḇê·hū mə·’ōḏ way·hî- lōw nō·śê ḵê·lîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-came David unto Saul, and-stood before-him, and-he-loved-him greatly, and-he-became to-him a-bearer-of weapons.”
Where the English smooths the original
So there was something good in Saul still; he had not lost all, though he had lost the kingdom.
The armour bearer, like the esquire in the middle ages, had to carry his lord's lance, and sword, and shield, and was always a tried soldier, and one whom the king trusted.
It is quite conceivable that if David had only played once or twice to Saul, and then returned to his father's house for some months, Saul might not recognize him.Barnes is answering the old difficulty of Saul's apparent ignorance of David at 1 Samuel 17:55-58. His harmonization is plausible, not proven; the tension in the text is real.
22Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šā·’ūl way·yiš·laḥ ’el- yi·šay lê·mōr ḏā·wiḏ ya·‘ă·māḏ- nā lə·p̄ā·nay kî- mā·ṣā ḥên bə·‘ê·nāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-sent Saul unto Jesse, saying: Let-stand David, I-pray, before-my-face, for he-has-found favor in-my-eyes.”
Where the English smooths the original
Thus David entered upon the first stage of special education for his office. In Saul’s court he was placed in a position which gave opportunity for the development of his powers, and for gaining the esteem and love of the people.
which was great condescension in him, and great respect shown to Jesse, not to detain his son without his leave, and to ask it as a favour of him
23And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hā·yāh rū·aḥ- ’ĕ·lō·hîm bih·yō·wṯ ’el- šā·’ūl dā·wiḏ ’eṯ- wə·lā·qaḥ hak·kin·nō·wr wə·nig·gên bə·yā·ḏōw lə·šā·’ūl wə·rā·waḥ wə·ṭō·wḇ lōw rū·aḥ hā·rā·‘āh wə·sā·rāh mê·‘ā·lāw
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-it-was, when-came a-spirit-of-God unto Saul, then-took David the-harp and-played with-his-hand, and-there-was-breathing-room for-Saul and-good to-him, and-turned-off from-upon-him the-spirit, the-evil.”
Where the English smooths the original
It brought back for the time the sense of a true order, a secret, inward harmony, an assurance that it is near every man, and that he may enter into it.Ellicott is quoting F. D. Maurice, not writing in his own voice; the claim that the music conveyed more than palliation is Maurice's.
Music, diversions, company, or business, have for a time often been employed to quiet the wounded conscience; but nothing can effect a real cure but the blood of Christ, applied in faith, and the sanctifying Spirit sealing the pardon, by his holy comforts.
God would have Saul receive this benefit from David's hand, that his condemnation might be even more evident, for his cruel hate toward him.
Thus David came to Saul's court, and that as his benefactor, without Saul having any suspicion of David's divine election to be king of Israel.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The chapter turns on a single Hebrew verb. סָ֖רָה (sā·rāh, H5493 çûwr, “to turn off, turn aside”) is what the Spirit of YHWH does to Saul in v. 14, and it is what the evil spirit does to Saul in v. 23. Between those two turnings the entire unit unfolds. ✦ Cambridge sets the verse against the anointing that immediately precedes it: “As David rose, Saul sank,” and adds the careful lexical observation that this spirit is never called the Spirit of Jehovah, “which always designates the spirit of holiness.” ✦ K&D refuses to reduce it to mood: not “an inward feeling of depression,” but “a higher evil power, which took possession of him.” ✦ JFB takes the opposite road, reading it as “his own gloomy reflections” and the loss of his throne. ✦ Geneva states the hardest form of the doctrine: “The wicked spirits are at God's commandment to execute his will against the wicked.” ⚙ The grammar does not adjudicate between them, but it does constrain them. The noun is the same in both halves of the verse: rûwach. The prepositions are not: the good Spirit turns off mê·ʻim (from-with) Saul, and the evil spirit comes mê·ʼêṯ (from the presence of) YHWH. The text asserts the source and declines the mechanism.
The servants name the cause correctly and then propose a remedy from another order entirely. ✦ Cambridge states the paradox precisely: “The cause of the disease was (as we commonly speak) ‘supernatural,’ the cure employed ‘natural.’” ✦ Poole and ✦ Benson defend the logic by appeal to 2 Kings 3:15, where Elisha calls for a minstrel (the same rare verb nâgan, H5059, which the Verifier finds in only 12 verses) and the hand of the LORD comes upon him. ✦ K&D marshals classical parallels through Bochart and Censorinus, down to Pythagoras and his lyre; ✦ Cambridge adds Farinelli singing Philip V of Spain back to health; ✦ Gill lists music as medicine for the sciatica and the frenzy. ⚙ The weight of that testimony is real, and it is also the point at which ✦ Henry plants his objection, that music may quiet a wounded conscience while curing nothing. Two grammatical details support Henry's caution. First, the servants promise a state, not a healing: wə·ṭōwḇ lāḵ, “and good to thee,” a verbless clause. Second, the whole arrangement is framed as recurrent (bih·yō·wṯ, “whenever there is”), which means nobody in the room, including the servants, expects the spirit to stay gone.
Three times in four verses somebody sends (שָׁלַח, H7971): Saul sends messengers, Jesse sends the gift, Saul sends word again. David is never the subject of a verb of motion toward power; he is the object of other people's errands, and in v. 20 he is literally the delivery mechanism, bə·yaḏ, “by the hand of David his son.” ✦ Ellicott reads the gift as the homage of “Jesse, the sheik of Bethlehem”; ✦ Poole hears a frightened father buying favor; ✦ K&D and ✦ Cambridge both simply note how plain the customs of that court still were. ✦ Pulpit, with the Syriac, thinks a word has dropped out of “a donkey of bread” and would restore the verb of loading; ⚙ the Masoretic consonants read as they stand, and the difficulty should be carried, not solved by preference. Then the narrator says the thing that makes the rest of the book possible: Saul loved him, וַיֶּאֱהָבֵ֣הֽוּ, greatly. ✦ Benson: “there was something good in Saul still; he had not lost all, though he had lost the kingdom.”
וְרָוַ֤ח (rā·waḥ, H7304) is one of the rarest words in this unit, appearing in only three verses in the whole Hebrew Bible (Verifier). The lexicon glosses it “properly, to breathe freely.” BSB's “find relief” is right and understated: what came to Saul was air. ✦ Ellicott, quoting F. D. Maurice, hears in it more than palliation, “the sense of a true order, a secret, inward harmony”; ✦ Basil, whom Ellicott also quotes, says psalmody “repels demons.” ✦ Geneva turns the whole scene against Saul: “God would have Saul receive this benefit from David's hand, that his condemnation might be even more evident.” ✦ K&D draws the summary that the narrative itself seems to want: “Thus David came to Saul's court, and that as his benefactor, without Saul having any suspicion of David's divine election.” ⚙ And the verse ends with wə·sā·rāh: the evil spirit turns off, the same verb used of the Holy Spirit in v. 14. The unit is bracketed by departures. The narrator gives Saul relief in the exact vocabulary of his loss.
⚙ Offered to be tested. Read 1 Samuel 16:14-23 as one sentence with two clauses: something turns off Saul, and something turns off Saul. The narrator spends the same verb (çûwr) twice, on the Spirit and on the tormentor, and fills the space between with a harp. That is not an accident of vocabulary; it is the shape of the judgment. Saul is not destroyed here. He is given exactly enough relief to keep going without repenting, and the relief is administered nightly by the hand of the boy God has already chosen to replace him. Every party in the scene acts from a partial knowledge that turns out to serve a purpose none of them holds: the servants search (bâqash) for a musician and retrieve the LORD's anointed; the young man reports David's outward excellences and ends, without knowing what he has said, with the one clause that answers v. 14 word for word, and the LORD is with him; Jesse sends bread and sends a king; Saul commands a search and loves the answer. ⚙ What the text withholds is any explanation of how an evil spirit can come mê·ʼêṯ Yahweh. Geneva and K&D press an answer, JFB and Ellicott press a psychology, and Scripture presses neither. The honest posture is Cambridge's: the cause supernatural, the cure natural, and the line between them not ours to draw. What the passage does make plain is that music bought Saul air and nothing more. ✦ Henry says it and it should not be softened: “nothing can effect a real cure but the blood of Christ.” Saul got breathing room. He did not get a new spirit.
The harp bought Saul air, never a new heart. (⚙ This line is the tool's own reading, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The verb behind the servants' proposal, מְנַגֵּ֣ן (nâgan, H5059, Piel, “to thrum, play on strings”), is rare: the Verifier finds it in only 12 verses. One of them is Elisha at 2 Kings 3:15, who calls for a player and, while the player plays, receives the hand of the LORD. ✦ Poole builds his entire defense of the remedy on that verse: “And seeing music prepared the Lord's prophets for the entertainment of the good Spirit, as 2 Kings 3:15, why might it not dispose Saul to the resistance of the evil spirit?” ✦ Benson argues the same way independently. ⚙ The link is verbal and the direction of the two scenes is opposite: in Kings the music precedes the coming of the Spirit upon a prophet, in Samuel it precedes the going of a tormentor from a rejected king. The same instrument, the same verb, and two very different visitations.
2 Kings 3:15
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H5059 nâgan (in 12 vv), a rare verb; the link is a shared rare lexeme and shared scene-type, not a quotation of one text by the other
Saul's own word for what he wants is מֵיטִ֣יב (yâṭab, H3190, Hifil) paired with nâgan: “one doing it well, to play.” The Verifier finds both lexemes shared with Ezekiel 33:32, where the LORD tells the prophet that his hearers treat him as “one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” The same pair sits behind Psalm 33:3, where playing well is directed to the LORD rather than consumed. ⚙ Ezekiel names a use of music that is real, pleasant and finally inert, which is precisely ✦ Henry's charge against this chapter's remedy: “Music, diversions, company, or business, have for a time often been employed to quiet the wounded conscience.” Saul hears well and does nothing.
Ezekiel 33:32 · Psalm 33:3
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5059 nâgan (in 12 vv, rare) and H3190 yâṭab (in 110 vv) with Ezekiel 33:32; same two lexemes with Psalm 33:3. A shared idiom of skilled playing, with no citation of one text by the other
וְרָוַ֤ח (rā·waḥ, H7304) occurs in just 3 verses (Verifier), and the other two are as blunt as this one. At Job 32:20 Elihu says he will speak that he may be relieved, because the pressure of unspoken words is intolerable; at Jeremiah 22:14 the word describes a king building himself spacious chambers while his people are unpaid. ⚙ Set beside Saul, the three uses form an unintended commentary: relief is what a man takes when the pressure is unbearable, and a king can build himself room and still be under judgment. What Saul received was space, not absolution.
Job 32:20 · Jeremiah 22:14
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H7304 râvach (in 3 vv), one of the rarest roots in the unit; verbal link only, no quotation in either direction
The arrangement made here is explicitly recurrent (bih·yō·wṯ, “whenever”), and 1 Samuel tells us where it ends. At 18:10 the evil spirit comes on Saul while David is playing as at other times, and Saul throws a spear; at 19:9 it happens again in the same words. ✦ Cambridge and ✦ K&D both cite these verses when cataloguing the book's terms for the spirit. ⚙ The shared lexemes here are common ones (rûwach, Shâʼûwl), so the link is not a rare verbal signature but a narrative structure: the same three elements (spirit, harp, king) recur with the outcome reversed. The therapy in ch. 16 becomes the occasion of attempted murder in ch. 18.
1 Samuel 18:10 · 1 Samuel 19:9
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H7307 rûwach (in 348 vv) and H7586 Shâʼûwl (in 335 vv). Both are common, so the basis is the recurring scene structure, not a rare verbal link; deliberately not tiered verbal
⚙ The unit's closing verb is departure (çûwr), and its governing word is “whenever.” Jesus describes exactly that condition at Matthew 12:43-45: an unclean spirit goes out of a man, finds no rest, returns to a house swept and put in order, and brings seven others, so that the last state is worse than the first. ⚙ The structural fit is close (departure, vacancy, return, worse end) and 1 Samuel 18:10 and 19:9 show the vacancy filling. But this is a Greek text and a Hebrew one, so no shared Strong's lexeme can be adduced and nothing verbal is being claimed. No commentator in this brief draws the connection; it is offered as a reading of shape, to be tested.
Matthew 12:43-45
basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew): shared Strong's numbers are impossible, so no verbal basis exists and none is claimed. Basis is the shared structure of departure, unfilled vacancy and return, confirmed within 1 Samuel by 18:10 and 19:9
The gentilic הַלַּחְמִי֒ (Bêyth hal-Lachmîy, H1022) is rare, appearing in only 4 verses (Verifier), and one of them is 2 Samuel 21:19, which credits Elhanan the Bethlehemite with killing Goliath the Gittite. That verse is one of the best-known textual difficulties in the Old Testament, since 1 Chronicles 20:5 reads Lahmi the brother of Goliath. ⚙ The lexical link to this unit is real and computed; the historical reconstruction built on it is not settled, and no commentator in this brief addresses it. Flagged accordingly: use the shared word, do not lean on the verse.
2 Samuel 21:19 · 1 Chronicles 20:5
basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H1022 Bêyth hal-Lachmîy (in 4 vv, rare) and H4421 milchâmâh (in 308 vv). The lexical basis is sound, but 2 Samuel 21:19 is textually contested against 1 Chronicles 20:5, so the reference is flagged rather than relied upon
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Every identifier the court servant gives in v. 18 is one the Gospels later gather: a son of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1; Romans 15:12), the Bethlehemite (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6), a man whom the LORD is with, which is the sense of Immanuel at Matthew 1:23. ✦ Ellicott makes the Bethlehem connection explicitly, writing of David composing psalms “while watching his father's sheep among those hills and vales round the village of Bethlehem, where ‘in later centuries shepherds were still watching over their flocks by night, when the angel host appeared to them.’” ⚙ The chapter also gives the pattern its mechanism: the anointed one is fetched from the flock (v. 19) because nobody at the palace thinks to look there. That is the apostolic shape of the incarnation, and it is the reading held in common across the tradition.
Micah 5:2 · Luke 2:8-11 · Matthew 1:23 · Isaiah 11:1
✦ Henry states the case with no ornament: music and company “have for a time often been employed to quiet the wounded conscience; but nothing can effect a real cure but the blood of Christ, applied in faith, and the sanctifying Spirit sealing the pardon.” ⚙ The Hebrew of v. 23 makes the point for him. rā·waḥ (H7304) means to breathe freely, and it is all Saul is ever said to receive. Hebrews 9:14 sets the contrast: the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience, which is the organ music cannot reach. Ezekiel 36:26 states the thing Saul never receives, a new spirit put within. ⚙ Saul's tragedy is not that the remedy failed. It worked, and working was the problem, because relief that is renewable indefinitely removes the pressure to repent.
Hebrews 9:14 · Ezekiel 36:26 · Hebrews 10:22
✦ K&D observes the scene's strangest fact: “Thus David came to Saul's court, and that as his benefactor, without Saul having any suspicion of David's divine election to be king of Israel.” The anointed of v. 13 arrives carrying bread, stands before the rejected king, is loved by him, and is made the lifter of his weapons. ✦ Geneva pushes it toward judgment: “God would have Saul receive this benefit from David's hand, that his condemnation might be even more evident, for his cruel hate toward him.” ⚙ Read forward, that is the shape of John 1:10-11, the one through whom the world was made coming to his own and not being known, and of Philippians 2:7, where the form of a servant is the road the anointed takes to the throne. ⚙ The figure is offered as the tool's own reading. Geneva and K&D supply the facts about Saul's ignorance and benefit; neither of them draws this christological line, and it should be weighed as a novel reading of the pattern rather than received as the tradition's.
John 1:10-11 · Philippians 2:7 · Luke 22:27
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
Text. Verse 20 carries a real difficulty: the Hebrew reads chămôwr lechem, “a donkey of bread,” with no verb of loading. ✦ K&D reports that the Septuagint read the consonants as a measure (gomor of bread) and judges that wrong, since bread was not measured in bushels; ✦ Pulpit follows the Syriac and would restore a dropped verb. The Masoretic consonants stand as printed in the interlinear here, and BSB's “loaded with” is a translator's supplement.
Grammar. At v. 16 the final pronoun לָֽךְ׃פ is parsed second person feminine singular although Saul is the addressee, and the interlinear supplies no Strong's number for it. The anomaly is recorded, not explained. At v. 14 rûwach is absolute with a following adjective; at vv. 15 and 16 it is construct with ʼĕlôhîym; at v. 23 it appears as rûaḥ ʼĕlōhîm with no adjective at all. ✦ Gill notes that “evil” is absent in v. 23 and reports Abarbinel's reading that this was the Spirit of God convicting Saul of his rejection. That reading is a minority one and is recorded as such.
Sources. Eleven public-domain commentators are represented: Benson, Henry, Barnes, JFB, Poole, Gill, Geneva, Cambridge, Pulpit, K&D and Ellicott. They divide sharply on the nature of the evil spirit: K&D and Geneva hold a personal, sent power; JFB and Ellicott describe a clinical melancholy; Cambridge holds both together and refuses to draw the line. The ⚙ synthesis does not resolve that division and should not be read as having done so.
Uncertain. Whether David's description as “a man of war” in v. 18 can be squared with 1 Samuel 17 is disputed here in the brief itself: ✦ Pulpit, ✦ Ellicott, ✦ Cambridge, ✦ K&D and ✦ Barnes each propose a different harmonization, and ✦ Poole reports that some infer the chapters are out of chronological order. No harmonization is endorsed above. ✦ Gill records a rabbinic tradition (b. Sanhedrin 93b) that the speaker in v. 18 was Doeg the Edomite and rejects it; it is noted only as tradition. The thread to 2 Samuel 21:19 is flagged because that verse is itself textually contested. All cross-Testament links in this unit are tiered structural or typological, never verbal, because shared Strong's numbers cannot exist between Greek and Hebrew.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)