1 Samuel 24:13

As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) The proverb of the ancients.—Clericus, quoted by Lange, explains these words: “David means to say, that if he had been guilty of conspiracy against the king, he would not have neglected this favourable opportunity to kill him, since men usually indulge their feelings, and from a mind guilty of conspiracy nothing but corresponding deeds could come forth.” So Grotius, who writes how “actions usually correspond to the quality of the mind.” Erdmann quotes a Greek proverb: “From a bad raven comes a bad egg.”

Benson Commentary

1 Samuel 24:13. Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked — That is, men may be known by their actions; wicked men will do wicked actions; among which, this is one, to kill their sovereign lord and king; and, therefore, if I were so wicked a person as I am represented by thy courtiers to be, I should now have shown it, I should have made no conscience of laying violent hands upon thee.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:8-15 David was falsely charged with seeking Saul's hurt; he shows Saul that God's providence had given him opportunity to do it. And it was upon a good principle that he refused to do it. He declares his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger. If men wrong us, God will right us, at farthest, in the judgment of the great day.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My father - The respectful address of a junior and an inferior (see 2 Kings 5:13, and compare 1 Samuel 24:16; 1 Samuel 25:8).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Sa 24:8-15. He Urges Thereby His Innocency.

8-15. David also arose … and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul—The closeness of the precipitous cliffs, though divided by deep wadies, and the transparent purity of the air enable a person standing on one rock to hear distinctly the words uttered by a speaker standing on another (Jud 9:7). The expostulation of David, followed by the visible tokens he furnished of his cherishing no evil design against either the person or the government of the king, even when he had the monarch in his power, smote the heart of Saul in a moment and disarmed him of his fell purpose of revenge. He owned the justice of what David said, acknowledged his own guilt, and begged kindness to his house. He seems to have been naturally susceptible of strong, and, as in this instance, of good and grateful impressions. The improvement of his temper, indeed, was but transient—his language that of a man overwhelmed by the force of impetuous emotions and constrained to admire the conduct, and esteem the character, of one whom he hated and dreaded. But God overruled it for ensuring the present escape of David. Consider his language and behavior. This language—"a dead dog," "a flea," terms by which, like Eastern people, he strongly expressed a sense of his lowliness and the entire committal of his cause to Him who alone is the judge of human actions, and to whom vengeance belongs, his steady repulse of the vindictive counsels of his followers; the relentings of heart which he felt even for the apparent indignity he had done to the person of the Lord's anointed; and the respectful homage he paid the jealous tyrant who had set a price on his head—evince the magnanimity of a great and good man, and strikingly illustrate the spirit and energy of his prayer "when he was in the cave" (Ps 142:1).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. Wicked men will do wicked actions, among which this is one, to kill their sovereign lord and king; as David implied above, 1 Samuel 24:6, and more fully expresseth, 1 Samuel 26:9. And therefore if I were so wicked and vile a person as thy courtiers represent me to thee, I should make no conscience of laying wicked and violent hands upon thee, but should assassinate thee when I had opportunity; which because I have now neglected and refused to do, though moved to it by some of my wicked soldiers, know therefore that I am not guilty of any wicked designs against thee, but am just and innocent towards thee. Or thus, Wicked actions (such as that would have been if I had killed thee) proceed only from the wicked, of which number I am none, and therefore my hand shall not be upon thee.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

As saith the proverb of the ancients,.... It is an old saying, has been long in use, and may be applied to the present case; or the "proverb of the ancient one"; of the oldest man, the first man Adam, and of all others after him, so Kimchi; or of the Ancient One of the world, the Ancient of days, the Lord himself; so in the Talmud (d):

wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; as is a man, so are his actions; if he is a wicked man, he will do wicked things; a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruits, an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things; and as if David should say, if I had been the wicked man as I am represented, I should have committed wickedness; I should have made no conscience of taking away thy life when it was in my power; but my heart would not suffer me to do it:

but, or "and"

my hand shall not be upon thee; as it has not been upon thee, because of the fear of God in me, so neither shall it be hereafter: or the sense of the proverb may be, the wickedness that comes from a wicked man, that will kill him, or be the cause of his ruin, or he will be slain by wicked men such as himself; and this may be thy case, O king, unless thou repentest: but be that as it may, which I leave with the righteous Judge, this I am determined on, "mine hand shall not be upon thee"; to take away thy life.

(d) T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 10. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. Wickedness, &c.] A man’s character is known by his actions. If I were wicked at heart, I should have shewn it by killing you. Cp. Matthew 7:16-20.

but mine hand shall not be upon thee] It is not clear whether this is part of the proverb or David’s own utterance. In the first case the proverb is a general disclaimer of a desire for vengeance: in the second, David reaffirms his resolution not to touch Saul as a consequence of his moral integrity.

1 Samuel 24:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After he had proved to the king in this conclusive manner that he had no reason whatever for seeking his life, he invoked the Lord as judge between him and his adversary: "Jehovah will avenge me upon thee, but my hand will not be against thee. As the proverb of the ancients (הקּדמוני is used collectively) says, Evil proceedeth from the evil, but my hand shall not be upon thee." The meaning is this: Only a wicked man could wish to avenge himself; I do not.