Bible Strands
1 Samuel 24:11
See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. Know and see that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David speaks to King Saul while hiding in the cave, holding up the torn corner of Saul's robe as physical proof of his restraint. He addresses Saul as "my father" during a moment when Saul's forces are actively pursuing him to take his life.
The words — כְּנַף מְעִילְךָ (kenaf me'il-ka) translates literally to "skirt of your robe" and marks the physical boundary David refused to cross. רְאֵה (re'eh) means "see" or "look" and appears twice to demand Saul's direct visual confirmation of David's innocence.
The thread — This refusal to strike the LORD's anointed continues in 1 Samuel 26:20, where David again rejects violence against Saul. The surrounding pursuit described in 1 Samuel 23:14 and 23:23 establishes the ongoing threat that makes this declaration of non-rebellion necessary.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to verify that moral integrity depends on active restraint, not merely the absence of opportunity. It asks the reader to acknowledge that refusing vengeance when one holds the power to exact it is the standard for righteousness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 26:20 So 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.”
- 1 Samuel 23:14 And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand.
- 1 Samuel 23:23 Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.”
- 1 Samuel 26:18 And he continued, “Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done? What evil is in my hand?
- 2 Kings 5:13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
- John 15:25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
- 1 Samuel 18:27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.
- Job 10:16 Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.
- Psalms 7:3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands,
- Psalms 35:7 For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.