Bible Strands
1 Samuel 26:9
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can extend a hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David speaks to Abishai at the moment Abishai is about to thrust a spear into the sleeping Saul after God delivered him into their camp.
The words — The verb תַּשְׁחִיתֵ֑הוּ (tash.chi.te.hu) literally means "you destroy him," and the interrogative מִי (mi) frames the rhetorical question "who?"
The thread — This restriction appears in 2 Samuel 1:14 and 2 Samuel 1:16 when David questions the Amalekite, and aligns with the warning in Psalms 105:15.
Why it lands — The text states that harming the LORD’s anointed incurs guilt, requiring readers to restrain personal vengeance even when opportunity for retribution is immediate.
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
And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 1:14 So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
- 2 Samuel 1:16 For 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.’”
- Psalms 105:15 “Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
- 1 Samuel 24:6 So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed.”