^26:8Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me drive the spear⁴ right through him into the ground with one swift jab!⁵ A second jab won’t be necessary!”

^26:9But David said to Abishai, “Don’t kill him! Who can extend his hand against the Lord’s chosen one⁶ and remain guiltless?” ^26:10David went on to say, “As the Lord lives, the Lord himself will strike him down. Either his day will come and he will die, or he will go down into battle and be swept away. ^26:11But may the Lord prevent me from extending my hand against the Lord’s chosen one! Now take the spear by Saul’s head and the jug of water, and let’s get out of here!”

Read in Logos

1 Samuel 26:9: But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?”

Footnotes

4 Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: , “his own spear”; “that spear.” Cf. , “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.
5 Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”
6 Heb “anointed” (also in vv. 11, 16, 23).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t strike him twice.”

But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s go.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!”

But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him, for who can lift a hand against the Lord’s anointed and be innocent?” David added, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will certainly strike him down: either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. However, as the Lord, is my witness, I will never lift my hand against the Lord’s anointed. Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let’s go.”

NLTNew Living Translation

“God has surely handed your enemy over to you this time!” Abishai whispered to David. “Let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I won’t need to strike twice!”

“No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then Abishai said to David, “God has handed over your enemy into your hand today! So then, please let me pin him to the ground with the spear one time, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him! For who has stretched out his hand against Yahweh’s anointed one and remained blameless?” And David said, “As Yahweh lives, certainly Yahweh will strike him, or his day will come and he will die, or he will go down in the battle and perish. Yahweh forbid me from stretching out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed one! So then, please take the spear that is near his head and the jar of water, and let us go.”

KJV 1900King James Version

Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

Public Domain