1 Samuel 19

1 Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.

2 Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, live in a secret place, and hide yourself.

3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.”

4 Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you;

5 for he put his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?”

6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan; and Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”

7 Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

8 There was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.

9 An evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing music with his hand.

10 Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence; and he stuck the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped that night.

11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”

12 So Michal let David down through the window. He went away, fled, and escaped.

13 Michal took the teraphim and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair at its head and covered it with clothes.

14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

15 Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.”

16 When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats’ hair at its head.

17 Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me like this and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go! Why should I kill you?’”

18 Now David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.

19 Saul was told, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.”

20 Saul sent messengers to seize David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, God’s Spirit came on Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied.

21 When Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

22 Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” One said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.”

23 He went there to Naioth in Ramah. Then God’s Spirit came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

24 He also stripped off his clothes. He also prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Around 1 Samuel 19

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

1 Samuel 19 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The king wants David dead, and now he says it aloud. Saul tells his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill him. But Jonathan loves David, so he warns him to hide, then pleads with his father. David risked his life, he says, and the LORD worked a great victory. Saul listens and swears that David will not be put to death.

It does not last. War comes again, David wins again, and an evil spirit from the LORD comes on Saul. A spear flies and David slips away. Saul sends men to watch David’s house, and Michal, David’s wife, lets him down through a window. She leaves the teraphim in his bed to buy him time. David runs to Samuel. Saul’s messengers come and prophesy instead of seizing him, and so does Saul. People ask, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

Background

David has already been sent out by Saul and has already won his victories, and Saul’s fear of him has been growing since 1 Samuel 18. This chapter is where the fear becomes open murder. The text sets three people between David and the spear: Jonathan, who speaks for him, Michal, who hides him, and Samuel, whose company holds the king back. It is the start of David’s years as a fugitive, which run through 1 Samuel 27.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 29 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about 1 Samuel 19

World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes