Chapter 24 of Shmuel A is one of the most elevated chapters in the book: Shaul is delivered into David's hands in the cave, yet David masters his impulse and refuses to raise a hand against the anointed of Hashem. The chapter opens with a military deployment and closes with Shaul's own admission: "You are more righteous than I." Along the way we merit wondrous explanations from the Malbim on the way of the righteous man in discerning the will of Hashem, on the parameters of leaving judgment to Heaven, and on the true definition of a king.
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁב שָׁאוּל מֵאַחֲרֵי פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיַּגִּדוּ לוֹ לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה דָוִד בְּמִדְבַּר עֵין גֶּדִי׃ - And it came to pass, when Shaul returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Ein Gedi.
In the previous chapter we saw that Shaul had to rush to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and as a result was forced to break off his pursuit of David. Now, upon returning from the front, he is immediately informed: David is in the wilderness of Ein Gedi.
וַיִּקַּח שָׁאוּל שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ בָּחוּר מִכָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּלֶךְ לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת דָּוִד וַאֲנָשָׁיו עַל פְּנֵי צוּרֵי הַיְּעֵלִים׃ - Then Shaul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
Shaul does not muster his entire army, but chooses an elite unit: three thousand chosen men out of all Israel. And where does he turn? "Upon the rocks of the wild goats." His reasoning is simple: a man who flees and hides conceals himself in places hard to reach, in the sheer cliffs that only wild goats can climb well. There, he assumes, David will be found.
וַיָּבֹא אֶל גִּדְרוֹת הַצֹּאן עַל הַדֶּרֶךְ וְשָׁם מְעָרָה וַיָּבֹא שָׁאוּל לְהָסֵךְ אֶת רַגְלָיו וְדָוִד וַאֲנָשָׁיו בְּיַרְכְּתֵי הַמְּעָרָה יֹשְׁבִים׃ - And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Shaul went in to cover his feet, while David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
Shaul arrives at the sheepfolds that were near the main road, a place through which all people pass, and not the mountains and cliffs of the wild goats. And precisely there, in the cave beside the main road, David and his men are hiding. David was a great strategist: he calculated that Shaul would search for him in the rocks of the wild goats and not in the heart of the paved road, and therefore chose to hide in the most exposed place. And his calculation was so precise that Shaul entered the cave himself, without any guard and without fear, out of the absolute assumption that surely David was not here.
"To cover his feet" means to relieve himself. Our Sages expound: Rabbi Elazar said, this teaches that he made himself like a booth. Great modesty was in Shaul, that he would not sit exposed, but would spread and wrap his garment around himself and cover himself over, so that his flesh would not be seen bare.
In the plain sense, this was not a single chamber, but a cave within a cave. David and his men sat in the inner part, and Shaul entered the outer part, and presumably had no idea at all that the cave continued further. The proof: David conducts an entire dialogue with his men and Shaul hears nothing. They knew he had entered, for they had a guard at the entrance, as is the way of the pursued who are always cautious. Even Shaul's guards did not enter with him, for even a king has a little privacy.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַנְשֵׁי דָוִד אֵלָיו הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֵלֶיךָ הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן אֶת אֹיִבְךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִטַב בְּעֵינֶיךָ וַיָּקָם דָּוִד וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת כְּנַף הַמְּעִיל אֲשֶׁר לְשָׁאוּל בַּלָּט׃ - And David's men said to him: Behold, this is the day of which Hashem said to you, Behold, I am giving your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you. And David arose and secretly cut off the corner of Shaul's robe.
David's men see this as a golden opportunity. Their situation is unbearable: six hundred men constantly on the move, with no rest, their lives hanging in the balance, and at any moment Shaul might overtake them and kill them all, for not one of them would be pardoned. And now, in a single moment, the whole story could be brought to an end.
The commentators address the question: where do we find that Hashem said to David, "Behold, I am giving your enemy into your hand"? The Radak explains that this was told to him through Shmuel, or through Gad, or through Natan the prophet - all those prophets who were connected with David - that Hashem would give his enemies into his hands and he would rise to the throne. It was simply not stated explicitly who the enemy was, so they interpreted the matter and said: if Hashem promised to give your enemies into your hand, then who is your enemy at this moment? Shaul. If so, the day of which the prophecy spoke has arrived.
The Malbim adds a deeper layer: since David was anointed by a prophet, and two kings cannot use a single crown, and especially since Shaul is now pursuing David and coming to nullify his kingship, the conclusion is that Shaul certainly will not remain king. And if David is destined to reign while Shaul pursues him, then the very promise "you shall reign" means that he has nothing to fear, and that Shaul will be delivered into his hand. This does not mean that Hashem explicitly told David "I will deliver Shaul to you," but rather that since you are destined to reign, all your enemies are automatically delivered into your hand, and here is the opportunity.
Moreover, even without any prophecy at all, the very fact that Shaul is pursuing David gives him the status of a pursuer whom every person is obligated to kill. And even if we say that this is not left to just any person because Shaul is a king, David himself is the one being pursued, and regarding him it is said, "He who comes to kill you, rise early to kill him." All the factors combine into one conclusion: David, this is your duty.
The Malbim says that David himself was in doubt about the matter: perhaps Hashem had indeed delivered Shaul into his hand so that he would kill him and receive the kingship that had been given to him by Hashem? And since he was in doubt, he decided to make a test in order to know whether this was the will of Hashem or not.
And here is a wonderful explanation: what is the test of the righteous person? He performs the act and examines his inner feeling. If the act is one of injustice, the righteous person feels within himself a bad feeling. And if the act is a good one, he feels within himself that the act added to his completeness, and he has joy in it. David said: I will test whether harming Shaul is the will of Hashem or not. But if I kill him and only then test, it will be too late. Therefore I will harm him only slightly: I will cut off the corner of his robe. Tearing the garments of royalty is a degradation of the king and a small blow to his kingship, and from the reaction of my heart I will know.
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי כֵן וַיַּךְ לֵב דָּוִד אֹתוֹ עַל אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אֶת כָּנָף אֲשֶׁר לְשָׁאוּל׃ - And it was afterward that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off the corner that belonged to Shaul.
Here is the result: the inner seismograph of the righteous person functions immediately. Since David saw that he was so distressed and so pained, he understood that the act had not been proper. For had it been proper, he would have felt joy, like one fulfilling a mitzvah. And if it is not the will of Hashem even to harm his robe, how much more so is it not His will to harm the anointed of Hashem himself.
The Sages too saw a certain injustice here: whoever degrades garments, in the end derives no benefit from them. David degraded the garment and tore it, and in the end he did not benefit from his own garments, as it is said, "and they covered him with garments, but he could not get warm" - this came to him as a punishment for having cut off Shaul's robe.
The Ben Ish Chai asks: what punishment does he deserve for this, seeing that his entire intention was to prove to Shaul that he had been in his hand and had not killed him? He answers: he should not have torn specifically the part that he tore. He cut off the corner, and from then on the garment had a corner without tzitzit, and it turned out that Shaul went about with a garment lacking tzitzit. This was the charge: that he caused Shaul the king to lack tzitzit. And therefore the verse emphasizes "the corner that belonged to Shaul."
וַיֹּאמֶר לַאֲנָשָׁיו חָלִילָה לִּי מֵיְהֹוָה אִם אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לַאדֹנִי לִמְשִׁיחַ יְהֹוָה לִשְׁלֹחַ יָדִי בּוֹ כִּי מְשִׁיחַ יְהֹוָה הוּא׃ - And he said to his men: Far be it from me before Hashem that I should do this thing to my master, Hashem's anointed, to send forth my hand against him, for he is Hashem's anointed.
"Chalilah li," far be it from me: this thing would be a profanity for me, a sin on my part. The Malbim explains that there are two arguments in his words. The first, "Far be it from me before Hashem," is that this is a sin toward the Creator of the world, and one who does so will have to answer before the Holy One, blessed be He. The second, "for he is Hashem's anointed," is that Shaul possesses a lofty and immense status, for the Holy One, blessed be He, anointed him as king.
David's men thought that from the moment David was anointed, or from the moment the time for the conclusion of Shaul's kingship had arrived, he was no longer Hashem's anointed. David said to them: it is not so. I tested it, and I found that he is still Hashem's anointed. And how did I test it? By tearing the corner of his robe and seeing that the act caused me terrible anguish, "and David's heart smote him." My inner feeling testifies that there is a great sin in this, and therefore the matter is not as you say.
וַיְשַׁסַּע דָּוִד אֶת אֲנָשָׁיו בַּדְּבָרִים וְלֹא נְתָנָם לָקוּם אֶל שָׁאוּל וְשָׁאוּל קָם מֵהַמְּעָרָה וַיֵּלֶךְ בַּדָּרֶךְ׃ - And David restrained his men with words, and did not allow them to rise against Shaul; and Shaul rose from the cave and went on his way.
What is the meaning of "vayeshasa"? The Radak explains: he removed them from himself with good words, that is, he appeased and pacified them, telling them that Shaul possesses a status and greatness that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him. According to this, "vayeshasa" means that he appeased, and not, as we are accustomed to think, that it means to tear in two. The Malbim, by contrast, explains it as in the expression "as one tears a kid asunder": he separated them with his words. For they had gathered against him, and when they were united, a whole group was formed here against Shaul, and therefore he dispersed the group, and informed them that he was about to do a different act: to turn to Shaul and try to appease him.
וַיָּקָם דָּוִד אַחֲרֵי כֵן וַיֵּצֵא מֵהַמְּעָרָה וַיִּקְרָא אַחֲרֵי שָׁאוּל לֵאמֹר אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיַּבֵּט שָׁאוּל אַחֲרָיו וַיִּקֹּד דָּוִד אַפַּיִם אַרְצָה וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ׃ - And David rose after this and went out of the cave and called after Shaul, saying: My lord the king. And Shaul looked behind him, and David bowed his face to the ground and prostrated himself.
Why did he not speak with him at once? So that Shaul would have time to distance himself. For had he been near him, there would still have been a fear that he might try to attack him, and David did not want to stand face to face against Shaul while the latter was seeking to kill him, for David would in no way have killed him, and heaven forbid he would enter into danger. Therefore he let him move away, and only then called to him from his elevated place. And first of all, "and David bowed his face to the ground and prostrated himself": complete self-effacement. Not as one who seeks to kill, but as one who sees himself as a servant.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד לְשָׁאוּל לָמָּה תִשְׁמַע אֶת דִּבְרֵי אָדָם לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה דָוִד מְבַקֵּשׁ רָעָתֶךָ׃ - And David said to Shaul: Why do you listen to the words of a man, saying: Behold, David seeks your harm?
Who is this "man"? Doeg the Edomite, who always saw to it that Shaul's hatred of David would burn on a high flame. His name was Doeg (from the root meaning to worry), and as his name, so he was.
הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר נְתָנְךָ יְהֹוָה הַיּוֹם בְּיָדִי בַּמְּעָרָה וְאָמַר לַהֲרָגְךָ וַתָּחָס עָלֶיךָ וָאֹמַר לֹא אֶשְׁלַח יָדִי בַּאדֹנִי כִּי מְשִׁיחַ יְהֹוָה הוּא׃ - Behold, this day your eyes have seen how Hashem delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and one said to kill you, but I had pity on you, and I said: I will not stretch out my hand against my master, for he is the anointed of Hashem.
The plain meaning of the verse is clear: today you were in my hand and I had mercy on you, and if I were seeking to kill you, why did I not do it now? But the wording of the verse presents two difficulties: what is meant by "and one said to kill you" rather than "and I said" or "and I could have," and what is meant by "and it had pity on you" in the feminine form, rather than "and I had pity on you"?
The Malbim explains: when a person wishes to kill his fellow and does not do it, three possible reasons are at his disposal. The first, lack of ability (I want very much to do it, but I simply do not have the power). The second, fear of Hashem (he owes me a great deal of money and I would be glad to be rid of him, but murder is a terrible sin, so I abandon the idea). The third, fear of flesh and blood (they will put me in prison and do such and such to me).
David said to Shaul: those who say that David seeks your harm, how will they explain that I did not kill you in the cave? They will say that I could not. That claim I refute: "Hashem delivered you today into my hand" - you were right beside me, and from the standpoint of ability there was no obstacle whatsoever, for I even cut your robe, and just as easily I could have killed you. Will they say that I feared people? But in the cave you were alone, and there was no one for me to be wary of. Will they say that I feared Hashem? That too is not so - "and one said to kill you," meaning the Creator of the world said, for the Torah stated that one who pursues you and comes into your hand may be killed, "one who comes to kill you, rise early to kill him." Even from the standpoint of halacha I would not have been considered a murderer.
And with all this - "and it had pity on you." Who had pity? My hand. "Hand" is a feminine word ("the great hand"), and his meaning is: my hand had pity on you. Even though by Torah law it was permitted, I did not do it. And why? "For he is the anointed of Hashem" - you have a station and greatness that I did not permit myself to harm.
וְאָבִי רְאֵה גַּם רְאֵה אֶת כְּנַף מְעִילְךָ בְּיָדִי כִּי בְּכָרְתִי אֶת כְּנַף מְעִילְךָ וְלֹא הֲרַגְתִּיךָ דַּע וּרְאֵה כִּי אֵין בְּיָדִי רָעָה וָפֶשַׁע וְלֹא חָטָאתִי לָךְ וְאַתָּה צֹדֶה אֶת נַפְשִׁי לְקַחְתָּהּ׃ - And my father, see, yes see, the corner of your robe in my hand, for when I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, know and see that there is no evil or transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, yet you hunt my life to take it.
David says: perhaps you will think that I was not close to you at all, but only saw from a distance how you came out, and now I am pretending as though I could have killed you. Therefore here is decisive proof: the corner of your robe is in my hand. I was so close to you that in a single moment I could have killed you.
And a further argument in the matter: perhaps you will say that dread fell upon me. There is such a phenomenon. They tell of one of the Kurds who met Saddam Hussein at the height of his glory and came to kill him, with a pistol in his pocket. Saddam looked at him, and he recounts: I stood beside him frozen like stone, a terrible fear fell upon me, and I left and did nothing to him. A person comes to carry out a deed, and he grasps how dreadful it is, and dread seizes him and he dries up. Therefore David says: here you see that no dread fell upon me, for I had the strength to approach and cut a piece of your robe without your hearing and to return. Had I been frozen from fear I would not have been able to move. And if without fear I did this, then to kill you I would also have been able without fear. And in truth, immense courage is required for such a thing; and if David had been looking for a volunteer for such a mission, I am not sure we would have been the first to jump forward.
"Know and see that there is no evil or transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you." And one may ask: is it not possible that now you are fine, but in the past there was indeed evil and transgression in your hand? The Malbim explains: had there been iniquity in my hand in the past, it is a principle that one sin drags along another, and then even now it would have dragged me to harm you. And since you see that I did not harm you, it is a sign that from the outset there was no sin in my hand, for had there been - it would have dragged along more. From this you will understand that I never sinned against you.
יִשְׁפֹּט יְהֹוָה בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ וּנְקָמַנִי יְהֹוָה מִמֶּךָּ וְיָדִי לֹא תִהְיֶה בָּךְ׃ - May Hashem judge between me and you, and may Hashem avenge me of you, but my hand shall not be against you.
Here we must wonder: is a person permitted to hand over his case to Heaven? This is a very grave offense, and one must be extremely careful about it. A person who has a quarrel with his fellow, over money or over principle or over a dispute between neighbors, and says "The Holy One, blessed be He, will judge between us, He will give you what you deserve" - what is he doing? He is presenting himself as a completely righteous man who deserves nothing bad, and he arouses a great accusation against himself. They say to him from above: you feel that you are so righteous and deserve nothing? Let us examine your merits. The great fear of every merchant is that he will come up in the tax authority's sample, that they will come and say to him: let us examine what is going on with you, and why you have such and such in the register. How much more so in spiritual matters, that if they say to a person "let us open your files" - woe to him and woe to his soul.
If so, how does David do this, and even repeat it later, "and Hashem will be judge and will judge between me and you"? The answer: the entire prohibition against handing one's case over to Heaven applies only when there is judgment on earth. But when there is no judgment on earth, it is permitted. And in David's situation against Shaul there is no judgment on earth at all: to whom would he turn to judge his claim against the king? The moment he arrives at the court, the king would come with his army to kill him, for he had already decreed him a rebel against the monarchy. Since he has no one to turn to, he has no choice but to say: Master of the Universe, You are the only one who can judge. But ordinarily, if you have a legal matter with a person, take him to court.
"And may Hashem avenge me of you" - the vengeance will be carried out by an agent, not that the Holy One, blessed be He, will take him Himself in his sleep on his bed, but that someone else will strike him. And this is the next pasuk:
כַּאֲשֶׁר יֹאמַר מְשַׁל הַקַּדְמֹנִי מֵרְשָׁעִים יֵצֵא רֶשַׁע וְיָדִי לֹא תִהְיֶה בָּךְ׃ - As the proverb of the ancient one says: out of the wicked comes forth wickedness, but my hand shall not be upon you.
The first interpretation: "the proverb of the ancient one" is the proverb of the Ancient One of the world, and Chazal say that this refers to the holy Torah. And Rashi explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, arranges for the wicked man to fall by the hand of a wicked man like himself. A wicked man who deserves judgment - another wicked man will come and exact payment from him. This is what is meant by "and God caused it to come to his hand." And the Gemara in Maseches Makkos explains what this is about: two men who killed a person, one unintentionally and one intentionally, and the Sanhedrin has no witnesses against either of them. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He arranges for them to meet at one inn, at one place. The one who killed intentionally sits under the ladder, and the one who killed unintentionally comes down the ladder and falls upon him. The one who killed intentionally and is liable to death - dies, and the one who killed unintentionally - now there are witnesses and they exile him to a city of refuge. The general principle: guilt is brought about by the guilty. If a person must be punished by someone, he will not be punished by a righteous man but by a wicked man. Whoever seeks to do a wicked deed - they arrange for him someone who in any case needs to receive judgment. And this is what David says: I will not kill you, because I am innocent, and such guilt is not brought about through the innocent. A wicked man who deserves such guilt will come, and through him the matter will come about - "out of the wicked comes forth wickedness," "but my hand shall not be upon you."
The second interpretation, that of the Radak: "the proverb of the ancient one" is the first ruler who said this proverb, an ancient man who said it in the past, and as the Targum renders it: a proverb that they proverbed from ancient times. Its meaning: from the wicked one himself will come forth the wickedness that will destroy him and they will perish from the world. It is not an external wicked man who will come upon him, but from himself the harm to him will come forth; he is the one who digs for himself the pit into which he will fall. And as we saw with Kayin and Hevel: Kayin killed Hevel, and who in the end killed Kayin? Lemech, and Lemech came from the offspring of Kayin. According to this the Malbim explains that "the proverb of the ancient one" is the proverb that existed in ancient days, in the days of Kayin and Hevel.
The Radak brings a third interpretation: "out of the wicked comes forth wickedness" - from the wicked comes forth the wicked deed. That is, when you see a person doing a wicked deed, know that this person is wicked. Just as he is wicked in his heart, so he will do a wicked deed, and the evil of his heart, though it is not visible, is discerned in his actions. And even though outwardly he appears an honest and righteous man, if you saw him doing an evil deed, know that he is wicked. And what does David come to say with this? "I know you, and I know that if I had fallen into your hands you would not have had mercy on me at all. And nevertheless, my hand shall not be upon you." The Holy One, blessed be He, if He wishes, will strike you, but my hand shall not be upon you, even though I know that you, for your part, would not have acted toward me as I acted toward you.
אַחֲרֵי מִי יָצָא מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי מִי אַתָּה רֹדֵף אַחֲרֵי כֶּלֶב מֵת אַחֲרֵי פַּרְעֹשׁ אֶחָד׃ - After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom are you pursuing? After a dead dog, after a single flea.
I am regarded before you like a dog, and not like a living dog but like a dead dog, and weak like a single flea, like a lowly and worthless man - and you have come out to pursue me? The Malbim asks: why the repetition? He explains that this entire pursuit, if we weigh it on the scales of reason, is great folly, and from two sides. "After whom has the king of Israel come out" - this refers to the very act of coming out in the first place. "After whom are you pursuing" - to the continuation, now that you are already here.
And he answers both questions: regarding the very coming out - "after a dead dog." And why did he compare himself to a dog? Because the central trait of the dog is loyalty to its owner. David said: I was a loyal servant to you like a dog, I guarded you, and with all this you distanced me from you, and from a living dog I became a dead dog. If so, why in the first place did you come out to pursue me? And regarding the continuation - now I am certainly like nothing, for I am not with you and I am not in your vicinity and I am utterly incapable of harming you or biting you. What am I to you? Merely a flea, a nuisance and nothing more, like nothing and nothingness. And you cannot even say many fleas, which might perhaps cause harm, but "a single flea." And what reason is there to continue the pursuit?
וְהָיָה יְהֹוָה לְדַיָּן וְשָׁפַט בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ וְיֵרֶא וְיָרֵב אֶת רִיבִי וְיִשְׁפְּטֵנִי מִיָּדֶךָ׃ - Hashem shall be the judge, and He will judge between me and you, and He will see and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.
The Holy One, blessed be He, will be the judge, for here there is no justice on earth.
וַיְהִי כְּכַלּוֹת דָּוִד לְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֶל שָׁאוּל וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל הֲקֹלְךָ זֶה בְּנִי דָוִד וַיִּשָּׂא שָׁאוּל קֹלוֹ וַיֵּבְךְּ׃ - And it was, when David finished speaking these words to Shaul, that Shaul said: Is this your voice, my son David? And Shaul lifted up his voice and wept.
What does "my son" mean? Some explain that his intent was: you had compassion on me as a son has compassion on his father. Others say that since David was his son in law, he regarded him as his son. And others say that his weeping was over the priests of Nov, for now it became clear to him that the priests of Nov had died through him unjustly: behold, he sees that David truly does not seek his harm and does not wish to kill him, and if so, the entire killing of the priests of Nov was his own wrongdoing.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל דָּוִד צַדִּיק אַתָּה מִמֶּנִּי כִּי אַתָּה גְּמַלְתַּנִי הַטּוֹבָה וַאֲנִי גְּמַלְתִּיךָ הָרָעָה׃ - And he said to David: You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, while I have repaid you evil.
"You are more righteous than I" - here he concedes to him regarding the past, that you were correct in your judgment. And what does "repaid" mean? The Malbim explains that wherever the term of repayment (gemul) is used, it stems either from love or from hatred. He said to him: you repaid me good by killing the Philistine and in the war against the Philistines, out of your love for me; while I, out of my hatred for you, repaid you evil by pursuing you and seeking to kill you.
And by way of hint they said: "You are more righteous than I" - through me, because of me you are righteous. What raised David to such a level of righteousness? The very fact of being pursued. And after all the pursuits, when Shaul fell into his hand and he did not kill him, what an immense virtue he acquired through this test. And if so, from whom did you become righteous? From me, for had it not been for the trials and challenges I placed before you, you would not have merited such a virtue.
וְאַתָּה הִגַּדְתָּ הַיּוֹם אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָה אִתִּי טוֹבָה אֵת אֲשֶׁר סִגְּרַנִי יְהֹוָה בְּיָדְךָ וְלֹא הֲרַגְתָּנִי׃ - And you have declared this day that you have dealt well with me, in that when Hashem delivered me into your hand you did not kill me.
וְכִי יִמְצָא אִישׁ אֶת אֹיְבוֹ וְשִׁלְּחוֹ בְּדֶרֶךְ טוֹבָה וַיהֹוָה יְשַׁלֶּמְךָ טוֹבָה תַּחַת הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָה לִי׃ - For if a man finds his enemy, would he let him go on his way in peace? So may Hashem reward you with good for what you have done for me this day.
"You have declared this day" - you have declared and conveyed a message for the generations. There is a person who performs a one time deed, and his reward is one time. And there is a person who performs a deed, and others learn from him and act as he did, and how much reward does he receive? According to the number of people who learn from his deed. And if an entire generation learns from him, that whole generation continues to bring him reward. And if long generations imitate his deed and act as he did with such a level of righteousness, he is already long in heaven and continues to receive reward for being a guide of the way for all.
This is what Shaul meant: you have publicized today this good deed, that Hashem delivered me into your hand and you did not kill me, and this deed will bear fruit for generations to come. "When a man finds his enemy, will he send him away on a good path?" - everyone will learn a moral lesson from you, that if a person finds his enemy and has it in his power to kill him, yet nonetheless he restrains himself and sends him away on a good path. And to whom will the reward for all these deeds come? To you, who taught the world such righteousness. "And Hashem will repay you with good in place of this day" - this is not the merit of a single day, but a merit for all eternity that you have acquired for yourself today.
וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי מָלֹךְ תִּמְלוֹךְ וְקָמָה בְּיָדְךָ מַמְלֶכֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And now, behold, I know that you will surely reign, and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand.
Shaul says to him: I see your success and the wondrous divine assistance that accompanies you. I tried several times to pursue you and destroy you, and always at the last moment the Holy One, blessed be He, saved you from my hand, as we saw in the previous chapter. This is a sign and a proof that you will surely reign.
The Radak adds an explanation: it is possible that Shaul heard that Shmuel had anointed David as king in secret, and the matter reached his ears. And when Shmuel told him, "Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and given it to your fellow who is better than you," he now understood of whom Shmuel had spoken: apparently of David.
There is a wonderful midrash here. Where else did we see the tearing of a robe? By Shmuel. There, when Shmuel turned to go - whether Shmuel grasped Shaul's robe or Shaul grasped Shmuel's robe, for the verse leaves it undecided - the robe was torn, and Shmuel saw in this a sign and said: Hashem has torn the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to your fellow who is better than you. The Sages say: he gave him a sign. Who will receive the kingdom from you? Whoever tears your robe. Therefore, when David came and cut Shaul's robe, Shaul said to him: now it has become clear to me, "behold, I know that you will surely reign." If you are the one who tore my robe, I no longer have any doubt.
The Malbim adds: through what else did he come to know this? What is the definition of a king? The very ABC of kingship is a person's rule over all his own faculties. A person is called a small city, and one who rules over himself with absolute dominion over his desires and cravings is the one fit to rule over others as well. Therefore it is said of Shlomo that in the end he reigned over his staff. Does a person receive kingship over a staff, that he was crowned over it? Rather, its meaning is that he had no subjects at all; he was a wanderer walking about with a staff, and that was all that remained to him. Nevertheless he was still called "king," because his rule over all the faculties of his soul was absolute and complete. You may have only a staff, and you are still called a king, because you rule and govern your own spirit - "and one who rules his spirit is greater than one who captures a city" - and this is far greater than one who rules over an entire city or an entire country.
And this is what Shaul said to him: since I saw that you are capable of ruling over your own inclination, that your enemy came into your hand and you release him and let him go, even though you could have killed him - this is a sign in my eyes that you will reign. For one who rules over his own faculties will also reign over Israel.
Furthermore: "and the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand" - since you possess these faculties, I know that with you what happened to me will not happen. I lost the kingship because I was not firm enough. And one may add a further explanation: Shaul lost the kingship because he yielded to social pressure. With Agag and Amalek everyone told him: after all there is silver and gold here, it is a pity, do not destroy it; and Doeg the Edomite began to bring him verses - the Torah has compassion even for a single person found slain and commanded the eglah arufah, and here you are going to kill hundreds of thousands of people? So he let them take from the spoil. And likewise with the offering he brought before Shmuel's arrival, he acted out of pressure, and at that moment Shmuel told him that he had lost the kingship. With David it was exactly the opposite: everyone pressured him - here is the opportunity in your hands, take him and kill him - and David did not yield. He stood like flint rock and like a firm crag against them all. Therefore Shaul said to him: with you the kingdom of Israel will arise and endure, and not as with me, where I acted out of pressure.
וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעָה לִּי בַּיהֹוָה אִם תַּכְרִית אֶת זַרְעִי אַחֲרָי וְאִם תַּשְׁמִיד אֶת שְׁמִי מִבֵּית אָבִי׃ - And now, swear to me by Hashem that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father's house.
Shaul makes him swear regarding two things: that he will not cut off his offspring, and that he will not destroy his name. From here we learn what we said in the past, that the entire fear that drove Shaul to pursue David was the dread that if David ascended to the kingship he would kill him and all his offspring after him. Therefore he judged David as a pursuer, and from this he saw a justification for himself to pursue him.
וַיִּשָּׁבַע דָּוִד לְשָׁאוּל וַיֵּלֶךְ שָׁאוּל אֶל בֵּיתוֹ וְדָוִד וַאֲנָשָׁיו עָלוּ עַל הַמְּצוּדָה׃ - And David swore to Shaul, and Shaul went to his house, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
And what exactly did he swear? Some say he swore only that he himself would not kill Shaul, but not concerning his descendants, and therefore later on he handed over Shaul's descendants to the Givonim: I did not swear regarding your descendants, only regarding you. Others say he swore concerning his descendants as well, and the fact that he gave Shaul's sons to the Givonim is no contradiction, for it was not he who killed them but the Givonim who killed them, and he had sworn only that he would not pursue them. And here the Givonim were the ones who killed them by the word of Hashem, and there is no problem with this at all.
In this chapter Shaul was delivered into David's hand in the cave by the roadside, and David, who was uncertain whether this was Hashem's will, tested the matter with a small act, cutting off the corner of the robe, and learned from "David's heart smote him" that this was not Hashem's will. He stood firm against the pressure of all his men, appeasing them and holding them back with words, and afterward proved to Shaul with three arguments that he had not lacked the ability, that he had not feared any man, and that even the halacha had not prevented him, and that only the honor of Hashem's anointed stayed his hand. He entrusted his case to Heaven in a place where there was no justice on earth, and made himself small, like a dead dog and a single flea. And Shaul admitted: "You are more righteous than I," recognizing that this deed would shine for the generations and would bring David eternal reward, and that one who rules over himself is the one fit to reign over Israel. This is the great message of the chapter: true strength is not in the ability to strike, but in the ability to stay the hand and master the spirit.