1 Samuel 24:14

1 Samuel 24:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.
• New International Version (NIV)“Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Who are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?
• English Standard Version (ESV)After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!
• New King James Version (NKJV)After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?

Context of 1 Samuel 24:14

12“May the Lord judge between me and you, and may the Lord take vengeance on you for me, but my hand will never be against you. 13As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness comes from wicked people.’ My hand will never be against you. Who has the king of Israel come after? What are you chasing after? A dead dog? A single flea? 15May the Lord be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.” 16When David finished saying these things to him, Saul replied, “Is that your voice, David my son?” Then Saul wept aloud

1 Samuel 24:14 word by word

אַחֲרֵ֨י מִ֤י יָצָא֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אַחֲרֵ֥י מִ֖י אַתָּ֣ה רֹדֵ֑ף אַֽחֲרֵי֙ כֶּ֣לֶב מֵ֔ת אַחֲרֵ֖י פַּרְעֹ֥שׁ אֶחָֽד׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• whom is the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• come outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• whom dost thou pursueרָדַףrâdaph · to pursueH7291
• a deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
• dogכֶּ֫לֶבkeleb · dogH3611
• aאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• fleaפַּרְעֹשׁpar‛ôsh · fleaH6550

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 24:14

• 2 Samuel 6:20When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”
• 1 Kings 21:7Then his wife Jezebel said to him, “Now, exercise your royal power over Israel. Get up, eat some food, and be happy. For I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
• 1 Samuel 17:43He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” Then he cursed David by his gods.
• 2 Samuel 3:8Abner was very angry about Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I a dog’s head who belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I’ve been loyal to the family of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends and haven’t betrayed you to David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!
• 2 Samuel 9:8Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”
• 2 Samuel 16:9Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and remove his head!”
• 1 Samuel 26:20So don’t let my blood fall to the ground far from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, like one who pursues a partridge in the mountains.”
• Judges 8:1The men of Ephraim said to him, “Why have you done this to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?” And they argued with him violently.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 24:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14After a dead dog - A term used among the Hebrews to signify the most sovereign contempt; see 2 Samuel 16:9. One utterly incapable of making the least resistance against Saul, and the troops of Israel. The same idea is expressed in the term flea. The Targum properly expresses both thus: one who is weak, one who is contemptible.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14After whom … - i. e., was it consistent with the dignity of the king of Israel to lead armies in pursuit of a weak and helpless individual like David?Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-15Verses 8-15 David was falsely charged with seeking Saul's hurt; he shows Saul that God's providence had given him opportunity to do it. And it was upon a good principle that he refused to do it. He declares his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger. If men wrong us, God will right us, at farthest, in the judgment of the great day.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-158-15. David also arose ... and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul--The closeness of the precipitous cliffs, though divided by deep wadies, and the transparent purity of the air enable a person standing on one rock to hear distinctly the words uttered by a speaker standing on another (Jud 9:7). The expostulation of David, followed by the visible tokens he furnished of his cherishing no evil design against either the person or the government of the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Samuel 24:14

• Dog (Sodomite?)
• Flea
• Humility
• Proverbs
• Self-Control

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• David
• Dog
• Flea
• Providence
• Reward
• Dead
• Samuel, Books of

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings