1 Samuel 24:12

1 Samuel 24:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
• New International Version (NIV)May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.

Context of 1 Samuel 24:12

10You can see that the Lord has kept you safe today when I had a chance to hurt you in the cave. Some of my men wanted me to kill you, but I did not agree. I said, “I will not hurt my master, because the Lord has chosen him to be king.” 11My father, look at what I have in my hand! It is a small piece of your coat. I cut this off the corner of your coat, but I did not kill you. So you must know that I do not want to do anything bad against you. I have not turned against you. I am not guilty of anything, but you are chasing after me so that you can kill me. The Lord is the judge who will decide which of us is guilty. I pray that he will punish you for what you are doing to me. But I myself will never do anything to hurt you. 13You know the proverb, “Evil people do evil things.” But I will never try to hurt you. 14You are Israel's king. So why are you chasing after someone like me? I am less important than a dead dog or a little fly!

1 Samuel 24:12 word by word

יִשְׁפֹּ֤ט יְהוָה֙ בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֔ךָ וּנְקָמַ֥נִי יְהוָ֖ה מִמֶּ֑ךָּ וְיָדִ֖י לֹ֥א תִֽהְיֶה־בָּֽךְ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• judgeשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
• avengeנָקַםnâqam · to avengeH5358
• me of thee: but mine handיָדyâd · handH3027

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 24:12

• 1 Samuel 26:10I know that the Lord himself will kill Saul one day. Saul may die when he has reached the age to die. Or someone may kill him in a battle. He will certainly come to his end.
• Genesis 16:5Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘It is because of you that Hagar is now insulting me. I gave her to you so that you could have sex with her. Now she is pregnant and she does not respect me. The Lord will decide who is right, you or me.’
• Judges 11:27I have not done anything to hurt you. You are the one who is doing something wrong if you attack us. The Lord himself is the judge! He will decide whether the Israelites or the Ammonites are doing what is right.” ’
• Job 5:8I suggest that you ask God to help you. You should tell him about your problems.
• Psalms 7:8You, Lord, judge the people of all nations. Lord, Most High God, say that I am not guilty. Truly, I am righteous and honest.
• Psalms 35:1Lord, please attack those people who are attacking me. Fight against those people who are fighting against me.
• Psalms 43:1My God, show that I am not guilty. Make the people who do not respect you know that I am right. Rescue me from the evil people who tell lies about me.
• Romans 12:19My friends, if someone has done bad things to you, do not try to punish them yourselves. Instead, let God be angry and punish them. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘The Lord God says, “When people do something wrong, I am the one who will punish them. I will pay them back.” ’
• 1 Peter 2:23People insulted Christ, but he did not say any bad thing to answer them. People caused him to have trouble, but he never tried to hurt them in return. Instead, Christ trusted God to help him. He knew that God always judges people fairly.
• Revelation 6:10These believers called out loudly, ‘Lord, you have all authority. You are completely good. You always do what is right. When will you decide to judge the people who live on the earth? Do not wait! You should quickly punish the people who killed us!’
• 1 Samuel 26:11But I ask the Lord to stop me from hurting him, because he is the Lord's chosen king. Take the spear and the jar of water that are near Saul's head. We must leave here now!’

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 24:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12The Lord judge between me and thee - Appeals of this kind to God are the common refuge of the poor and oppressed people. So also among the Hindoos: God will judge between us. Mother Kalee will judge. Sometimes this springs from a consciousness of innocence, and sometimes from a desire of revenge.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
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12May the LORD judge: There was no human authority who could decide what was right between Saul and David. Because of this, David asked God to judge the matter (see Genesis 16:5; 31:53; Exodus 5:21; Judges 11:27). may the LORD take vengeance on you: David trusted God's plan instead of trying to control it.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 24:12

• Forgiveness
• God Continued...
• Mercy
• Self-Control

In the dictionaries

• David
• Providence
• Reward
• Flea
• Samuel, Books of
• Saul
• avenge, avenger, revenge, vengeance
• proverb

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