New Living Translation

1 Samuel 26:7

7So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him.

1 Samuel 26:7 in other versions

King James Version (KJV)So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him.
New International Version (NIV)So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
English Standard Version (ESV)So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head, and Abner and the army lay around him.
New King James Version (NKJV)So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and there Saul lay sleeping within the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the people lay all around him.

Context of 1 Samuel 26:7

5David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors. 6“Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother. “I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied. So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp and found him asleep, with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying asleep around him. 8“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!” 9“No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?

Read all of 1 Samuel 26

1 Samuel 26:7 word by word

וַיָּבֹא֩ דָוִ֨ד וַאֲבִישַׁ֥י׀ אֶל־הָעָם֮ לַיְלָה֒ וְהִנֵּ֣ה שָׁא֗וּל שֹׁכֵ֤ב יָשֵׁן֙ בַּמַּעְגָּ֔ל וַחֲנִית֥וֹ מְעוּכָֽה־בָאָ֖רֶץ מְרַאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וְאַבְנֵ֣ר וְהָעָ֔ם שֹׁכְבִ֖ים סְבִיבֹתָֽיו׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

Cross-references for 1 Samuel 26:7

1 Thessalonians 5:2For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

Commentaries on 1 Samuel 26:7

Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-25This was the last time Saul and David were together. The Ziphites informed Saul again about David's hiding place (see 1 Samuel 23:19–20). David spared Saul's life again, just like he did in the cave at En-gedi (see 1 Samuel 24).Read the comment