Why does David call Saul 'the LORD's anointed' when Saul is trying to kill him?

The honor is owed to the office, not the office-holder. Saul was anointed by Samuel (1 Sam 10:1) in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 17:15 -- that act made him king regardless of how he later behaved, and David treats the title as binding on his own conduct even toward a king actively persecuting him.

Did David spare Saul's life more than once?

Yes. In 1 Samuel 26:9, David again stops Abishai from killing the sleeping Saul, using almost the same words as in the cave: 'who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?'

Why does Maimonides cite Deuteronomy 17:11 as the source for both #141 and #143?

Deuteronomy 17:11 commands that one 'shall not decline... to the right hand, nor to the left' from a ruling of the high court. Maimonides applies the same principle of unwavering submission to divinely established authority to the king's office in #143 -- one verse, two institutions.

How does this commandment connect to #142, appointing a king?

#142 establishes how a king is chosen -- through Samuel's anointing (1 Sam 10:1) and the people's acclamation (1 Sam 10:24). #143 shows how that same anointing, once given, obligates everyone -- even a future king like David -- to honor the office regardless of the office-holder's conduct.

Commandment #143 · Positive · Kingship & Leadership

The LORD's Anointed: Honor and Revere the King

Q: What does 1 Samuel 24:6 say about Saul?

David, having spared Saul's life in a cave, tells his men: 'The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.'

כִּבּוּד הַמֶּלֶךְ

Source: 1 Samuel 24:6 · Maimonides, Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive #143

Maimonides cites the same verse, Deuteronomy 17:11, as the source for both the Sanhedrin's authority (commandment #141) and this commandment to honor the king. The verse's command — 'thou shalt not decline... to the right hand, nor to the left' — establishes one principle with two applications: unwavering submission to whatever authority God has put in place, whether a court's ruling or a king's office. Nowhere is that principle tested more starkly than in the story of David and Saul. Alone in a cave with the king who was hunting him, David refuses to lift a hand: 'The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed' (1 Samuel 24:6).

Touch Not Mine Anointed

וַיֹּאמֶר לַאֲנָשָׁיו חָלִילָה לִּי מֵיהוָה אִם אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לַאדֹנִי לִמְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה לִשְׁלֹחַ יָדִי בּוֹ כִּי מְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה הוּא

"And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD."

1 Samuel 24:6 — Open in Nevi'im Reader

הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר נְתָנְךָ יְהוָה הַיּוֹם בְּיָדִי בַּמְּעָרָה וְאָמַר לַהֲרָגֲךָ וַתָּחָס עָלֶיךָ וָאֹמַר לֹא אֶשְׁלַח יָדִי בַּאדֹנִי כִּי מְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה הוּא

"Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD'S anointed."

1 Samuel 24:10 — Open in Nevi'im Reader

Saul, pursuing David with three thousand men, enters a cave at En-gedi to rest — the very cave where David and his men are hiding. David's men urge him: here is the moment, God has delivered Saul into his hand. David creeps forward and cuts off a corner of Saul's robe — and stops there. When his men press him to finish what he started, David answers, 'The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him... for he is the anointed of the LORD' (1 Sam 24:6).

Afterward, David follows Saul out of the cave and calls after him, holding up the piece of robe as proof of what he did not do: 'this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee... into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee... for he is the LORD'S anointed' (1 Sam 24:10). David does not merely refrain from killing Saul — he makes sure Saul knows it, turning an act of restraint into a public testimony about what the king's anointing means.

Destroy Him Not

וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל אֲבִישַׁי אַל תַּשְׁחִיתֵהוּ כִּי מִי שָׁלַח יָדוֹ בִּמְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה וְנִקָּה

"And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?"

1 Samuel 26:9 — Open in Nevi'im Reader

The test comes a second time. At the hill of Hachilah, David and Abishai slip into Saul's camp at night and find the king asleep, his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Abishai whispers that this is the moment — one thrust, and it is over. David's answer is almost identical to the words he used in the cave: 'Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?' (1 Sam 26:9).

The repetition matters. This was not a single moment of conscience that David might later have regretted — it was a settled conviction, applied the same way under different circumstances, months or years apart. The anointing David refuses to violate is the same act described in commandment #142: Samuel privately 'took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head' (1 Samuel 10:1). That quiet ceremony, witnessed by no crowd, is what David treats as binding on himself even when its recipient is trying to kill him.

Key Figures

David

Twice had Saul's life completely in his hands — once in a cave at En-gedi (1 Sam 24), once in Saul's own camp at Hachilah (1 Sam 26) — and twice refused to take it, citing the same principle both times: 'he is the LORD'S anointed.'

Saul

Even while hunting David across the wilderness with an army, Saul remained 'the LORD'S anointed' in David's eyes — the honor due to the office of king outlasting, in David's conduct, the conduct of the man who held it.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

What does 1 Samuel 24:6 call Saul, and why does that title matter even though Saul was trying to kill David?

What is the significance of David cutting off only a corner of Saul's robe rather than harming him (1 Samuel 24)?

How does 1 Samuel 26:9 echo 24:6, and what does the repetition suggest about David's conviction?

How does Maimonides' citation of Deuteronomy 17:11 for both commandment #141 (the Sanhedrin) and #143 (honoring the king) reveal a single underlying principle?

What does David's restraint toward Saul suggest about how Israelites were expected to relate to a king they personally opposed or feared?

Read the full account of David sparing Saul's life in the Nevi'im reader.

Open 1 Samuel 24 in the Nevi'im Reader

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