John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 2. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel , etc.] Out of his army, with which he had been pursuing the Philistines: and went to seek David, and his men, upon the rocks of the wild goats ; which were in the wilderness of Engedi; those rocks were exceeding high and terrible to look at, full of precipices, and so prominent, that to travellers they seemed as if they would fall into the adjacent valleys, that it even struck terror into them to look at them f473 ; called the rocks of wild goats, because these creatures, called from hence “rupicaprae”, or rock goats, (see Job 39:1); delighted to be there; and are, as Pliny says, of such prodigious swiftness, that they will leap from mountain to mountain, and back again at pleasure; these mountains David and his men chose for safety, and the height and craggedness of them did not deter Saul and his men from seeking him there.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-7 - God delivered Saul into David's hand. It was an opportunity given to David to exercise faith and patience. He had a promise of the kingdom but no command to slay the king. He reasons strongly, both with himsel and with his men, against doing Saul any hurt. Sin is a thing which it becomes us to startle at, and to resist temptations thereto. He no only would not do this bad thing himself, but he would not suffer thos about him to do it. Thus he rendered good for evil, to him from whom he received evil for good; and was herein an example to all who are calle Christians, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.
Original Hebrew ויקח3947 שׁאול7586 שׁלשׁת7969 אלפים505 אישׁ376 בחור970 מכל3605 ישׂראל3478 וילך1980 לבקשׁ1245 את853 דוד1732 ואנשׁיו376 על5921 פני6440 צורי6697 היעלים׃3277
