1 Samuel 26:18-20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 He continued: “Why does my lord pursue his servant? What have I done? What evil am I planning? 19 Please, now, let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may an offering please the Lord. But if it is the people who have done so, may they be cursed before the Lord. They have driven me away so that today I have no share in the Lord’s heritage,[a] but am told: ‘Go serve other gods!’(A) 20 Do not let my blood spill on the ground far from the presence of the Lord. For the king of Israel has come out to seek a single flea as if he were hunting partridge[b] in the mountains.”
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- 26:19 The Lord’s heritage: the land and people of Israel (Dt 32:8–9; Ps 33:12). If driven from the land, David could not take part in worship of Israel’s God; nonetheless, God has blessed David (cf. v. 25).
- 26:20 Partridge: lit., “the caller.” The metaphor is built on clever wordplay: in v. 14, David calls out to the army and Abner asks the caller’s identity. David calls out the answer: “the caller” is the object of the king’s pursuit.
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