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David Wins Saul’s Approval. 14 [a](A)The spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and he was tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:14–23 These verses explain Saul’s loss of divine favor and David’s rise to power. By approving the young man, Saul identifies David as his legitimate successor. Of the two traditions in the Hebrew text about David’s entry into Saul’s service, the Greek translation retains only the one found in vv. 14–23; 17:1–11, 32–54. An evil spirit from the Lord: Saul’s erratic behavior is attributed to a change in the Lord’s relationship with him. Cf. Jgs 9:23, where the Lord puts an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem.

(A)Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with spear in hand while David was playing the harp nearby. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David eluded Saul, and the spear struck only the wall, while David got away safely.

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33 At this Saul brandished his spear to strike him, and thus Jonathan learned that his father was determined to kill David.(A)

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Doeg Betrays Ahimelech. Now Saul heard that David and his men had been located. At the time he was sitting in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree on the high place, holding his spear, while all his servants stood by him.(A)

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Abishai whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your hand today. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need to strike him twice!”(A)

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