Death to the “Kingslayer”

With the coming of evening, David and his men complete their day of mourning for Saul. David’s attention then returns to the one who brought the news of the king’s fall, and he summons the man to his presence. It is easy to imagine the man going to David with a light heart, fully expecting to be rewarded for removing Saul from David’s path to the throne. But he will have no reward from David.

David’s first question to the man is innocent enough: “Where are you from?” In his initial conversation with David on the previous day, the man revealed that he was an Amalekite, but now he characterizes himself as the son of an ” ‘alien’ ” Amalekite, meaning that his father is of Amalekite descent but has been living in Israel. In saying this, he robs himself of an excuse for his professed actions. He cannot claim to be a foreigner with no knowledge of Israelite customs. Instead, as one who has lived among the people of God, he should know that Israel’s king had been enthroned by Israel’s God, so to strike the king is to oppose God’s decree. David, therefore, quickly calls the man to account for his actions: “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” he asks. The man has no answer for this question, but David does not really seem to expect one. In David’s opinion, the Amalekite’s own words have condemned him, so David calls upon one of his soldiers to execute the man on the spot. Once the sentence has been carried out, David declares that the man brought this judgment upon himself, for he claimed to have struck God’s anointed king.

Was David just in taking this action? At least two objections can be raised. First, we have seen that David often had to restrain his own men from killing Saul. Therefore, was it understood in Israel that Saul had been given the throne by God? Perhaps not, but David was working to educate his men as to this truth, and the priests, the teachers of Israel, should have been doing the same with the people. Ignorance of this truth was no excuse. Second, it is possible, even likely, the man was lying about killing Saul. If so, he may not have deserved to die. Still, we must not forget that he was an Amalekite, and as such was under God’s condemnation. In fact, it was for his failure to wipe out the Amalekites that God rejected Saul as king (1 Sam. 15).