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A dead dog, a single flea?</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/1_samuel/24-14.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/1_samuel/24-14.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > 1 Samuel 24:14</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/24-13.htm" title="1 Samuel 24:13">◄</a> 1 Samuel 24:14 <a href="../1_samuel/24-15.htm" title="1 Samuel 24:15">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/1_samuel/7-12.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/1_samuel/24.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/1_samuel/24.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/1_samuel/24.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/1_samuel/24.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(14) <span class= "bld">After a dead dog, after a flea.</span>—These homely but vivid similes are very common in Oriental discourse. David certainly, in his protestations of loyalty, could scarcely humble himself more than by drawing a comparison between the king of Israel in his grandeur and power and a poor dead dog—evidently an object held in special loathing by the Hebrews. “After a flea”—the original is even stronger, after “one flea” (a single flea)—“against <span class= "ital">a single flea,” </span>which is not easily caught, and easily escapes, and if it is caught, is poor game for a royal hunter.—<span class= "ital">Berl. Bible </span>and <span class= "ital">Lange.</span><p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/1_samuel/24.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/context/1_samuel/24-14.htm" title="After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom do you pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea....">1 Samuel 24:14-15</a></span>. <span class="ital">After whom is the king of Israel come out? — </span>David here employs every persuasive art to move Saul. He represents himself in as contemptible a light as possible; that he might convince Saul it was not for his honour to take so much pains to kill him, if he could do it. <span class="ital">The Lord, therefore, be judge — </span>He thought he could not repeat this too often, that as he had done hitherto, so he still resolved hereafter, to leave it to God to judge which of them was in the right, and not to avenge himself.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/1_samuel/24.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>24:8-15 David was falsely charged with seeking Saul's hurt; he shows Saul that God's providence had given him opportunity to do it. And it was upon a good principle that he refused to do it. He declares his fixed resolution never to be his own avenger. If men wrong us, God will right us, at farthest, in the judgment of the great day.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/1_samuel/24.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>After whom ... - i. e., was it consistent with the dignity of the king of Israel to lead armies in pursuit of a weak and helpless individual like David? <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/1_samuel/24.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>1Sa 24:8-15. He Urges Thereby His Innocency.<p>8-15. David also arose … and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul—The closeness of the precipitous cliffs, though divided by deep wadies, and the transparent purity of the air enable a person standing on one rock to hear distinctly the words uttered by a speaker standing on another (Jud 9:7). The expostulation of David, followed by the visible tokens he furnished of his cherishing no evil design against either the person or the government of the king, even when he had the monarch in his power, smote the heart of Saul in a moment and disarmed him of his fell purpose of revenge. He owned the justice of what David said, acknowledged his own guilt, and begged kindness to his house. He seems to have been naturally susceptible of strong, and, as in this instance, of good and grateful impressions. The improvement of his temper, indeed, was but transient—his language that of a man overwhelmed by the force of impetuous emotions and constrained to admire the conduct, and esteem the character, of one whom he hated and dreaded. But God overruled it for ensuring the present escape of David. Consider his language and behavior. This language—"a dead dog," "a flea," terms by which, like Eastern people, he strongly expressed a sense of his lowliness and the entire committal of his cause to Him who alone is the judge of human actions, and to whom vengeance belongs, his steady repulse of the vindictive counsels of his followers; the relentings of heart which he felt even for the apparent indignity he had done to the person of the Lord's anointed; and the respectful homage he paid the jealous tyrant who had set a price on his head—evince the magnanimity of a great and good man, and strikingly illustrate the spirit and energy of his prayer "when he was in the cave" (Ps 142:1). <div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/1_samuel/24.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> After a worthless, contemptible, and impotent person, such as I am. Thou disparagest thyself in contending with such a person; and even thy conquest of me will be inglorious and shameful. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/1_samuel/24.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>After whom is the king of Israel come out?.... From his court and palace, with an army of men, and at the head of them: <p>after whom dost thou pursue? with such eagerness and fury: <p>after a dead dog; as David was in the opinion, and according to the representation of his enemies, a dog, vile, mean, worthless, of no account; a dead dog, whose name was made to stink through the calumnies cast upon him; and if a dead dog, then as he was an useless person, and could do no good, so neither could he do any hurt, not so much as bark, much less bite; and therefore it was unworthy of so great a prince, a lessening, a degrading of himself, as well as a vain and impertinent thing, to pursue after such an one, that was not worthy of his notice, and could do him neither good nor harm: <p>after a flea? a little contemptible animal, not easily caught, as it is observed by some, and when caught good for nothing. David, by this simile, fitly represents not only his weakness and impotence, his being worthless, and of no account, and beneath the notice of such a prince as Saul; but the circumstances he was in, being obliged to move from place to place, as a flea leaps from one place to another, and is not easily taken, and when it is, of no worth and value; signifying, that as it was not worth his pains to seek after him, so it would be to no purpose, he should not be able to take him. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/1_samuel/24.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/1_samuel/24.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">14</span>. <span class="ital">after a dead dog</span>, &c.] “A dead dog, <span class="bld">a single</span> flea,” express what is absolutely contemptible, harmless, and insignificant. A worthy object truly for an expedition of the King of Israel with his picked troops!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/1_samuel/24.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 14, 15.</span> - Finally, David makes a pathetic appeal to Saul, contrasting him in his grandeur as <span class="cmt_word">the king of Israel</span> with the fugitive whom he so relentlessly persecuted. In calling himself a <span class="cmt_word">dead dog</span> he implies that he was at once despicable and powerless. Even more insignificant is <span class="cmt_word">a flea</span>, Hebrew, "one flea," "a single flea." The point is lost by omitting the numeral. David means that it is unworthy of a king to go forth with 3000 men to hunt a single flea. As the king's conduct is thus both unjust and foolish, David <span class="cmt_word">therefore</span> appeals to Jehovah to be judge and <span class="cmt_word">plead his cause,</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> be his advocate, and state the proofs of his innocence. For <span class="cmt_word">deliver me out of thy hand,</span> the Hebrew is, "will judge me out of thy hand," <span class="accented">i.e.</span> will judge me, and by doing so justly will deliver me from thy power. 1 Samuel 24:14<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/1_samuel/24.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>And even if he should wish to attack the king, he did not possess the power. This thought introduces <a href="/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14</a> : "After whom is the king of Israel gone out? After whom dost thou pursue? A dead dog, a single flea." By these similes David meant to describe himself as a perfectly harmless and insignificant man, of whom Saul had no occasion to be afraid, and whom the king of Israel ought to think it beneath his dignity to pursue. A dead dog cannot bite or hurt, and is an object about which a king ought not to trouble himself (cf. <a href="/2_samuel/9-8.htm">2 Samuel 9:8</a> and <a href="http://biblehub.com/2_samuel/16-9.htm">2 Samuel 16:9</a>, where the idea of something contemptible is included). The point of comparison with a flea is the insignificance of such an animal (cf. <a href="/1_samuel/26-20.htm">1 Samuel 26:20</a>). <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/1_samuel/24-14.htm">1 Samuel 24:14 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../1_samuel/24-13.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="1 Samuel 24:13"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="1 Samuel 24:13" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../1_samuel/24-15.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="1 Samuel 24:15"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="1 Samuel 24:15" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>