1 Samuel 19 · Verse 9

1 Samuel 19:9

And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.
1 Samuel 19:9, King James Version

1 Samuel 19:9 in other translations

BSBBut as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,
WEBAn evil spirit from the LORD was on Saul as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing music with his hand.
ASVAnd an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand.
YLTAnd a spirit of sadness from Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand,
DARBYAnd an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with his hand.
BBEAnd an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.
WebsterAnd the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

What does 1 Samuel 19:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 19:8-10

8-10. David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter--A brilliant victory was gained over the public enemy. But these fresh laurels of David reawakened in the moody breast of Saul the former spirit of envy and melancholy. On David's return to court, the temper of Saul became more fiendish than ever; the melodious strains of the harp had lost all their power to charm; and in a…

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 19:8-10 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 And the evil spirit from the Lord - His envy and jealousy again returned, producing distraction of mind, which was exacerbated by diabolic influence. See on 1Sam 16:14 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 19:1-10

How forcible are right words! Saul was, for a time, convinced of the unreasonableness of his enmity to David; but he continued his malice against David. So incurable is the hatred of the seed of the serpent against that of the woman; so deceitful and desperately wicked is the heart of man without the grace of God, Jer 17:9.

Read the full comment on 1 Samuel 19:1-10 →

1 Samuel 19:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַתְּהִי֩va.te.Hiand it wasH1961
ר֨וּחַRu.acha spirit ofH7307
יְהוָ֤ה\׀Yah.wehYahwehH3068
רָעָה֙ra.'AhevilH7451
אֶל\־'el-toH413
שָׁא֔וּלsha.'UlSaulH7586
וְהוּא֙ve.Hu'and heH1931
בְּבֵית֣וֹbe.vei.Toin house hisH1004
יוֹשֵׁ֔בyo.Shev[was] sittingH3427
וַחֲנִית֖וֹva.cha.ni.Toand spear hisH2595
בְּיָד֑וֹbe.ya.Do[was] in hand hisH3027
וְדָוִ֖דve.da.Vidand DavidH1732
מְנַגֵּ֥ןme.na.Gen[was] playing an instrumentH5059
בְּיָֽד\׃be.Yadwith handH3027

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Samuel 19:9

  • 1 Samuel 16:14

    But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

  • 1 Samuel 16:16

    Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

  • 1 Samuel 18:10-11

    And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
16:14; 18:10,11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Samuel 19:8

    And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

  • 1 Samuel 19:9

    And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

  • 1 Samuel 19:10

    And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

Read all of 1 Samuel 19

1 Samuel 19:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y el espíritu malo de parte de Jehová fué sobre Saúl: y estando sentado en su casa tenía una lanza á mano, mientras David estaba tañendo con su mano.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le mauvais esprit envoyé de l’ Éternel vint sur Saül: et il était assis dans sa maison, sa lance à la main, et David jouait de la harpe.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ein böser Geist von Jehova kam über Saul; und er saß in seinem Hause, sein Speer in seiner Hand, und David spielte mit der Hand.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et factus est spiritus Domini malus in Saul: sedebat autem in domo sua, et tenebat lanceam: porro David psallebat manu sua.