I Shmuel 24: David the Tailor

Faced with his pursuer, David has a very tough choice to make in chapter 24. Shaul is lying in the cave fast asleep. David enters the cave with sword in hand and has the chance to kill Shaul. It is unclear what Shaul would have done in this same situation, but based on his actions to date, he would not have hesitated to kill David. David decides against ending his troubles, and instead cuts off a corner of Shaul’s cloak (וַיָּקָם דָּוִד וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת־כְּנַף הַמְּעִיל אֲשֶׁר לְשָׁאוּל בַּלָּט) (I Samuel 24:5). He runs outside the cave and from a safe distance he lifts up the cut corner and calls out to Shaul. Shaul sees that David could have killed him but did not, and asks David for forgiveness. He also admits for the first time that: “I know now that you will become king, and that the kingship over Israel will remain in your hands” (וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי־מָלֹךְ תִּמְלוֹךְ וְקָמָה בְּיָדְךָ מַמְלֶכֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל) (verse 21).Why does this act of David cause Shaul to say this? Robes are extremely symbolic in the book of Samuel. Samuel’s mother makes him a cloak to wear in the temple when she drops him off (וּמְעִיל קָטֹן תַּעֲשֶׂה־לּוֹ אִמּוֹ) (I Samuel 2:19). When Shaul fails to kill Agag, he tears Shmuel’s cloak as the prophet walks away (וַיַּחֲזֵק בִּכְנַף־מְעִילוֹ וַיִּקָּרַע) (I Samuel 15:27). Shaul places his royal armor on David before his battle with Goliath (וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ שָׁאוּל אֶת־דָּוִד מַדָּיו) (I Samuel 17:38), and then David removes them. Yonatan pledges his loyalty to David by removing his cloak and giving it to David (וַיִּתְפַּשֵּׁט יְהוֹנָתָן אֶת־הַמְּעִיל אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ לְדָוִד) (I Samuel 18:4). When Shaul tries to capture David near the young prophets, he removes his cloak while crying out in prophetic ecstasy (וַיִּתְפַּשֵּׁט גַּם־הוּא בְּגָדָיו) (I Samuel 19:24).David cut off Shaul’s cloak as a way to show the king that David was close enough to kill him, but he did not. David’s reason is that he would not want to kill the man anointed by God (מְשִׁיחַ ה׳). The irony, of course, is that David too is an anointed of God. Shaul may have finally realized this message when he saw the ripped cloak. He must have had a flashback to the ripped cloak of Shmuel and the prophecy that accompanied it: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you” (קָרַע ה׳ אֶת־מַמְלְכוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ הַיּוֹם וּנְתָנָהּ לְרֵעֲךָ הַטּוֹב מִמֶּךָּ) (I Samuel 15:28). This devastating memory may have shaken him awake from his rage to remember that this transition was from God.But David does not walk away unscathed from this encounter. According to the Midrash, because David ripped the cloak of the anointed of God, later in life he would not be warmed by the cloaks placed upon him. As the verse says at the beginning of Kings: “King David was old, advanced in years; they covered him with clothes, but he could not get warm” (וְהַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַיְכַסֻּהוּ בַּבְּגָדִים וְלֹא יִחַם לוֹ) (I Kings 1:1).