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1 And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi. 2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3 And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 4 And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. 5 And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. 7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way. 8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. 9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD's anointed. 11 Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 12 The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 15 The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand. 16 And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20 And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21 Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. 22 And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
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[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:1
And when Saul had returned, etc. Saul, having stopped pursuing the Philistines, is suddenly recalled with a sinister mind to hunt down and kill David; he turns his weapons from the just conflict against the enemies to the unjust one in which he strikes a fellow citizen. Thus indeed, unbelieving Jews, while being equipped with the word of Holy Scripture, often dispute various errors of the nations against idols, miserably turn the missiles of unbelieving words against Christ and the Christian religion. And when they know that publicans and sinners have been cleansed through the washing of the saving water and admitted unto themselves, now separated from the enticements of the world, which is typified by David staying in the desert of Engaddi, they immediately set traps against the innocent in vain, seeking to swallow him alive, as hell does, as one whole, descending into the pit. Hence it is aptly added:

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:2
Saul, however, taking three thousand chosen men, etc. Just as in a good sense the number three is usually placed for a certain mysterious grace, clearly designating those who are either glorious by the confession of the Holy Trinity, or devoted by faith, hope, and charity, or perfect in thought, speech, and action, or something of the sort; so also, when it is placed in an evil army, it not undeservedly denotes those who are found to do everything contrary. Therefore, in this place, the three thousand armed men with whom Saul sets out to persecute David and his men are to be mystically understood as those who, with a threefold battle array against the Lord and against His Christ, meditating vain things (Psalm II), that is, going in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the way of sinners, and sitting in the seat of pestilence, have done everything contrary to the Blessed Man; those namely whose will is in the law of the Lord, and who will meditate in His law day and night. Saul also proceeds to search for David even upon the most abrupt rocks, which are accessible only to the ibexes, as he sets the snares of deception and treachery to the kingdom of the Jews against the Lord; even in his highest sayings, which remain scarcely comprehensible to perfect listeners alone. For the ibexes, which are small quadrupeds and know how to stay and give birth only on rocks, and if at any time they fall from the high peaks of rocks, they catch themselves unharmed with their horns, symbolize the humble listeners of the word of God, who, the more they perceive themselves to be of lesser merit, wisdom, and virtue, the more they seek strong refuges of the Holy Scriptures, in which they ought to dwell mentally and place the fruits of good works, as ibexes seek refuge among the rocks, and whatever temporal ruin befalls them, sustaining themselves on the testaments of heavenly words, they are saved as if by the reception of their horns. The Lord remembers this animal, and has marked how it is not contemptible in its figure, speaking mystically to the blessed Job: "Do you know the time when the ibexes give birth among the rocks?" (Job XXXIX).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 420] Jerome on 1 Samuel 24:3
Saul, unaware of David’s hiding place, also entered the cave in order to take care of his needs, I presume.… Accordingly, this psalm of David is accepted for certain in the name of the Lord; Saul appears as the devil, and the cave becomes this world. The devil, furthermore, does not discharge any good into this world, but only dung and corruption. Then, too, the cave symbolizes this world because its light is very imperfect when compared with the light of the future world, albeit the Lord, on coming into this world as light, brightens it up considerably. That is why the apostle, in relation to the Father, speaks of him “who is the brightness of his glory.” Now just as David entered the cave in his flight from Saul, the Lord, too, has come into this world and has suffered persecution.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 52 (PS 141)
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on 1 Samuel 24:3
David, as we have said, took on the character of the Lord Savior, and so what was to take place at the Lord’s passion is now recounted of him. David was not to be effaced from the kingdom allotted to him, just as the inscription of the Lord’s title could not be changed. The psalmist added, “When he fled from Saul into the cave.” This incident seems to be very similar in the cases of both David and the Lord. Just as David in fleeing from Saul hid in a cave, so the Lord Savior’s divinity is known to have been hidden within the temple of his body from the unfaithful Jews. In this way the individual events concerning David and Christ are shared by them in this respect.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 56.1
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:3
And he also came to the sheepfolds, etc. In persecuting the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, he also dragged the wicked investigation to the gatherings of his faithful disciples, who offered themselves as sheep to the raging wolves, to see if they could find any reason within them to criticize their master. Hence the saying: "Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful on the Sabbaths," and others (Mark II).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:3
And there was a cave, etc. This cave is a symbol of the Lord's tomb, whose entrance Saul entered to relieve himself, while the rulers of the kingdom of the Jews, having departed from Pilate, secured the tomb, sealing the stone with guards, in an attempt to block the path of resurrection to the Author of Life. By doing this, they revealed to all the long-conceived and steeped filth of their unfaithful minds. Moreover, the Lord lay hidden in the inner part of the tomb, and his men also hid there—that is, the strong who at that time were to become stronger as his disciples. It is certain that wherever they were in the city of Jerusalem at that time in body, they held with their entire focus and desire the place of the tomb, where they mourned the burial of the only one they loved. Indeed, they hid in the cave because they did not at all want those who had unjustly killed him to know the devotion and love they had for him. Or certainly it is to be understood that David’s men hid with him in the cave, and even rose and came out from the cave with him, according to the Apostle’s statement: "Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be slaves to sin" (Rom. VI). And as he had previously said: "For as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life" (Rom. VI).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Samuel 24:4-5
When, therefore, he was alone and had removed his robe and laid it down somewhere beside him, the light from the mouth of the cave made him visible to those hidden within the darkness. All of David’s companions wanted to rush upon the enemy and avenge themselves on the one who had come to kill them, since God had given the enemy into the hands of those who were being pursued for slaughter. But David forbade them to attack, considering an assault against their king unlawful. He drew his own sword from its sheath and imperceptibly stood behind Saul. There was no witness to his undertaking against Saul, for the darkness in the cave concealed his appearance and prevented scrutiny of what was happening. When, then, he could have driven his whole sword through Saul’s heart from behind with one blow, he neither touched his body nor was he about to. But he secretly cut off the end of his robe with his sword, so that the garment might be a witness later of his clemency toward Saul and prove the power that he had had to strike a blow against Saul’s body by means of the cut at its end.By this it became obvious that David had been trained in forbearance. When he held the bare sword in his palm, and the body of his enemy lay under his hand, he had the power to kill him, but he conquered his anger with reason, and his power to strike the blow with the fear of God. Not only did he become superior to his own anger, but he also restrained his shield bearer who was eager to murder Saul, addressing him with that saying famous in song, “Destroy not the anointed of the Lord.”

Source: ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.14.227-28
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:4
And David's servants said to him: Behold the day, etc. Christ's carnal disciples, still of a servile spirit, said to him when they saw the power of the crucified and the madness of those who crucified: Behold, the time is at hand, of which God the Father spoke to you through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that he would make all your enemies a footstool for your feet (Psalm 109). But they said this with their whole heart, although not in words, whomever of them desired the death of those who, releasing a thief, condemned the Savior to death, because it was proven by him who cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, unwilling for the Lord to drink the cup which the Father gave. It was proven in those who sought fire from heaven to descend upon the impious, not knowing of what spirit they were, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy souls, but to save. But with the appropriate moderation of his piety, he did not completely kill the wicked, but withdrew from them, in no small part, the habit of the kingdom, so that even thus confounded, they might come to the recognition of their madness and correction.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Samuel 24:5
This is why the coming together of Saul, who was in pursuit of murder, and of David, who was shunning murder, in the cave is described after many events which it had preceded. The authority to kill was reversed in this event, since the one who was being pursued for execution had authority over the slaughter of his killer, and although he had the right, so far as retribution against his enemy was concerned, he stayed his power so far as consisted with the right and killed his own anger in himself instead of his enemy. - "On the Inscriptions of the Psalms 2.14.224"
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Samuel 24:5
In the same way, Saul’s kingdom foreshadowed one that should last forever, though he personally was reprobate and rejected. The very oil with which he was anointed (the chrism by token of which he was called a “Christ”) must be understood symbolically as pointing to a profound mystery. David himself so religiously respected this anointed state that he was conscience-stricken when, in a dark cave where Saul had entered to ease himself, David came up, unseen, from behind and cut off a tiny piece of Saul’s robe. David did this merely to have evidence later how he had spared Saul when he could have killed him, thus hoping to disabuse Saul of the idea which drove him implacably to pursue David as his foe. Nevertheless, David quaked with fear that perhaps merely by so touching Saul’s garments he was guilty of sacrilege.… Such deep religious reverence was paid to this foreshadowing figure, not for what it was in itself but precisely because of the reality it typified. - "City of God 17.6"
[AD 521] Magnus Felix Ennodius on 1 Samuel 24:5
You have grounds for complaint against the leaders of our people, since you are redeeming those whom they very often permitted to be taken captive or even themselves reduced to servitude. Scripture gives us an example of singular praise when it extols David to the very skies because, having his enemy Saul in his power, he spared him, cutting off but the hem of his robe as evidence of both the opportunity that was his and of his loyalty. Good God, how munificently will You reward the deed of this man who now negotiates for the liberation of so many oppressed souls, you who have exalted David for sparing the life of a single man! - "Life of St. Epiphanius"
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:5
After these things, David's heart struck him, etc. The Lord groaned for the human race, from which he took flesh, with the affection of compassion, because by its merits he was compelled to take away some part of its royal ornament, preferring that it might have the kingdom here and always in the future age, preserved by divine law. Finally, seeing the sinful city, he wept over it saying: For if you also had known, and the rest (Luke 19). He lamented with human pious compassion the detestable loss of the kingdom, which he decreed by divine justice would come to pass.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Samuel 24:6-7
What a virtuous action that was, when David wished rather to spare the king his enemy, though he could have injured him! How useful, too, it was, for it helped him when he succeeded to the throne. For all learned to be faithful to their king and not to seize the kingdom but to fear and reverence him. Thus what is virtuous was preferred to what was useful, and then usefulness followed on what was virtuous.

Source: On the Duties of the Clergy 3.9.60
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 24:6-7
It was not without God’s influence, you see, that he [David] succeeded in prevailing over those frenzied men [his soldiers who wished to kill Saul]: the grace of God was found on the inspired man’s lips, adding a sort of inducement to those words. It was, however, no slight contribution that David also made: since he had formed them in the past, consequently in the critical moment he found them ready and willing. It was not as leader of troops, you see, but as priest he commanded them, and that cave was a church on that occasion: like someone appointed as bishop, he delivered a homily to them, and after this homily he offered a kind of remarkable and unusual sacrifice, not sacrificing a calf, not slaying a lamb, but—what was of greater value than these—he offered to God gentleness and clemency, sacrificing irrational resentment, slaying anger and mortifying the limbs that are on the earth. He acted as victim, priest and altar: everything came from him—the thought that offered gentleness and clemency, the clemency and gentleness and the heart in which they were offered.

Source: HOMILIES ON DAVID AND SAUL 2
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Samuel 24:6-7
As a Christian judge, you must play the part of a loving father, you must show anger for wrongdoing but remember to make allowance for human weakness; do not indulge your inclination to seek vengeance for the vile acts of sinners, but direct your effort to the cure of the sinners’ wounds.… There is also that well-known example of forbearance on the part of holy David, when his enemy was delivered into his hands and he spared him, an example which shines with greater luster from the fact that he had power to act otherwise. Do not, then, let your power of punishment make you harsh, when the necessity of inquiry did not shake your spirit of mildness.

Source: LETTER 133
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:6
And he said to his men, “May the Lord be merciful to me,” etc. David is shown to have refrained from killing Saul, despite Saul's most hostile pursuit of him, for two main reasons: first, he remembered him as his lord and as having been anointed with royal chrism. Here, primarily, he venerates the kingdom and the anointing with due honor, which indeed he always knew symbolized the ever inviolable kingdom of the Lord and the spiritual anointing. Furthermore, he also teaches us through moral disciplines that we should not dare to wound our leaders, especially those distinguished by sacred orders, with the sword of harsh words, nor presume to criticize by tearing away even the fringe of their final and unnecessary actions. Yet if we accidentally do such a thing incautiously, we should immediately strike the heart with sorrow and strive to correct the rash deed by repenting. However, according to the established order of explanation, in which we have said that Saul signifies the Jewish people or kingdom and David signifies Christ, we can understand that Christ called the same people or kingdom his lord, because he deigned to take on the form of a servant from it; and he called Christ the Anointed of the Lord, because he had bestowed the anointing of spiritual grace on that people before all other nations. Therefore, he did not wish to strike them down with his hand to utterly destroy the wicked, but, as with the royal robe cut off, he divided them from the earth and overthrew them in their own life. And as another psalm says, “Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them by your power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield.” (Psalm 59).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 24:6
Heart struck him: Viz., with remorse, as fearing he had done amiss.
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:7
And David restrained his men with his words, etc. And the Lord restrained the severity of his disciples, who wished the impious to perish, by saying: Do not judge, and you will not be judged (Matthew VII). Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned (Luke VI). And elsewhere: For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John III), and so on of this kind, and he did not permit them to take immediate vengeance on the wrongdoers, but rather to love the correction of those who amend their ways.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:7
Moreover, Saul rising from the cave, etc. The keepers of the Lord's tomb, who, having fallen prostrate through fear of the approaching angel and had become like dead men, and fleeing from the tomb, nonetheless continued the evil schemes against the Lord, saying that his disciples had come at night and stolen him away while they were sleeping. Which can also be rightly understood of those who placed guards at the tomb (Matthew XXVIII); who, even though they withdrew from guarding the tomb of the Lord with groans and confusion, nonetheless did not turn away from their intent of persecuting his faith with raging steps. With these both having been driven away from the watch of the tomb, the Lord himself did not delay to gradually reveal the glory of his resurrection, which he had assumed secretly, to his followers. And with this truth confirmed and taught, soon through them thundered the proclamation of free preaching, calling back benignly to the remedy of repentance and his love those who had turned away from him, his persecutors. To those whom he reconciled to himself with the first words of humanity and piety, he diligently taught some of them to look back after him, that is, to repent of their crime against God.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Samuel 24:8-11
Saul, therefore, came out of the cave unaware of what had happened, wearing the little garment which had been trimmed all around. David came out behind him in self-assurance, and having seized the hill lying above the cave in advance, held out the end [of Saul’s robe] in his hand. This was nothing other than a bloodless trophy against his enemies. And he cried out to Saul in a loud voice and told him about this new and marvelous heroism, which was unstained by the defilement of blood, in which the hero was victorious and the one defeated was saved from death. For David’s excellence is not attested in the fall of his enemy, but the superiority of his power is made clearer in the salvation of his opponent from danger. He had such an excess of confidence that he did not think that his own salvation lay in the destruction of those arrayed against him, but even when those who plotted against him survived he was confident that no one would harm him.But the Word teaches rather by this story that the one who excels in virtue does not fight bravely against those of his own race but fights against the passions. The anger in both men, then, was destroyed by such excellence as David had, in the one, when he destroyed his own wrath by means of reason and quenched the urge to take vengeance, and in the other, when Saul put to death his evil against David because of the clemency which he had experienced. For one can learn from the story itself the kind of things Saul uttered afterwards to the victor when he was submerged in shame for what he had undertaken and demonstrated his spontaneous turning away from evil by his lament and tears.

Source: ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.14.229-30
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 24:8-11
When he had offered this excellent sacrifice, then, achieved the victory and omitted nothing needed for a trophy, the cause of the problem, Saul, arose and left the cave, all unaware of what had gone on. “David also left behind him,” looking in the direction of heaven with eyes now free of concern, and more satisfied on that occasion than when he had overthrown Goliath and cut off the savage’s head. It was, in fact, a more conspicuous victory than the former one, the spoils more majestic, the booty more glorious, the trophy more commendable. In the former case he needed a sling, stones and battle line, whereas in this case thought counted for everything, the victory was achieved without weapons, and the trophy was erected without blood being spilt. He returned, therefore, bearing not a savage’s head but resentment mortified and rage unnerved—spoils he deposited not in Jerusalem but in heaven and the city on high.

Source: HOMILIES ON DAVID AND SAUL 2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 24:8-11
So what did David reply? “Your servant, my lord the king.” A contest and rivalry then developed as to which one would pay greater respect to the other: one admitted the other to kinship, the other called him lord. What he means is something like this: I am interested in one thing only, your welfare and the progress of virtue. You called me child, and I love and am fond of you if you have me as a servant, provided you set aside your resentment, provided you do not suspect me of any evil or think me to be scheming and warring against you. He fulfilled that apostolic law, note, that bids us excel ourselves in showing one another honor, unlike the general run of people, whose disposition is worse than beasts’ and who cannot bear to be the first to greet their neighbor, having the view that they are shamed and insulted if they share a mere greeting with someone.

Source: HOMILIES ON DAVID AND SAUL 3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:8
And bowing himself, David prostrated on the ground and worshiped. The Savior, with his compassionate heart, bowed down to help and aid earthly and weak hearts, showing through the ministers of His word, He Himself first presented examples of worship and reconciliation with God to those who had already offended Him long ago. He said to the people of the Jews through the heralds of the Gospel: "Why do you listen to the words of human wisdom, of the Scribes and Pharisees speaking: Jesus seeks harm against you; if we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation" (John 11). Behold, at the time of My passion with so many miracles appearing, whoever could truly see, saw in you that the Lord had delivered you into My power, since at a single gentle word of My response when I said, "I am He," such a large armed band fell trembling, and when I was crucified, an unusual darkness covered the whole sky at midday; when I gave up My spirit, the whole earth was moved, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and countless bodies of the dead were raised. Finally, at the appearance of an angel testifying to My resurrection, an immense earthquake occurred, and your guards were stunned and became like the dead. And indeed I thought that if you did not repent, I would destroy you; but patient regard of My compassion spared you, favoring that through penance you might deserve pardon and salvation. For I said: I will not strike completely, nor will I remove from the midst the people, although sinful and hostile to Me, from which I received the form of a servant, in which I would win back the whole world; which in the fathers long ago divine generosity imbued with the blessing of singular grace.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:11
Rather, my father, see, etc. Rather, says the Lord, my people, since I was called and was the Son of Man to confirm the promises of the fathers, it did not displease me to be incarnate. See and recognize the boundary of your royal state in my power; for when I cut off the summit of your earthly kingdom, calling many from its defense, which is carried out through arms, strife, and wars, to the simplicity of my faith and religion, giving many into the hands of enemies for the guilt of perfidy, I did not wish to extend the hand of open vengeance against you. Consider and see that there is nothing evil or wicked in my work, and recognize that I am he of whom the prophet testifies: "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth" (Isa. LIII). Who among you convicts me of sin (John VIII), you who conspire to erase the memory of my name from the land of the living?

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 24:11
A thought to kill thee: That is, a suggestion, to which I did not consent.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Samuel 24:13
Revenge me of thee: Or, as it is in the Hebrew, will revenge me. The meaning is, that he refers his whole cause to God, to judge and punish according to his justice: yet so as to keep himself in the mean time, from all personal hatred to Saul, or desire of gratifying his own passion, by seeking revenge. So far from it, that when Saul was afterwards slain, we find, that instead of rejoicing at his death, he mourned most bitterly for him.
[AD 585] Cassiodorus on 1 Samuel 24:14
The Creator compares himself to the lowest of his creatures so that you may regard nothing as despicable which is known to have been fashioned by his agency. As Scripture has it, “God made all things very good.” Thus David too followed his Teacher and compared himself with the humblest flea; for the real power of religion is that the more an individual humbles himself after the model of the Creator, the more splendidly he is exalted to glory.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 21.7
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:14
Whom do you persecute, king of Israel? Whom do you persecute? etc. Israel means a man seeing God. Whom then do you persecute, O people, who were chosen before all other nations to see the glory of divine brightness? Whom do you persecute? Is it that great and most vigilant shepherd of holy sheep, whom you did not hesitate to betray to death and continue to hate even after his death? He who was lowly in human appearance but swift in the leap of resurrection, having escaped your hands when you attempted to seize him, you foolishly think that you can again grasp him thundering from heaven? Indeed, I do not seek my glory; there is one who seeks and judges. Let it seem absurd to no one that a dead dog or a flea bears the Lord's figure, since in another place due to the frailty of the flesh, which he received from a virgin's flesh without male seed, he says of himself: "But I am a worm, and not a man" (Psalm XXII). And due to the glory of the resurrection, which he quickly and swiftly completed from death to life as if by a leap: "And I am shaken out as a locust" (Psalm CVIII).

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Samuel 24:16
What then did Saul say? Having heard David saying, “See, here is the corner of your cloak in my hand,” and everything else by which he mounted his defense along with this, he said, “Is this your voice, my child David?” O, what a great change had suddenly taken place: the one who could never bear even to call him by name, and instead hated the very mention of it, even admitted him to kinship, calling him “child.” What could be more blessed than David, who turned the murderer into a father, the wolf into a lamb, who filled the furnace of anger with heavy dew, turned the tempest into tranquility and allayed all the inflammation of resentment? Those words of David, you see, penetrated the mind of that enraged man and effected this total transformation, as you can see from those words. He did not even say, “Are these your words, my son David?” but “Is this your voice, my child David?” He was now heartened by his very utterance. Just as a father hears the voice of his son returning from somewhere and is excited not only at the sight of him but also at the sound of his voice, so Saul too, when David’s words penetrated and drove out the hostility, now recognized him as holy, and in setting aside one passion he was affected by another. That is to say, by driving out resentment he was affected by benevolence and fellow feeling.

Source: HOMILIES ON DAVID AND SAUL 3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:16
And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept, etc. And as the Lord taught through the apostles, the people of the Jews, among those who were predestined to eternal life, lifted up their voice in the confession of faith, which they had long sunk low by denying, and washed away the stains of ancient guilt with worthy tears of repentance, confessing both the justice and goodness of the Lord; and also recalling the errors of their own wickedness, that they indeed had fiercely handed over the author of all goodness to death: but He, given to death unjustly, being omnipotent, preferred to save than to destroy those who killed Him.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 1 Samuel 24:17-19
Not even this act of benevolence moved Saul, however. Again he gathered an army and again he set out in pursuit, until he was a second time apprehended by David in the cave where he more clearly revealed his own iniquity and made the virtue of David even more resplendent. Envy is the most savage form of hatred. Favors render those who are hostile to us for any other reason more tractable, but kind treatment shown to an envious and spiteful person only aggravates his dislike. The greater the favors he receives, the more displeased and vexed and ill-disposed he becomes.

Source: CONCERNING ENVY
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:20
And now because I know for certain that you will reign, etc. This is the voice of the penitent people of the Jews, seeking the path of salvation from Christ whom they acknowledged. And now because I know for certain that you are He of whom it is said, "His government will be multiplied, and there will be no end of peace" (Isa. IX), having in your dominion that kingdom in which the pure in heart will see God without any end to their blessedness, confirm, I pray, the faith which you have granted by the largess of your sacraments, and augment that same faith in me with your heavenly gifts, so that, having received the pledge of the Spirit, I may have confidence that the offspring of my works, born from my heart, will be saved from eternal destruction after the dissolution of the body. Nor take away my name from the house of the heavenly habitation, which you have deigned to give to my fathers, who awaited you faithfully and lovingly through the law to come. But as for some of the Jews who poured forth these and similar words of confession, the Lord justly granted their petition, and imbued with the sacraments of the Gospel, He made them faithful from among the catechumens and the competent.

Source: Commentary on Samuel
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Samuel 24:22
So Saul went to his house, etc. The people of the Jews who were able to repent from their faithlessness through the teaching of the apostles went to work on the care of their inner salvation. On the other hand, the Lord himself and his preachers, knowing that many from the same people would wage wars against the faith, having left the lowly and earthly things, soon ascended to safer and higher places, that is, those who would rightly believe and firmly persevere, by illuminating the hearts of the Samaritans and nearby nations. This reading’s memory, and its spiritual reference to Christ, is taught by the title of the fifty-sixth Psalm, which is inscribed thus: To the end, do not destroy David, in the inscription of the title, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave. Although it seems to be written about David in two words; it opens up in two others, because it truly signifies Christ entirely. That which says “Do not destroy David” seems to prohibit from destroying him, who had been prepared by the Lord’s promise for the kingdom, from the insidious enemy. And what it adds in the closure: When he fled from the face of Saul into the cave, it smiles upon the particular moment of time in which he was thought to be able to be destroyed. Nevertheless, what is placed in the beginning, to the end, forewarns that everything should be referred to him, who remains the perfection of all good things for us, because when we came to him, there is no longer any need to seek anything beyond. And what follows, in the inscription of the title, expresses the very title of the Lord’s passion, which Pilate wrote in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; and which itself, in figure of an unshakeable kingdom, could not be destroyed by any reasoning or by him who wrote it. Therefore, the sense of this entire title is the same, commanding the Jews not to suspect that they can take away the glory of Christ, even when he is killed and buried: To the end, do not destroy David, in the inscription of the title, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave, understand the psalm as sung to him who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes; so that you may seek not to destroy Christ by taking away or diminishing his kingdom, which is marked by the true inscription of the title, even when you see him enter the closed tomb through his death due to the impious harassing him; and indeed, the tomb’s closed doors were fled from the face of those pursuing him, so that they would have no power to pursue or even see him any longer. Moreover, that very psalm, according to the tenor of this same reading, openly and appropriately celebrates the Lord’s passion, burial, and resurrection, and also the faith of the Gentiles, which is mystically contained within the end of the present reading, where among other things about the triumphal passion: He gave, he says, those trampling me to reproach. (Psalm LVI). Of the burial and resurrection: He delivered my soul from the midst of the lions' whelps, I slept troubled. This trouble is better understood in his members who had not yet fully believed in his resurrection while he slept in the tomb. Likewise, of the resurrection: I will arise early. But concerning the Gentiles, inspired and cooperating to faith: I will confess to you among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing a psalm to you among the nations. And the damnation of the Jewish nation, which is marked by the cutting of Saul’s cloak in this reading, the aforementioned psalm describes this way: They dug a pit before my face, and they themselves fell into it.

Source: Commentary on Samuel