1 Samuel 26:6

Then answered David,.... Or addressed himself to the two following persons: and said to Ahimelech the Hittite; who was either an Hittite by birth, but was become a proselyte, or he was an Israelite

Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.

Ahimelech the Hittite; so called, either because he was one of that nation, but converted to the Jewish religion; compare 15:18; or from his habitation amongst, or some relation, to some of that people. Zeriah; David’ s sister: see . His father is not named, either because he was now dead, or because he was an obscure person.

1 Samuel 26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.Ver. 6. And to Abishai the son of Zeruiah.] David’ s own sister; her husband not mentioned, because, haply, of meaner rank, and no great deserts; her two sons Abishai and Joab were, as it is said of the two Roman Scipios, “ Duo fulmina belli. ” - Lucan. The two thunderbolts of war.

(6) Ahimelech the Hittite.—The Hittites were one of the old Canaanitish peoples; we hear of them round Hebron in the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:20). The conquering Israelites subdued, but did not exterminate them; and gradually, in the days of the weakness and divisions which succeeded the first conquest, the Hittites, in common with many other of the old tribes, seeem to have enjoyed the Land of Promise with the children of Israel in a kind of joint occupation. We find the Hittites ranking here among David’s trusted faithful men; and later we hear of another Hittite, Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, filling an important post in the royal army, and possessing a house and an establishment in the capital city of Jerusalem. We do not hear again of this Ahimelech in the sacred record. Abishai the son of Zeruiah.—Zeruiah was David’s sister. Abishai, later one of the famous generals of David, was brother to Joab, afterwards the captain of the royal host. Abishai was apparently nearly of the same age as David. There was a third younger brother also high in the favour of his kinsman David—Asahel, celebrated especially for his speed in running. Between these three sons of Zeruiah and Abner a blood feud seems to have existed. Abner, the near relative, and captain of the host of Saul throughout that monarch’s reign, is closely associated with the fortunes of Saul. It has been supposed, and with some probability, that he was among the determined foes of David. Dreading the advent of the son of Jesse to the throne, he saw in his elevation the signal of the downfall of all Saul’s family and friends. He, Abner, surely would no longer be captain of the host of Israel. The words of David to Abner in this chapter (1 Samuel 26:14-16) seem to point to the fierce hatred which existed between them. The bloody sequel to the feud between the great kinsman of Saul and the three brothers, the famous sons of David’s sister, is strictly in accordance with what we should expect in these fierce, wild days. Some time after Saul’s death Abner slew the young Asahel, who seems to have been passionately loved by his elder brother. Abner became reconciled to David, but the reconciliation saved not the friend of Saul and the slayer of Asahel from the vengeance of Joab and Abishai, who murdered the illustrious Abner in cold blood. And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.—Ahimelech seems to have backed out of the perilous night enterprise, but Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, with the reckless gallantry and the intense devotion to David which, with all their pride and self will, ever characterised these famous warrior kinsmen of the king, at once volunteered to go with his loved chief.

Verse 6. Abishai the son of Zeruiah] She was David's sister; and therefore Abishai and Joab were nephews to David.

6. Ahimelech the Hittite] Not mentioned elsewhere. Uriah was also a Hittite. The Hittites, or descendants of Heth, the second son of Canaan, occupied Kirjath-Arba, afterwards called Hebron, in the days of Abraham (Genesis 23:2 ff.). Esau married Hittite wives (Genesis 26:34). The Hittites are repeatedly mentioned as one of the nations inhabiting the land of Canaan, which were to be driven out by the Israelites (Joshua 3:10). It is now known that a branch of the Hittites established an extremely powerful empire to the north of Syria, the chief centres of which were Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Kadesh on the Orontes. It was strong enough to threaten Assyria on the one hand and Egypt on the other, and lasted from the sixteenth century b.c. until it was destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century. Allusions to the “kings of the Hittites” are found in 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6. Our chief information about them is derived from Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions. Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab] The first mention of David’s valiant but hard-hearted nephews, the sons of his sister Zeruiah, who play such an important part in his history. Abishai distinguished himself by saving David’s life in one of his Philistine wars (2 Samuel 21:17); shared the command of the army with his brother Joab (2 Samuel 10:10), and with him was implicated in the murder of Abner (2 Samuel 3:30); in Absalom’s rebellion both of them remained faithful to David (2 Samuel 16:9; 2 Samuel 18:2), but Joab, like Abiathar, supported Adonijah, and was put to death by Solomon’s order (1 Kings 1:7; 1 Kings 2:28-34).

Ahimelech the Hittite - Only mentioned here. Uriah was also a Hittite. Abishai - He was son of Zeruiah, David’s sister, but probably about the same age as David.

DAVID SPARES SAUL A SECOND TIME, 1 Samuel 26:6-25. 6. Ahimelech the Hittite — Mentioned here only. Abishai… Joab — Both sons of Zeruiah, and nephews of David. Compare 1 Chronicles 2:16.