Saul, having received intelligence of David's retreats, pursued him from place to place, until he was called off by news of an invasion of the land by the Philistines;*** whether of David's procuring or not, we are uncertain: thus much is certain, and does not discredit the supposition, that he quickly after took refuge among those Philistines.
After repelling the invaders, Saul, however, returned to the wilderness of Engedi, in pursuit of David, with three thousand chosen men. At this place we are told of an odd adventure, which put the life of Saul strangely into the power of David. He turned in to repose himself* alone in a cave, wherein at that time, David and his myrmidons were secreted.
* The words are, "to cover his feet:" which Josephus and others, mistake to mean, that he retired into the cave to ease nature. But in Judges, iii. 21. we find that expression to imply, that the servants of Eulon, king of Moab, supposed their master to have locked himself in, to repose himself with sleep, in his summer-chamber. This is farther corroborated, in Ruth, iii. 7. where, when Boaz had eaten his supper, he laid down on a heap of corn, doubtless to take his rest. Ruth, by her mother's instruction, went, uncovered his feet, and lay down by him--to have some refreshment likewise. For, in the middle of the night, when the man awaked, surprised at finding an unexpected bedfellow, and demanded who she was, the kind wench replied-- "I am Ruth, thine hand-maid; spread therefore thy skirt over thine hand-maid, for thou art a near kinsman." In the present instance, it is evident, Saul slept in the cave; as he discovered not the operation that had been performed on his robe, till David called after him, to apprize him thereof.
This, one would imagine to have been a fine opportunity for him to have given a finishing stroke to his fortune, by killing Saul, and jumping into, the throne at once: but David knew better what he was about, than to act so rashly. He could entertain no hopes that the Jews would receive for their king a man who, with such great seeming holiness, should imbrue his hands in the blood of the Lord's anointed. Beside, what evidently destroys the boasted merit of David's forbearance toward Saul, in this instance, is an obvious, though overlooked consideration, that, compared with David, Saul had a strong army with, him; and had the king been missing, had he been observed to enter the cave without coming out again; and upon search, had he been there found murdered, there would not have escaped, of all that pertained to David, any that _pissed against this wall_. Of this David could not be insensible; and therefore, only privately cut off the skirt of Saul's robe,* and suffered him to depart in peace. When the king was gone out from the cave, David calls after him, and artfully makes a merit of his forbearance, protesting an innocency, to which his being in arms was, however, a flat** contradiction. Saul freely and gratefully acknowledges himself indebted to him for his life, and seems so well convinced of his own precarious situation, that he candidly confesses it; only tying him down with an oath,*** not to destroy his children after him--an obligation which, in due time, we shall see in what manner remembered and fulfilled by David.