The Book of Samuel 26 speaks of yet another golden opportunity heaven sent to David to scalp Saul. Not only did David, a man on the run, refrain from removing a constant existential threat, but he did more: he rebuffed Abishai, his aide-de-camp from delivering the coup de grâce. Abishai pleaded: “Now therefore let me smite him, I pray you, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time.” David explains his rationale to Abishai: “And David said to Abishai: Destroy him not; for who can put forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?"
David did, however, take full advantage of God’s miracle, as we read: “So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they got them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.”
After slipping out of Saul’s camp, and after walking a safe distance, David called aloud to the slumbering men: “Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them. And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying: Answer you not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said: Who are you that cries to the king?”
David identified himself to Abner, Saul’s chief of staff, before excoriating him. “And David said to Abner: Are not you a valiant man? and who is like to you in Israel? wherefore then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord.” David not only castigated Abner; he pronounced dire punishment for dereliction of duty: “This thing is not good that you have done. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD'S anointed. And now, see, where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.” Clearly it was “not good”, but was it punishable by death?
Abravanel asks: Was David’s indictment of Abner courtroom antics and show? Did David truly believe failure to professionally guard Saul constituted a capital crime? Abravanel unpacks this section. When David described Abner as “a valiant man and who is like you in Israel”, he meant to raise the commander’s bar of culpability. That is, precisely because of Abner’s prominence, so too was his negligence that much worse.
Abravanel shares insights from his own day (15th century western Europe). He teaches that guard duty for a king demands around-the-clock surveillance. Thus, when the king traveled, his retinue took meticulous care to protect him. Especially at night, shifts were organized. Of course, the main thing centers upon keeping enemies at bay.
Indeed, David had every right to call out Abner, seeing that he served as Saul’s senior soldier. Abner, Abravanel says, was not required to personally stand guard over the king. However, he should have made sure that guards knew their job, and performed it. Blame, deservedly, had been attributed both to Abner and to the snoozing watchmen.
In sum, David’s words to Abner were: “This thing is not good.” But for the sentinels, David charged: “As the LORD lives, you deserve to die” is written in the plural, conveying that the subjects were the guards. Alternatively, both the chief of staff and the troops were liable for the death penalty – Abner for carelessly placing Saul’s life at risk and the watchmen for sleeping on guard duty. Still and all, are Abner and his men worthy of death? Yes, writes Abravanel. An extrajudicial execution would serve as a chilling effect for others. They would learn that shoddy soldiering will not be tolerated. Infringing military law by recklessly exposing a king’s life carries a steep price.