1 Samuel 24:14

After whom is the king of Israel come out?.... From his court and palace, with an army of men, and at the head of them:

after whom dost thou pursue? with such eagerness and fury:

after a dead dog;…

After whom ... - i. e., was it consistent with the dignity of the king of Israel to lead armies in pursuit of a weak and helpless individual like David?

After a dead dog - A term used among the Hebrews to signify the most sovereign contempt; see Sa2 16:9. One utterly incapable of making the least resistance against Saul, and the troops of Israel. The…

We have here David's warm and pathetic speech to Saul, wherein he endeavours to convince him that he did him a great deal of wrong in persecuting him thus and to persuade him therefore to be…

after a dead dog, &c. "A dead dog, a single flea," express what is absolutely contemptible, harmless, and insignificant. A worthy object truly for an expedition of the King of Israel with his picked…