1 Samuel 18:12

1 Samuel 18:12

And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.

a. NASB 1995: Now Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.   [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: Now Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, but had departed from Saul.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified Bible: Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.”

a. [And] Saul [Strong: 7586 Shâʼûwl, shaw-ool'; passive participle of H7592; asked; Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites:—Saul, Shaul.]

b. [was] afraid [Strong: 3372 yârêʼ, yaw-ray'; a primitive root; to fear; morally to revere; causatively to frighten:—affright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), × see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).]

c. of [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.

d. David [Strong: 1732 Dâvid, daw-veed'; rarely (fully); דָּוִיד Dâvîyd; from the same as H1730; loving; David, the youngest son of Jesse:—David.]

e. because [Strong: 3588 kîy, kee; a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:—and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

f. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

g. was [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

h. with [him] [Strong: 5973 ʻim, eem; from H6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):—accompanying, against, and, as (× long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).]

i. [and was] departed [Strong: 5493 çûwr, soor; or שׂוּר sûwr; (Hosea 9:12), a primitive root; to turn off (literally or figuratively):—be(-head), bring, call back, decline, depart, eschew, get (you), go (aside), × grievous, lay away (by), leave undone, be past, pluck away, put (away, down), rebel, remove (to and fro), revolt, × be sour, take (away, off), turn (aside, away, in), withdraw, be without.]

j. from [Strong: 5973 ʻim, eem; from H6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):—accompanying, against, and, as (× long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).]

k. Saul [Strong: 7586 Shâʼûwl, shaw-ool'; passive participle of H7592; asked; Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites:—Saul, Shaul.]

1). This reminds me of the effect on Adam after he had broken God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he became afraid.

a). Genesis 3:6-10 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

3:9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

2). Troy Edwards, The Hebrew idiom of Permission, pp.46, 47: This departure was initiated by Saul when he rejected God and His Word (1 Samuel 15:23)...Hosea tells us in Hosea 9:21 “Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!” When God departs from a person, this includes the forfeiture of His protection and His restraint upon the forces working against them. 

a).  Deuteronomy 31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

b). 1 Kings 21:14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

c). Jeremiah 12 7 I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My life into the hands of her enemies.

d). 2 Chronicles 12:5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the princes of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus says the Lord: You have forsaken Me, so I have abandoned you into the hands of Shishak.

3). When the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, an evil spirit rushed in to fill the void. It was not that God sent the evil spirit, but rather Saul’s rebellious behavior in his free will opened the door for the evil spirit to enter and torment him. The Covenant protection and restraint upon evil in Saul’s life were removed and allowed evil to torment Saul.