The Meaning of 1 Samuel 26:12 Explained

1 Samuel 26:12

KJV: So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the LORD was fallen upon them.

YLT: And David taketh the spear, and the cruse of water at the pillow of Saul, and they go away, and there is none seeing, and there is none knowing, and there is none awaking, for all of them are sleeping, for a deep sleep from Jehovah hath fallen upon them.

Darby: And David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they went away, and no man saw it, and none knew it, and none awaked, for they were all asleep; for a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.

ASV: So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they gat them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Jehovah was fallen upon them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

So David  took  the spear  and the cruse  of water  from Saul's  bolster;  and they gat them away,  and no man saw  [it], nor knew  [it], neither awaked:  for they [were] all asleep;  because a deep sleep  from the LORD  was fallen  upon them. 

What does 1 Samuel 26:12 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Samuel 26:1-12 - Sparing His Enemy's Life
The Ziphites' treachery served as a foil to the intrinsic nobility of David's character. God made the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrained the remainder, Psalms 76:10, so that His servant escaped as a bird out of the fowler's snare. Read here, Psalms 54:1-7.
It was a bold act for David and Abishai to thread their way between watch-fires and sentries, and talk in whispers over the prostrate body of the sleeping monarch. As David says in one of the Psalms, "By thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall." The special share attributed here to God is the deep sleep which had fallen on the camp, 1 Samuel 26:12. The Lord who put the resolve into David's mind, cooperated in its execution. We are sometimes led by a divine impulse, and God will set His seal on our act; but we should not throw ourselves into peril unless the occasion plainly requires it. We are not at liberty to cast ourselves down from the mountain, unless it is clearly God's will. In David's case, there was sufficient reason for this adventure; first, that Saul might be warned once more; and second, that the integrity of the young outlaw might be established. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Samuel 26

1  Saul, by the discovery of the Ziphites, comes to Hachilah against David
4  David coming into the trench keeps Abishai from killing Saul,
11  but takes his spear and jug
13  David reproves Abner
17  and exhorts Saul
21  Saul acknowledges his sin

What do the individual words in 1 Samuel 26:12 mean?

So took David - the spear and the jug of water [by] head of Saul and they got away to and no man saw [it] [one] knew [it] and none awoke for they [were] all asleep because a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them
וַיִּקַּח֩ דָּוִ֨ד אֶֽת־ הַחֲנִ֜ית וְאֶת־ צַפַּ֤חַת הַמַּ֙יִם֙ מֵרַאֲשֹׁתֵ֣י שָׁא֔וּל וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם וְאֵ֣ין רֹאֶה֩ יוֹדֵ֜עַ וְאֵ֣ין מֵקִ֗יץ כִּ֤י כֻלָּם֙ יְשֵׁנִ֔ים כִּ֚י תַּרְדֵּמַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה נָפְלָ֖ה עֲלֵיהֶֽם

וַיִּקַּח֩  So  took 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
דָּוִ֨ד  David 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּוִד  
Sense: youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel.
אֶֽת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַחֲנִ֜ית  the  spear 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: חֲנִית  
Sense: spear.
צַפַּ֤חַת  the  jug 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: צַפַּחַת  
Sense: jar, jug (for liquids).
הַמַּ֙יִם֙  of  water 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
מֵרַאֲשֹׁתֵ֣י  [by]  head 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: רֹאשׁ  
Sense: head place, place at the head.
שָׁא֔וּל  of  Saul 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁאוּל  
Sense: a Benjamite, son of Kish, and the st king of Israel.
וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ  and  they  got  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
וְאֵ֣ין  and  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
רֹאֶה֩  man  saw  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
יוֹדֵ֜עַ  [one]  knew  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
וְאֵ֣ין  and  none 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
מֵקִ֗יץ  awoke 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, masculine singular
Root: קוּץ 
Sense: to awake, wake up.
כֻלָּם֙  they  [were]  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
יְשֵׁנִ֔ים  asleep 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: יָשֵׁן 
Sense: to sleep, be asleep.
כִּ֚י  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
תַּרְדֵּמַ֣ת  a  deep  sleep  from 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תַּרְדֵּמָה  
Sense: deep sleep, trance.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
נָפְלָ֖ה  had  fallen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: נָפַל  
Sense: to fall, lie, be cast down, fail.
עֲלֵיהֶֽם  on  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.