Is Saul Also Among the Prophets? (1 Samuel 19:11-24)
2025-12-26
Here we discuss two portions of Scripture: Michal helping David escape Saul, and Saul and his messengers pursuing David at Naioth in Ramah. These events are found in 1 Samuel 19:11-24.
Previously in this chapter, King Saul had called upon his servants and his son Jonathan that they should kill David. Jonathan advised David to hide while Jonathan appealed to his father. Afterwards, the king’s son rehearsed David’s courageous events in the slaying of the champion of Gath, Goliath, saving Israel from destruction and servitude to the Philistines. He did this, trusting in the Lord and putting his own life at risk.
Saul then swore to the LORD that David would not be slain. David returned to Saul’s service and won victories against the Philistines.
David again played the harp to Saul, and Saul again tried to kill him again with his javelin. So much for that oath he swore; He would sooner break an oath than spare David’s life. This is where the story picks up.
Michal Let David Down Through a Window
Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain. (12) So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. (1 Samuel 19:11-12)
After escaping Saul’s javelin, David went home. Previously, Saul had thrown his javelin at him, but from there, the threat to his life went no further. He went home, thinking he would find peace. Otherwise, he would not have gone home. This time it was different.
Saul’s madness had escalated from spur-of-the-moment anger to premeditated murder. We know from the next chapter that he kept his true plans from his son Jonathan, knowing his son’s friendship with David.
David was clearly oblivious to the plan of his assassination; his wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, warned him of the plot. Recall why Michal was chosen to be David’s fiancée:
And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. (21) And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. (1 Samuel 18:20-21)
It was for this daughter-in-law David was set up to get for a dowry: the foreskins of the Philistines. He succeeded, so Saul had to give Michal to David. Perhaps also Saul thought that Michal would be a way to get to David, being that she was his daughter.
However, like Jonathan, Michal favored David over her father. Michal let him down through a window. Whatever type of house this is, it must have been pretty nice, being multiple stories. We think of other narratives involving escapes from being let down from windows or walls:
Rahab let the Israelite spies down from a window on the wall in Jericho: “Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall” (Joshua 2:15). She was praised for her faith-based works for helping them escape and knowing the salvation of the LORD: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Hebrews 11:31). And again, “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” (James 2:25).
The disciples in Damascus helped the apostle Paul escape by letting him down from a wall in the city:
And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: (24) But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. (25) Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. (Acts 9:23-25)
The apostle recounts the deliverance when enumerating his hardships to the church at Corinth:
In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: (33) And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. (2 Corinthians 11:32-33)
These events were counted as righteous actions in delivering the righteous from the hands of the wicked. This event was no different. Michal put her life in her hands to save her husband. As with Rahab and the Damascus church disciples, if they were found out by the authorities, they would have faced certain death, and Michal would also have been likely killed. Recall that Saul threw a javelin at his own son after Jonathan defended David. Nobody would be spared for favoring David over Saul.
Later Michal, after seeing David dance before the Lord, long after David secured the kingdom, we see her despising her husband. “And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart” (2 Samuel 6:16; cf. 1 Chronicles 15:29). It is interesting that through one window she honored David’s life by saving him, and through another window she despised him later.
Michal’s Image
And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth. (1 Samuel 19:13)
After David had escaped, we see this deception that Michal contrived. She placed these items in a bed to make it look like a body is in the bed. We must stop here and ask a question: What is she doing with an image? This is the same word transliterated as “teraphim.” These were idols, perhaps household gods, as some translations purport. These were the same sort of thing that Rachel had when escaping from Laban. “Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not” (Genesis 31:34).
Was David aware of these? She brought them out after he escaped, so she could have had these to herself without David’s knowledge. Whatever they were, we see that this kind of idolatry was likely a part of Saul’s family’s life.
Is it possible for otherwise godly people to get involved in these practices? Have you ever heard of Christians reading horoscopes and Zodiac signs and reading fortune cookies and following other superstitious practices? Ignorance of God’s Word gives the forces of darkness a foothold to be invited into the Christian’s life.
Michal’s Deception
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. (15) And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. (16) And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats’ hair for his bolster. (17) And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee? (1 Samuel 19:14-17)
Here, we see the messengers were sent to kill, they stopped when they heard David was sick. They returned to Saul, and they came back again to kill him in his bed. They saw Michal’s ruse. Presumably they returned to Saul yet again, and Saul either went to his daughter, or she went before him.
We see Saul’s insinuation that Michal was a traitor. David was an enemy, and this deception was to allow him to escape as a fugitive. We do not see any comment asking why she has an idol in her house!
You can see that this is an unfair accusation. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage is defined as leaving your parents and joining to your spouse. Saul would have known this. He set them up together. Now Saul assumed that David would have died in battle with the Philistines before their marriage, but nonetheless, he is the reason they married. The marriage bond is forever; when David and Michal married, Saul’s authority over her ended forever.
This did not stop Saul from his evil ways, for while David was away, he seized her and gave her to another husband: “But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim” (1 Samuel 25:44). David brought her back to her rightful place with him when the southern kingdom became his: “And Ishbosheth sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of Laish. And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned” (2 Samuel 3:15-16). Imagine your father-in-law taking your wife back while you were away for a while. This is the evil of Saul.
How about Michal’s response? “And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?” Is the king’s daughter playing both sides? Is she betraying David? I do not think so. Let us return to the example of Rahab the harlot in Joshua’s day:
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. (4) And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: (5) And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. (6) But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. (Joshua 2:3-6)
We do not see any criticism of Rahab in the New Testament. The Spirit spoke through both Paul and James concerning this woman, praising her faith and her works. There is no mention of her lie to the king’s servants.
Does this give us carte blanche to deceive the Lord’s enemies whenever we see fit? The Scripture says, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25). This clearly speaks of fellow Christians; we have no right to deceive a fellow Christian ever. Do we do as Rahab and Michal when facing murderous reprobates?
I cannot say that this is the case. We stand on the truth of God’s Word. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The Spirit of God is called the Spirit of Truth. Can we really say that we can say the ends justify the means and lie? The Spirit tells us, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile” (1 Peter 3:10). This is because “he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).
If you find yourself in the situation of Rahab or Michal, where lying might save your life, it is in that very hour we must seek the Lord and let the Spirit speak. Will He allow us to deceive and beguile the enemy? Wait on Him in that hour and see.
David Went to Samuel in Ramah
So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. (1 Samuel 19:18)
David’s first stop while on the run is to Samuel. When we are in a conundrum like this, where there is no wisdom, one thing we can do after we pray is to seek godly counsel. Samuel was known for his godly counsel, having been a judge over Israel throughout his life. “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 7:15).
Samuel the prophet was also the one who anointed David king, according to the Word of the LORD. “And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons” (1 Samuel 16:1). And again, “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he” (1 Samuel 16:12).
Perhaps David had some good questions to ask the prophet. Is his kingship really from the Lord? The only thing that has happened since David was in the king’s service was that the king was trying to kill him. Circumstances were screaming in David’s ear, give it up already! But Samuel could have been a voice of reason in David’s ear, reaffirming that the Lord’s purposes will prevail over the enemy’s purposes. “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30). Godly counsel can bring us back to trusting God’s Word over our own senses and wisdom.
Once David recounted all that transpired, the Spirit says that “he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.” They settled there for a season, though we do not know how long. Naioth is a part of Ramah according to the Scriptures. The name implies that it is a habitation or a home. From the context, maybe this is a habitation for the company of prophets to live? It is hard to say, since the place is only mentioned in this context a couple of times.
Ramah is mentioned many times in the Scripture, and it was the home of Samuel and of his father before him. “And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house” (1 Samuel 2:11). After Samuel was grown, he returned from the house of Eli to his own house in Ramah.
The Holy Spirit on Saul’s Messengers
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. (20) And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. (21) And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. (1 Samuel 19:19-21)
Saul, who demanded fierce loyalty, had lookouts everywhere. David was a wanted man, and eventually someone brought word to the king he was in Naioth. The king sent waves of messengers to apprehend the fugitive, failing each time. All these messengers “prophesied.” Let us look at the situation.
Who was this company of prophets? When Saul was looking for the asses with his servant and found Samuel, he also found a “company of the prophets.” “And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them” (1 Samuel 10:10). They prophesied with musical instruments: They were “coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy” (1 Samuel 10:5). We will return to this in a moment. Nonetheless, it seems that in those days there was a company of prophets, and Samuel was appointed over them, according to 1 Samuel 19:20. Samuel could have been a mentor to such men who wanted to prophesy according to the Spirit of God. With their musical instruments, they perhaps were also like worship leaders in our modern context.
Here, we see three waves of messengers who come to the company of prophets and Samuel prophesying. All three times, these messengers prophesied.
What does it mean to “prophesy”? A couple of verses on the subject:
And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle. (25) And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. (26) But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp. (27) And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. (28) And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. (29) And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them! (30) And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. (Numbers 11:24-30)
The hint is in Numbers 11:29: “would God that all the LORD’S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!” True prophesying is preaching or glorifying God when the Spirit of the LORD is on a person.
It does not have to be “telling the future” though it most certainly can mean that. This was the case with Micaiah the prophet: “I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace” (1 Kings 22:17). You can see that the king was seeking a telling of future events. False prophets first lied to him, but then he got the truth that he did not want to hear. There are myriad examples of prophets telling about things yet to come.
Here is an example of prophesying that involves no foretelling future events: “Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD” (1 Chronicles 25:3). This prophesying just involved thanksgiving and praise to the LORD.
The term “prophesy” is also used for false prophets, as we indicated before. Concerning the prophets of Baal in Elijah’s day, they performed their satanic rituals, and we read, “And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded” (1 Kings 18:29).
In the example of the messengers in our passage, we see that “the Spirit of God was upon the messengers.” These men were not preaching according to Baal and evil spirits. They were glorifying God in some way.
This stopped them from executing their evil orders. Maybe it was because when the Spirit was on them, they realized what they were doing was evil because of the Spirit. It could have been they were wholly distracted by the whole experience. Probably both, and perhaps there are other reasons as well. Ultimately, it was the Spirit of God that restrained these men from evil.
Saul Among the Prophets
Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. (23) And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. (24) And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? (1 Samuel 19:22-24)
The king came to this great well in Sechu. I do not know of any other mention of this well or this town. The name suggests that a lookout tower or observatory would have been there. Perhaps it is mentioned because the Lord was looking out for Samuel and David to protect them from the enemy. When Saul asked someone there, he received the answer he already knew; they were still at Naioth. Note that he asked for both David and Samuel; the prophet was also aligned with his enemy, so he also was considered a traitor.
It is interesting that between this lookout Sechu and the habitation Naioth that Saul becomes a new man. His obsessions about David are redirected as the Spirit comes upon him. He prophesied like the three waves of messengers he sent. This was the good kind of prophesying, at least at first; the Holy Spirit was upon the king. Saul preached his way all the way to Naioth.
Now we approach one of the strangest parts of the Scriptures: “And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night.” What on earth?
Before we proceed, we should mention that this is not the only time a prophet preached naked before:
At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. (3) And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; (4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. (5) And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. (Isaiah 20:2-5)
This passage is equally bizarre. Isaiah was naked three years, symbolizing how the Egyptians and Ethiopians would be taken captive naked by the Assyrians. The Lord commanded this. But this informs us something about nakedness: shame. To be naked is to be ashamed. We saw this as well in Eden after Adam and Eve sinned: “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). Egypt and Ethiopia were seen as a hope of deliverance from Assyria, but we see they rather suffer shameful defeat by the Assyrians.
Returning to Saul, I do not think this is anything like the case of Isaiah. There was a specific purpose for the son Amoz to behave that way. For Saul, he came to destroy whom the LORD anointed to be his successor. He may have been speaking by the Lord, but it was only to his shame. The king could have submitted to the Spirit but instead grieved Him and quenched Him in every possible way. Speaking by the Spirit drove Him mad because He was against everything the king stood for. His kingship was ending in shame. He preached truth and lived falsehood. He stopped and lay down, with Samuel standing between David and Saul.
The scene closes with the following: “Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19:24). This is not the first time we have seen this proverb. Consider the first time it was used:
And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. (10) And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. (11) And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? (12) And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? (1 Samuel 10:9-12)
Saul was just told he would be king by Samuel prophet. He met a company of prophets, just like he did at Naioth. He prophesied just like he did there, with the Spirit on him. Saul, once a humble man, saying, “Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?” (1 Samuel 9:21). His humble background made the people shocked that he would prophesy in such a way. They knew who he was before and never thought he would prophesy like this. This was quite a transformation. They called him “the son of Kish,” knowing his family of origin, and they asked of the prophets “But who is their father?” Their fathers did not matter; they were being used powerfully by God in their prophesying. This applied to Saul.
This second time, the proverb falls flat. The man that God once used was now lying on the ground naked, publicly, and in shame. Saul never heard from the Lord in any way ever again. The next time he sees Samuel is when the woman with the familiar spirit calls up his spirit to announce his death. What started in great anticipation ended in shame.