Under the cover of darkness, a daring infiltration into an enemy camp unfolds with quiet precision. A king lies exposed, surrounded by his army, yet entirely vulnerable to the men standing right beside him.
Originally, David planned to let his companion, Abishai, take the king's personal belongings. However, realizing the intense temptation Abishai faced, David feared his partner would be unable to control the urge to kill Saul. To prevent a fatal strike, David stepped forward and took the items himself. He removed the spear and the water jug from near Saul's head. This act goes beyond a simple tactical maneuver; it carries profound symbolic weight [חומת אנך]. The removal of the spear represents how God has departed from Saul's camp, rendering their weapons entirely useless. Similarly, taking the water jug serves as a subtle sign that their physical provisions are drying up, signaling that the day of Saul's ultimate defeat is fast approaching.
After securing the items, David and Abishai walk away completely undisturbed. The camp's total lack of awareness occurs on three distinct levels. First, the darkness and heavy slumber ensured that no one saw the intruders. Second, no one heard or sensed their quiet footsteps and whispered conversations. Finally, despite the inevitable noise caused by removing objects right next to the sleeping king, not a single person woke up.
Under normal circumstances, such activity would undoubtedly wake at least one soldier in a large encampment. The unnatural silence is attributed to a deep sleep sent by God. There are two ways to understand this profound slumber [רד"ק]. It can be viewed as a figure of speech, a common way to describe an unusually heavy sleep by attaching God's name to it to emphasize its intensity. However, the primary approach among commentators is that this was a direct act of divine intervention. God cast a supernatural sleep over the entire army, deliberately protecting David and Abishai so they could complete their mission and escape safely without detection.