SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:23
Y cuando el espíritu malo de parte de Dios era sobre Saúl, David tomaba el arpa, y tañía con su mano; y Saúl tenía refrigerio, y estaba mejor, y el espíritu malo se apartaba de él.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Samuel 16:23
Verse 23. The evil spirit from God] The word evil is not in the common Hebrew text, but it is in the Vulgate, Septuagint, Targum, Syriac, and Arabic, and in eight of Kennicott's and Deuteronomy Rossi's MSS., which present the text thus: h[r µyhla jwr ruach Elohim raah, spiritus Domini malus, the evil spirit of God. The Septuagint leave out qeou, of God, and have pneuma ponhron, the evil spirit. The Targum says, The evil spirit from before the Lord; and the Arabic has it. The evil spirit by the permission of God; this is at least the sense. And the evil spirit departed from him.] The Targum says, And the evil spirit descended up from off him. This considers the malady of Saul to be more than a natural disease.
THERE are several difficulties in this chapter; those of the chronology are pretty well cleared, in the opinion of some, by the observations of Bishop Warburton; but there is still something more to be done to make this point entirely satisfactory. Saul's evil spirit, and the influence of music upon it, are not easily accounted for. I have considered his malady to be of a mixed kind, natural and diabolical; there is too much of apparent nature in it to permit us to believe it was all spiritual, and there is too much of apparent supernatural influence to suffer us to believe that it was all natural.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 23. And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul , etc.] (see 1 Samuel 16:14,15) though the word evil is not in the text here; wherefore Abarbinel thinks that this here was the Spirit of God, which stirred up in him thoughts of divine things, put him in mind of what God had said, that he had rejected him from being king, and had rent the kingdom from him; and this filled him with grief and trouble, and he became melancholy: that David took an harp, and played with his hands ; upon it; and, as Josephus says, at the same time sung hymns and psalms; made use both of vocal and instrumental music: so Saul was refreshed, and was well ; became cheerful, his grief was removed, his black and gloomy apprehensions of things were dispersed, and he was cured of his melancholy disorder for the present: and the evil spirit departed from him : at least for a while; he had his fits and intervals; of the effects of music in a natural way, (see Gill on “ Samuel 16:16”), though no doubt the music of David was more than natural, being attended with the power and blessing of God, in order to raise his fame and credit at court.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 14-23 - Saul is made a terror to himself. The Spirit of the Lord departed from him. If God and his grace do not rule us, sin and Satan will have possession of us. The devil, by the Divine permission, troubled an terrified Saul, by the corrupt humours of his body, and passions of his mind. He grew fretful, peevish, and discontented, and at times madman. It is a pity that music, which may be serviceable to the goo temper of the mind, should ever be abused, to support vanity an luxury, and made an occasion of drawing the heart from God and seriou things. That is driving away the good Spirit, not the evil spirit Music, diversions, company, or business, have for a time often bee employed to quiet the wounded conscience; but nothing can effect a rea cure but the blood of Christ, applied in faith, and the sanctifyin Spirit sealing the pardon, by his holy comforts. All other plans to dispel religious melancholy are sure to add to distress, either in thi world or the next __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
והיה 1961 בהיות 1961 רוח 7307 אלהים 430 אל 413 שׁאול 7586 ולקח 3947 דוד 1732 את 853 הכנור 3658 ונגן 5059 בידו 3027 ורוח 7304 לשׁאול 7586 וטוב 2895 לו וסרה 5493 מעליו 5921 רוח 7307 הרעה׃ 7451
