Deeper Reflection
THE WORD “anointed” is a key word in the Book of Samuel, comprising two Hebrew words, masah and masiah (messiah). The two Hebrew words together occur a total of 32 times (19 times in 1 Sam and 13 times in 2 Sam), all of which are used in reference to the anointing of a king of Israel. To be “anointed” by God is to be set apart for a special service of God, which “presuppose[s] special obligations”¹³. The expression, “the LORD’s anointed”, conveys the idea of “special status” and of being “under God’s special favor and protection”¹⁴: God “will give strength to His king and will exalt the horn of His anointed” (1 Sam 2:10). When David’s “conscience bothered him” after he had secretly cut off the edge of Saul’s robe, it seems like he received a divine revelation: “Far be it from me because of the LORD that I would do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to reach out with my hand against him, since he is the LORD’s anointed” (vv.5-6). For the first time, David referred to Saul as “my lord, the LORD’s anointed”. This reflects David’s character, in that although he had been anointed as Saul’s successor (1 Sam 16:12-13), he did not see his anointing as somehow invalidating Saul’s anointing. And David realised that to touch “the LORD’s anointed” was “to touch the Lord Himself ”¹⁵. He recognised that Saul was still “the LORD’s anointed” and hence his humble submission: “my lord, the LORD’s anointed.”

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¹³ John N. Oswalt, New International Dictionary of OId Testament Theology & Exegesis, Volume 2, General Editor: Willem A. VanGemeren (Zondervan, 1997), 1125

¹⁴ John N. Oswalt, 1125

¹⁵ John N. Oswalt, 1125