Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 19:1

"And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should slay David. But Jonathan, Saul`s son, delighted much in David." — 1 Samuel 19:1 (ASV)

That they should kill David. —The literal translation of the original gives a much better sense: “that he intended to kill David,” or “about killing David.” The latter is the rendering of the Septuagint and the Syriac.

The murderous impulse of the unhappy Saul gradually increased in intensity. First, it showed itself only in the paroxysms of insanity, when the half-distraught king would grasp and poise his heavy spear, as though he would hurl it at the kindly musician as he tried to calm the troubled spirit. Then he would plot and scheme against the hated life, trying to involve this young soldier in some enterprise fraught with deadly peril. Now he speaks openly to his heir and his counsellors of the risk incurred by allowing so dangerous a man to live.