Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 26:6

"Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee." — 1 Samuel 26:6 (ASV)

Ahimelech the Hittite. — The Hittites were one of the old Canaanite peoples; we hear of them around Hebron in the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:20). The conquering Israelites subdued, but did not exterminate them. Gradually, during the days of weakness and divisions that followed the first conquest, the Hittites, in common with many other old tribes, seem to have enjoyed the Land of Promise with the children of Israel in a kind of joint occupation.

We find the Hittites ranking here among David’s trusted and faithful men. Later, we hear of another Hittite, Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, filling an important post in the royal army and possessing a house and an establishment in the capital city of Jerusalem. We do not hear again of this Ahimelech in the sacred record.

Abishai the son of Zeruiah. — Zeruiah was David’s sister. Abishai, later one of David's famous generals, was brother to Joab, who later became the captain of the royal army. Abishai was apparently nearly the same age as David. There was a third younger brother also high in the favor of his kinsman David—Asahel, celebrated especially for his speed in running.

A blood feud seems to have existed between these three sons of Zeruiah and Abner. Abner, a close relative and captain of Saul’s army throughout Saul's reign, was closely associated with Saul's fortunes. It has been supposed, with some probability, that he was among David's determined enemies. Dreading the advent of the son of Jesse to the throne, Abner saw in David's elevation the signal for the downfall of all Saul’s family and friends.

Abner surely reasoned that he would no longer be captain of the army of Israel. The words of David to Abner in this chapter (1 Samuel 26:14–16) seem to point to the fierce hatred that existed between them. The bloody sequel to the feud between Saul's great kinsman and the three brothers, the famous sons of David’s sister, is strictly in accordance with what we should expect in these fierce, wild days. Some time after Saul’s death, Abner killed the young Asahel, who seems to have been passionately loved by his elder brother. Abner became reconciled to David, but the reconciliation did not save the friend of Saul and the killer of Asahel from the vengeance of Joab and Abishai, who murdered the illustrious Abner in cold blood.

And Abishai said, I will go down with thee. — Ahimelech seems to have backed out of the perilous night enterprise. But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, with the reckless gallantry and intense devotion to David that, despite all their pride and self-will, always characterized these famous warrior kinsmen of the king, at once volunteered to go with his loved chief.