He said to his men, Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Yahweh's anointed.
"The verb ’cut off’ forms something of a recurring theme, a leit-motiv, in 1 Samuel 20-24." [Note: Baldwin, p. 146. Cf. 15:28; 20:14-17; 24:4.] 