And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the Lord: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. (1 Samuel 22:17)
Heb. raṣim, literally, “the runners,” sometimes used of the royal bodyguard as obviously here. Samuel probably referred to this office when he warned Israel that the king they were asking for would take their sons, and conscript some of them to “run before his chariots” (ch. 8:11). Saul was frustrated by the refusal of the guards to lift their hand against the Lord’s priests. It was a shocking deed that the king required. Even among heathen tribes today the medicine man is held sacred, and none dare raise a hand against him. How much more should Saul have had respect for the servant of the Most High!