And Saul said. — So Abimelech (Judges 9:54).
Lest these uncircumcised come. — Sam. Adds “and thrust me through.” An inadvertent repetition there, or omission here, is possible. Or, we might say, Saul preferred death by a friendly stroke to the thrusts of insulting foemen.
And abuse me. — The Hebrew means, strictly, “to make a toy of,” “sport with.” “How I have made a toy of Egypt” (Exodus 10:2); and is used (Jeremiah 38:19) of insulting a fallen foe, as here.
Took a sword. — Literally, the sword — i.e., his sword.