Commentary for I Samuel 26:20
וְעַתָּ֗ה אַל־יִפֹּ֤ל דָּֽמִי֙ אַ֔רְצָה מִנֶּ֖גֶד פְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה כִּֽי־יָצָ֞א מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל לְבַקֵּשׁ֙ אֶת־פַּרְעֹ֣שׁ אֶחָ֔ד כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר יִרְדֹּ֥ף הַקֹּרֵ֖א בֶּהָרִֽים׃
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel is come out to seek a single flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.’
Rashi on I Samuel
As the partridge. A bird named קוֹרֵא, and in O.F. perdriz; and similarly, "as the partridge calls together [offspring] it did not bear"7Yirmiyahu 17:11. and it seeks the nests of other birds, and sits on their eggs.8Maseches Chulin 140b. Dovid compared Shaul’s fate to that of the partridge. Just as the partridge seeks the nests of other birds but the young return to their natural mother and the partridge is unable to keep them, so too, Shaul who chased after Dovid will be unable to keep his kingship.
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