What is the meaning of I Samuel 18:10?

[Windsor]

The King James Version of the Bible renders I Samuel 18:10 as follows:

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

A little more context:

18 Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. 2 Saul took him that day and did not let him return to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. 5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and [a]prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

6 It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. 7 The women sang as they [c]played, and said,

“Saul has slain his thousands,

And David his ten thousands.”

8 Then Saul became very angry, for this saying [d]displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

10 Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, [e]as usual; and [f]a spear was in Saul’s hand. 11 Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will [g]pin David to the wall.” But David [h]escaped from his presence twice.

12 Now Saul was afraid of David, for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14 David was [j]prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he was [k]prospering greatly, he dreaded him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them.

How can an evil spirit come from God?

[ClubV12]

2 Chronicles 18:18 explains how that works!

18 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left.

19 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that.

20 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

“‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

21 “‘I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

22 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

I have been enjoying the "Clear Word" lately for "light reading", not for study, here's how it says it.

2 Chr. 18:18 Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to the word of the Lord. In vision I saw the Lord sitting on His throne and all the angels standing in front of Him.

19 The Lord said to the angels, ‘How can we get Ahab to go to Ramoth in Gilead? We need to put an end to his wicked reign.’ One angel suggested one thing and another something else.

20 Finally, an evil angel appeared in the vision and said to the Lord, ‘I know what to do.’ The Lord said, ‘What?’

21 The wicked angel said, ‘I will make all Ahab’s prophets tell lies.’ The Lord said, ‘I won’t interfere, because I’ve already removed my protection from him.’

22 So what these prophets are telling you are lies. You won’t succeed, because the Lord has decided that in this battle He will allow you to be wounded and die.”

Now this passage COULD be literal or it COULD be an allegory. Either way, it's an interesting look behind the scenes at the Government of God. Not "commanding", not "telling" His servants (the angelic host) what to do and how to do it (micro managing) but drawing them into the problem. Letting them be a part of the solution. Now THAT is a wonderful picture of "management". And like all good project managers, there are times when He needs to be personally involved and make key decisions about how things will need to be done.

He does the same with His Church. Lays out the problem, waits for man to exercise his free will and make a decision, then responds accordingly. NO ONE gets FORCED to do anything, no one, not even the angels.

[Kevin H]

First I want to make a note about Saul killing his thousands and David killing his ten-thousands. In our western mind we think that Saul is upset because David was given a higher number. But Saul was upset because it was a parrell cupplet equating Saul with David. Saul wanted it to either say "Saul has killed his thousands and the son on Cush his ten-thousands" or to at least show loyality to his house by saying "Saul has killed his thousands and Johathan his ten-thousands" but the saying had David equal to Saul and that bothered him.

As for the evil spirit from God. When God gives us an opputunity, we have a choice to accept or reject it. Granted God also knows what we tend to do. Pharaoh was given a chance to cooperate with God's people in which God would have greatly rewarded him. Instead it became an evil spirit from God. Now granted God could have waited for another Pharaoh that would have been more open. Saul had a chance to help David to become king, in which God would have richly rewarded him. But instead it became an evil spirit from God. A baby was born in Bethlehem, which became a life changing spirit to some bad men, the shepherds. and was what some good men had been searching for, the wisemen, but was an evil spirit from God Herod driving him even deeper into his cruelty and insanit, while a different choice would have healed his cruelty and insanity and had him die a hero.