And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.

And an evil spirit from Jehovah was upon Saul. And he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David played with his hand.

And a spirit of sadness from Jehovah is unto Saul, and he is sitting in his house, and his javelin in his hand, and David is playing with the hand,

And an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul, when he was seated in his house with his spear in his hand; and David made music for him.

And the evil spirit from the Lord came to Saul, who was sitting in his house and holding a lance. And David was playing music with his hand.

And the evil spirit from the Lord - His envy and jealousy again returned, producing distraction of mind, which was exacerbated by diabolic influence. See on 1-Samuel 16:14 (note).

And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David (d) played with [his] hand.
(d) He played on his harp to appease the rage of the evil spirit, (1-Samuel 16:23).

And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul,.... His melancholy and frantic disorder returned upon those victories of David, and he grew envious, jealous, spiteful, and malicious:
as he sat in his house with his javelin his hand; which either describes the posture he was in when the evil spirit came upon him; or the effects of it, he became dull and melancholy, did not care to go abroad, but kept at home, and was suspicious of everybody; and therefore kept a javelin in his hand to defend himself; or it may be rather to dispatch David with it, when an opportunity should offer, which quickly did:
and David played with his hand; on some instrument of music, particularly the harp, to drive away the evil spirit, the melancholy disorder, from Saul; which showed his humility, that though he was an officer in the army, had a considerable post in it, yet deigned to act the part of a musician to Saul, and his great kindness and affection for him his sovereign, willing to serve him what he could to promote his health and comfort, and the trust and confidence he put in his promise and oath, or rather in the providence of God for his protection in the way of his duty, though he knew how spiteful and injurious Saul had been to him.

The evil spirit - David's successes against the Philistines revived his envy, and the devil watched the opportunity, as he had done before.