'The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed; but now take the spear that is at his head, and the water jar, and let us go' — David's final refusal ('ḥāšôk YHWH mî-ʾâ šeliḥ yādî) invokes divine protection against his own impulse toward regicide. Taking the spear and water jar ('et-hakkhannît ʾašer meraʿšô vᵉʾet-ṣappāḥat hammayyim') as proof of his access becomes an alternative to slaughter: a sign of victory without bloodshed.

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