שמואל א כ״ג:י׳-י״א

היסגרוני בעלי קעילה וגו'. למדנו מכאן, שהשואל שני דברים, אין משיבין לו אלא אחד, ואין משיבין לו אלא ראשון, וכאן דוד שאל שלא כסדר, שהיה לו לשאול תחילה הירד שאול, היסגרוני בידו, והשיבוהו כסדר:

Will Keilah's residents hand me over… This teaches us that one who consults regarding two matters, receives a reply concerning only one, and that reply concerns the first one. And here, Dovid asked in an inverted order,³Perhaps Dovid asked the questions in an inverted order because he was primarily interested whether Ke’ilah’s residents would hand him over to Shaul. He had assumed that Shaul would pursue him. because he should have first asked,⁴See Maseches Yoma 73a. Dovid should have asked first what were Shaul’s intentions and then whether Ke’ilah’s residents would hand him over to Shaul. He was answered on the question that he should have asked first that “he [Shaul] will go down.” "Will Shaul come down? Will [the residents of Keilah] hand me over?" But he was answered according to the [proper] order.