Snitching Vs. Informing: One Is Godly, & One Is Not

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(19) The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? (20) Now, Your Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands.’ (1 Samuel 23:19-20)

Snitches have a bad connotation, and typically for good reason.  A snitch typically will ‘spill the beans’ out of jealousy or spite.  It used to be that snitches were looked down upon, a pariah in society or ‘busybody’ that couldn’t mind their own business.  Informing someone or the authorities to protect them or keep them from harm is not snitching as long as others are not placed in harm as well. 

Informing a person that another person is angry with them to protect or prepared them is OK, informing a person that the police are about to arrest them for a serious crime they committed is not.  The line between snitching and informing is thin but very delineated; to protect others and yourself from harm or repercussions may involve law enforcement, a lawyer, or the proper authorities to be involved.  It is not snitching to report a crime against person or property (an assault or a break-in). 

Calling code enforcement over grass being an inch higher than normal is snitching, as it is imposing your will over another for self-gratification or gain; calling authorities if the grass is as tall as wheat and ready for harvest is not, as this may be a problem the neighbor may be having where he may need outside assistance.  However, it would be better to ask the neighbor if they need help in cutting their grass rather than ‘snitching’ to authorities, as they maybe physically cannot do so or don’t have the means to cut down their yard.

There are in the Bible cases of ‘snitches’; in 1 Samuel 23 we see David is hiding in the hills of Ziph, a desert area south of Jerusalem to the east of Hebron (in today’s West Bank).  King Saul is pursuing David to capture and kill him, though David did not injure or wrong Saul in any way.  The Ziphites, in order to gain favor in Saul’s eyes, decide to snitch David out by telling Saul where David is, in the town of Horesh in a fairly pinpoint description where he was residing.  It is not known exactly why the Ziphites decided to ‘punk’ David; David defended them from the Philistines, so it is likely for the King’s favor or the notoriety of taking down one of Judah’s top heroes.

Fortunately, Saul was drawn away from hunting David due to an attack by the Philistines, but we find in 1 Samuel 26 the Ziphites doing the same thing; this time Saul chases David into Ziph.  Saul makes camp outside the town of Hakilah, where during the night (and Saul’s slumber – along with his bodyguards) David slips in, takes Saul’s spear and water jug.  David goes up on a hilltop to wake up Saul and his military lead Abner to inform them of what he did.  Saul realizes David spared his life and withdraws.  David ends up having to go live with the Philistines to save himself, while Saul ends up calling up Samuel from the dead, who tells Saul that because of this he and his sons will die in battle – which they did.  David eventually is proclaimed King of Israel as God promised.

For the Ziphites, little else is recorded of them in the Bible, but in Psalm 54 David writes a plea to God to ‘Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them’ (Psalm 54:5).  With little else in history recording the Ziphites or their fate we can assume God did not care for them snitching on David and allowed them to fade away into obscurity (or he allowed them to be destroyed as requested by David) instead of them gaining ill-gotten favor.  Either way, no Ziphites are around to tell the tale.

The key is are you ‘snitching’ to help yourself or to harm another?  In the case of the Ziphites, it was exactly that; snitching on David was for self-gain, much to the chagrin and endangerment of David.  Had the Ziphites allowed David to stay in the wilderness, perhaps Saul would not have wasted his time pursuing David or go see the medium to go wake up Samuel from his ‘Sheol Slumber’ and end up dying on the battlefield, and David may have not gone over to the Philistines and been available to save Saul.  Obviously, God knew what would happen as it did, and this allowed David to assume the throne when he did as God envisioned.

Snitching is not Godly.  Be neighborly, and if in dispute talk to them as long as it is safe to do so.  Don’t confront but be constructive, and it may be that any minor wrongdoing on their part is actually a call for help.