1 Samuel 23

People came and told David, "Look, the Philistines are attacking Keilah, and they are stealing the grain from the threshing floors."

1Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled in five cities along the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Israel, and Israel's main military rivals in this period. A threshing floor was a flat, open patch of hard ground, usually on a breezy hilltop outside a town, where the harvested grain was beaten and winnowed. Raiding one at harvest time was an efficient way to steal a town's whole food supply in one place, before it could be stored inside the walls.

2So David asked the LORD, "Should I go and attack these Philistines?" The LORD said to David, "Go, attack the Philistines, and save Keilah."

2Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.

Note"Asked the LORD" describes a formal procedure, not private prayer: a question was put through a priest and an answer was expected, usually yes or no. See the note at verse 6.

3But David's men said to him, "Look, we are already afraid here in Judah. It will be far worse if we go to Keilah and face the Philistine armies."

3And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

NoteJudah was David's own tribal territory, in the southern hill country, comparatively safe ground for him. Keilah lay lower down, toward the Philistine plain, which is why going there felt far more exposed.

4So David asked the LORD again. The LORD answered him, "Get up and go down to Keilah, because I will hand the Philistines over to you."

4Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

5So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. They drove off the Philistines' livestock and struck them down, killing many of them. That is how David saved the people who lived in Keilah.

5So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

NoteDriving off the enemy's livestock was standard practice in this kind of fighting: the animals were the raiders' own supply train and their profit, and taking them was both a blow to the enemy and payment for the men who fought.

6Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech ran away to David at Keilah, he brought an ephod down with him.

6And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.

NoteAn ephod was a priestly garment, worn over the chest, that held or was associated with the objects used to get a yes-or-no answer from God. Abiathar was the sole survivor of the priests of Nob, whom Saul had slaughtered (chapter 22), so the ephod, and the ability to consult God with it, had passed from Saul's court to David's camp.

7Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, because he has shut himself in by going into a town with gates and bars."

7And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.

Note"Gates and bars" marks Keilah as a walled town. Walls protect the people inside from attack, but they also close off escape routes, which is exactly what Saul is counting on: a besieging army could pen David in.

8So Saul called all his troops together for war, to march down to Keilah and trap David and his men inside the town.

8And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

9When David learned that Saul was quietly planning to harm him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod here."

9And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

NoteThe ephod was used for a limited kind of question, the answer came back yes or no, which is why David asks two short, separate questions in verses 11 and 12 rather than one open one.

10Then David said, "LORD, God of Israel, I your servant have certainly heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me.

10Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

11Will the men of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down, as I your servant have heard? LORD, God of Israel, please tell me." And the LORD said, "He will come down."

11Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

NoteDavid asks two questions here but only one answer is recorded, and it addresses the second. The Hebrew text leaves this untidy as it stands; some ancient copies of the book have only the second question at this point.

12Then David asked, "Will the men of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will hand you over."

12Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.

13So David and his men, about six hundred of them, got up and left Keilah, and they moved from place to place wherever they could. When Saul was told that David had gotten away from Keilah, he did not go out after all.

13Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.

NoteSix hundred men is a raiding band, not an army, enough to beat off a Philistine raiding party, nowhere near enough to withstand a siege by the king's forces.

14David stayed in the wilderness in places that were hard to attack, and he stayed in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. Saul looked for him day after day, but God did not hand David over to him.

14And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

NoteThe wilderness here is not sand desert but dry, broken limestone hill country east and south of the Judean ridge, full of ravines, caves and hilltop refuges, very hard to search and easy to hide in. "Places that were hard to attack" translates a word for such natural refuges.

15David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh, and he saw that Saul had come out to kill him.

15And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

16Then Jonathan, Saul's son, got up and went to David at Horesh, and he helped David find new strength in God.

16And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.

Note"Strengthened his hand" is a Hebrew idiom for encouraging someone, putting fresh courage into them. Jonathan was Saul's eldest son and heir, and his own father's rival was David.

17He said to him, "Do not be afraid. My father Saul will never get his hands on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this."

17And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.

Note"Second to you" is the position of chief officer under the king. Jonathan, as the king's son, would normally expect the throne himself; he is stating that he expects to serve under David instead.

18The two of them made an agreement before the LORD. Then David stayed at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

18And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

NoteA covenant was a formal, binding agreement, sworn with God named as witness, closer to a treaty or sworn oath than to a private promise. This is the third such agreement between the two men in the book.

19Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Isn't David hiding among us in the safe places at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, south of Jeshimon?

19Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

NoteThe Ziphites were fellow members of the tribe of Judah, David's own people, living in the district where he was hiding, which is what makes their offer to Saul significant. Gibeah was Saul's home town and the seat of his court. Jeshimon ("the wasteland") was the barren country falling away toward the Dead Sea.

20So come down, Your Majesty, whenever you wish. It will be our job to hand him over to you."

20Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.

Note"Come down" is literal geography: Saul's Gibeah is on the high central ridge, and the Ziphite country lies lower and to the south.

21Saul said, "May the LORD bless you, because you have felt for me.

21And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me.

22Please go and get ready some more. Find out and watch closely where he goes, and who has seen him there, because I am told he is very clever.

22Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.

23So look, and learn all the hiding places where he hides himself. Then come back to me with solid facts, and I will go with you. If he is anywhere in the land, I will hunt him down among all the clans of Judah."

23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.

Note"Clans" translates a word meaning literally "thousands", the units into which a tribe was divided for census and military purposes, each headed by its own chief. Saul is saying he will conduct a house-by-house search through the entire tribe.

24So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the desert plain south of Jeshimon.

24And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.

NoteThe desert plain is the Arabah, the deep, hot rift valley running down to the Dead Sea, the lowest and driest country in the region.

25Saul and his men went to look for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard about that, he chased after David into the wilderness of Maon.

25Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

Note"The rock" is a definite place, a particular crag or rock outcrop used as a refuge, not just any rock.

26Saul was moving along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, because Saul and his men were closing in around David and his men to capture them.

26And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.

27But a messenger came to Saul and said, "Come quickly! The Philistines have raided the land."

27But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.

28So Saul turned back from chasing David and went to fight the Philistines. That is why people called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

28Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth.

NoteSela-hammahlekoth means something like "the rock of divisions" or "the rock of escapes", a place name that preserved the memory of the two forces parting on either side of the hill. Naming a spot after what happened there is a common way this book marks events.

29David went up from there and lived in the safe places at En-gedi.

29And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi.

NoteEn-gedi means "spring of the young goat": a freshwater spring on the western cliffs above the Dead Sea, an oasis in otherwise waterless country, surrounded by caves. Water plus cover made it an ideal refuge.