Bible Verses About Achish

That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.

But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

So he changed his behavior before them and feigned madness in their hands; he scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.

Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you can see that the man is insane! Why have you brought him to me?

Am I in need of madmen, that you have brought this man to rave in my presence? Must this man come into my house?”

David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.

And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,

who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”

David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.

So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”

David replied, “Then you will come to know what your servant can do.” “Very well,” said Achish. “I will make you my bodyguard for life.”

Now the Philistines brought all their forces together at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

As the Philistine leaders marched out their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched behind them with Achish.

Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”

But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?

Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”