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1 Samuel 23

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David Rescues Keilah from the Philistines 1–6

1
And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors. ​
2
Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. ​
3
And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? ​
4
Then David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him, and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand. ​
5
And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and slew them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6
And 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. ​

David Escapes Saul’s Trap at Keilah 7–13

7
And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. ​
8
And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9
And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. ​
10
Then said David, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11
Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down. ​
12
Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up.
13
Then David and his men, who 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. ​

Jonathan Visits David and Strengthens Him 14–18

14
And David abode in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand. ​
15
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.
16
And Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. ​
17
And 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. ​
18
And they two made a covenant before Jehovah: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.

The Ziphites Betray David to Saul 19–25

19
Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? ​
20
Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.
21
And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me.
22
Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, 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 subtly.
23
See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me of a 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 among all the thousands of Judah. ​
24
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
25
And Saul and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heardthat, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

The Divine Interruption at Maon 26–28

26
And 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. ​
27
But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land. ​
28
So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. ​

David Spares Saul in the Cave at Engedi 29

29
And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Samuel 23

Verse 1

Keilah… they rob the threshingfloors — Keilah is a town of Judah (Josh 15:44). Shasah, 'rob', means to plunder, and the threshingfloor is where the year's grain lies. The same kind of loss was inflicted by the Midianites, who 'destroyed the increase of the earth' (Judg 6:4). The report is what sends David to enquire.

Verse 2

David enquired of the LORD — Sha'al, to ask, the verb of 22:10 and of the later enquiries at 23:4, 30:8 and 2 Sam 5:19, 23. The answer is direct: 'Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.' Saul asked counsel of God in 14:37 and 'he answered him not that day', and in 28:6 'the LORD answered him not'.

Verse 3

we be afraid here in Judah — The men's objection is the size of the task, 'the armies of the Philistines'. Ma'arakah, 'army', is a battle line, the word Goliath used in 'I defy the armies of Israel' (17:10) and David in 'the armies of the living God' (17:26). Their fear leads David to ask the LORD again (v.4).

Verse 4

enquired of the LORD yet again — The second question brings a fuller answer: 'Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.' 'Deliver' is nathan, 'give', the verb of 23:14, where 'God delivered him not into his hand' of Saul, and of 24:4, where the LORD says 'I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand'.

Verse 6

an ephod in his hand — Abiathar, who 'escaped' from Nob (22:20), brings the ephod to Keilah. The ephod goes with the 'breastplate of judgment', which held the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30), and it is what David uses to ask counsel. In v.9 David says to Abiathar 'Bring hither the ephod', and the questions of vv.11–12 follow.

Verse 7

God hath delivered him into mine hand — 'Delivered' is nakar, a word that elsewhere means to recognise or to treat as a stranger. 'Shut in' is sagar, the verb of 'deliver me up' in v.11 and of Abishai's 'God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand' about Saul himself (26:8). Saul counts on the town's 'gates and bars'.

Verse 9

Saul secretly practised mischief — Charash, to plough or devise, here used of devising evil. David 'knew' it, and his answer is to call for the ephod: 'Bring hither the ephod.' The enquiry of vv.10–12 is made with the ephod Abiathar brought (v.6), as it is again at 30:7.

Verse 11

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up? — David asks two questions together, and the LORD answers the second: 'He will come down.' David then puts the first again (v.12), and is told 'They will deliver thee up.' 'Deliver up' is sagar, the verb of Saul's 'shut in' in v.7. The questions are followed by the plea 'O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant.'

Verse 13

about six hundred — David's company has grown from 'about four hundred' (22:2) to six hundred, the number given again at 27:2 and 30:9. They 'went whithersoever they could go'. Saul, told that David had escaped, 'forbare to go forth': the town in which he thought David 'shut in' (v.7) had been left.

Verse 14

God delivered him not into his hand — Saul 'sought him every day' (baqash, the verb of 22:23, 'he that seeketh my life'), and the verse sets beside it that God did not 'deliver' (nathan, 'give', the verb of v.4) David into his hand. David stays in 'strong holds' in the wilderness of Ziph; Ziph is a town of Judah (Josh 15:55).

Verse 16

strengthened his hand in God — Chazaq, to make strong, the verb of 'Strengthen ye the weak hands' (Isa 35:3). The strengthening is 'in God', and Jonathan's words in v.17 give its content: the promise that David 'shalt be king over Israel'. Their parting at 20:42 had ended with the oath 'The LORD be between me and thee'.

Verse 17

thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee — 'Next' is mishneh, the second place, as Mordecai was 'next unto king Ahasuerus' (Esther 10:3). Jonathan says that Saul his father 'knoweth' it too, and Saul says as much at 24:20: 'I know well that thou shalt surely be king'. In v.18 they make a covenant 'before the LORD'.

Verse 19

the Ziphites — Ziph is a town of Judah (Josh 15:55), David's own tribe. Psalm 54 is headed 'when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?' The same report is made to Saul again in 26:1, naming the same hill of Hachilah.

Verse 23

lurking places — Machabe, a hiding place. Saul asks for 'the certainty' before he moves, and says he will search David out 'throughout all the thousands of Judah': the thousands are the divisions of the tribe, as in 'the thousands of Judah' (Mic 5:2). His orders come after the Ziphites' offer in v.20 to 'deliver him into the king's hand'.

Verse 26

Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side — The two companies run along the same mountain, in the wilderness of Maon (v.25), and Saul's men 'compassed David and his men round about to take them.' David 'made haste to get away for fear of Saul'. The next verse supplies the interruption.

Verse 27

the Philistines have invaded the land — The messenger calls Saul away to the Philistines, the enemy from whom David had just saved Keilah (vv.4–5). 'Invaded' is pashat, to spread or strip; the same verb is rendered 'stripped' of Jonathan's robe in 18:4 and of Saul's clothes in 19:24.

Verse 28

Selahammahlekoth — The name means 'rock of the divisions', and the verse says it was given because of this event: Saul 'returned from pursuing after David' and 'went against the Philistines'. The place is the one where the chase of vv.25–26 was broken off.

Verse 29

strong holds at Engedi — Engedi is among the cities 'in the wilderness' of Judah (Josh 15:61–62). It is the place of 24:1, when Saul learns 'David is in the wilderness of Engedi', and of the cave scene that follows. Its vineyards are mentioned in Song 1:14.