behind the ephod--in the place allowed for keeping the sacred vestments, of which the ephod is mentioned as the chief. The giant's sword was deposited in that safe custody as a memorial of the divine goodness in delivering Israel.
There is none like that--not only for its size and superior temper, but for its being a pledge of the divine favor to him, and a constant stimulus to his faith.
[1Sa 21:10-15]. At Gath He Feigns Himself Mad.
10. David ... fled ... to Achish the king of Gath--which was one of the five principalities of the Philistines. In this place his person must have been known, and to venture into that country, he their greatest enemy, and with the sword of Goliath in his hand, would seem to have been a perilous experiment; but, doubtless, the protection he received implies that he had been directed by the divine oracle. Achish was generous ([1Sa 27:6]). He might wish to weaken the resources of Saul, and it was common in ancient times for great men to be harbored by neighboring princes.
13. feigned himself mad--It is supposed to have been an attack of epilepsy, real or perhaps only pretended. This disease is relieved by foaming at the mouth.
let his spittle fall down upon his beard--No wonder that Achish supposed him insane, as such an indignity, whether done by another, or one's self, to the beard, is considered in the East an intolerable insult.
Chapter 22
[1Sa 22:1-8]. David's Kindred and Others Resort to Him at Adullam.
1. David ... escaped to the cave Adullam--supposed to be that now called Deir-Dubban, a number of pits or underground vaults, some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, in the soft limestone or chalky rocks. They are on the borders of the Philistine plain at the base of the Judea mountains, six miles southwest from Beth-lehem, and well adapted for concealing a number of refugees.
his brethren and all his father's house ... went down--to escape the effects of Saul's rage, which seems to have extended to all David's family. From Beth-lehem to Deir-Dubban it is, indeed, a descent all the way.
2. every one that was in distress--(See on [Jud 11:3]).
3. David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab--"Mizpeh" signifies a watchtower, and it is evident that it must be taken in this sense here, for it is called "the hold" or fort ([1Sa 22:4]). The king of Moab was an enemy of Saul ([1Sa 14:47]), and the great-grandson of Ruth, of course, was related to the family of Jesse. David, therefore, had less anxiety in seeking an asylum within the dominions of this prince than those of Achish, because the Moabites had no grounds for entertaining vindictive feelings against him, and their enmity, to Saul rendered them the more willing to receive so illustrious a refugee from his court.
5. the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold--This sound advice, no doubt, came from a higher source than Gad's own sagacity. It was right to appear publicly among the people of his own tribe, as one conscious of innocence and trusting in God; and it was expedient that, on the death of Saul, his friends might be encouraged to support his interest.
forest of Hareth--southwest of Jerusalem.
6. Saul abode ... under a tree in Ramah--literally, "under a grove on a hill." Oriental princes frequently sit with their court under some shady canopy in the open air. A spear was the early scepter.
7-8. Hear now, ye Benjamites--This was an appeal to stimulate the patriotism or jealousy of his own tribe, from which he insinuated it was the design of David to transfer the kingdom to another. This address seems to have been made on hearing of David's return with his four hundred men to Judah. A dark suspicion had risen in the jealous mind of the king that Jonathan was aware of this movement, which he dreaded as a conspiracy against the crown.
[1Sa 22:9-16]. Doeg Accuses Ahimelech.
9. Doeg ... set over the servants--Septuagint, "the mules of Saul."
10. he inquired of the Lord for him--Some suppose that this was a malicious fiction of Doeg to curry favor with the king, but Ahimelech seems to acknowledge the fact. The poor simple-minded high priest knew nothing of the existing family feud between Saul and David. The informer, if he knew it, said nothing of the cunning artifice by which David obtained the aid of Ahimelech. The facts looked against him, and the whole priesthood along with him were declared abettors of conspiracy [1Sa 22:16, 17].
[1Sa 22:17-19]. Saul Commands to Kill the Priests.
17-18. the footmen that stood about him--his bodyguard, or his runners ([1Sa 8:11]; [2Sa 15:1]; [1Ki 1:5]; [1Ki 14:28]), who held an important place at court ([2Ch 12:10]). But they chose rather to disobey the king than to offend God by imbruing their hands in the blood of his ministering servants. A foreigner alone ([Psa 52:1-3]) could be found willing to be the executioner of this bloody and sacrilegious sentence. Thus was the doom of the house of Eli fulfilled [1Sa 2:30-36].
19. Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword--The barbarous atrocities perpetrated against this city seem to have been designed to terrify all the subjects of Saul from affording either aid or an asylum to David. But they proved ruinous to Saul's own interest, as they alienated the priesthood and disgusted all good men in the kingdom.
[1Sa 22:20-23]. Abiathar Escapes and Flees after David.
20-23. one of the sons of Ahimelech ... escaped--This was Abiathar, who repaired to David in the forest of Hareth, rescuing, with his own life, the high priest's vestments ([1Sa 23:6], ). On hearing his sad tale, David declared that he had dreaded such a fatal result from the malice and intriguing ambition of Doeg; and, accusing himself as having been the occasion of all the disaster to Abiathar's family, David invited him to remain, because, firmly trusting himself in the accomplishment of the divine promise, David could guarantee protection to him.
Chapter 23
[1Sa 23:1-6]. David Rescues Keilah.
1. Then they told David--rather, "now they had told"; for this information had reached him previous to his hearing ([1Sa 23:6]) of the Nob tragedy.
Keilah--a city in the west of Judah ([Jos 15:44]), not far from the forest of Hareth.
and they rob the threshing-floors--These were commonly situated on the fields and were open to the wind ([Jud 6:11]; [Ru 3:2]).
2-5. David inquired of the Lord--most probably through Gad ([2Sa 24:11]; [1Ch 21:9]), who was present in David's camp ([1Sa 22:5]), probably by the recommendation of Samuel. To repel unprovoked assaults on unoffending people who were engaged in their harvest operations, was a humane and benevolent service. But it was doubtful how far it was David's duty to go against a public enemy without the royal commission; and on that account he asked, and obtained, the divine counsel. A demur on the part of his men led David to renew the consultation for their satisfaction; after which, being fully assured of his duty, he encountered the aggressors and, by a signal victory, delivered the people of Keilah from further molestation.
6. an ephod--in which was the Urim and Thummim ([Ex 28:30]). It had, probably, been committed to his care, while Ahimelech and the other priests repaired to Gibeah, in obedience to the summons of Saul.
[1Sa 23:7-13]. Saul's Coming, and Treachery of the Keilites.
7. it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah--Saul imagined himself now certain of his victim, who would be hemmed within a fortified town. The wish was father to the thought. How wonderfully slow and unwilling to be convinced by all his experience, that the special protection of Providence shielded David from all his snares!
8. Saul called all the people together to war--not the united tribes of Israel, but the inhabitants of the adjoining districts. This force was raised, probably, on the ostensible pretext of opposing the Philistines, while, in reality, it was secretly to arouse mischief against David.
9. he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod--The consultation was made, and the prayer uttered, by means of the priest. The alternative conditions here described have often been referred to as illustrating the doctrine of God's foreknowledge and preordination of events.
[1Sa 23:14-18]. David Escapes to Ziph.
14-15. David abode in the wilderness ... of Ziph--A mountainous and sequestered region was generally called a wilderness, and took its name from some large town in the district. Two miles southeast of Hebron, and in the midst of a level plain, is Tell-ziph, an isolated and conical hillock, about a hundred feet high, probably the acropolis [Van De Velde], or the ruins [Robinson] of the ancient city of Ziph, from which the surrounding wilderness was called. It seems, anciently, to have been covered by an extensive woods. The country has for centuries lost its woods and forests, owing to the devastations caused by man.
16-17. Jonathan went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God--by the recollection of their mutual covenant. What a victory over natural feelings and lower considerations must the faith of Jonathan have won, before he could seek such an interview and give utterance to such sentiments! To talk with calm and assured confidence of himself and family being superseded by the man who was his friend by the bonds of a holy and solemn covenant, could only have been done by one who, superior to all views of worldly policy, looked at the course of things in the spirit and through the principles of that theocracy which acknowledged God as the only and supreme Sovereign of Israel. Neither history nor fiction depicts the movements of a friendship purer, nobler, and more self-denying than Jonathan's!
[1Sa 23:19-29]. Saul Pursues Him.
19-23. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us?--From the tell of Ziph a panorama of the whole surrounding district is to be seen. No wonder, then, that the Ziphites saw David and his men passing to and fro in the mountains of the wilderness. Spying him at a distance when he ventured to show himself on the hill of Hachilah, "on the right hand of the wilderness," that is, the south side of Ziph, they sent in haste to Saul, to tell him of the lurking place of his enemy [Van De Velde].
25. David ... came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon--Tell Main, the hillock on which was situated the ancient Maon ([Jos 15:55]), and from which the adjoining wilderness took its name, is one mile north, ten east from Carmel. The mountain plateau seems here to end. It is true the summit ridge of the southern hills runs out a long way further towards the southwest; but towards the southeast the ground sinks more and more down to a tableland of a lower level, which is called "the plain to the right hand [that is, to the south] of the wilderness" [Van De Velde].
29. David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi--that is, "the spring of the wild goats or gazelles"--a name given to it from the vast number of ibexes or Syrian chamois which inhabit these cliffs on the western shore of the Dead Sea ([Jos 15:62]). It is now called Ain Jiddy. On all sides the country is full of caverns, which might then serve as lurking places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day [Robinson].
Chapter 24
[1Sa 24:1-7]. David in a Cave at Engedi Cuts Off Saul's Skirt, but Spares His Life.
2. Saul ... went ... to seek David ... upon the rocks of the wild goats--Nothing but the blind infatuation of fiendish rage could have led the king to pursue his outlawed son-in-law among those craggy and perpendicular precipices, where were inaccessible hiding places. The large force he took with him seemed to give him every prospect of success. But the overruling providence of God frustrated all his vigilance.