The First Book of Samuel, otherwise called the First Book of the Kings
1 Samuel 27
Chapter XXVII · Vol. II, pp. 669–670
1 Saul hearing that David was fled to Gath, seeketh no more for him. 5 David beggeth Ziklag of Achish. 8 He, invading other countries, persuadeth Achish he fought against Judah.
1 And David asaid in his heart, I shall now perish1 one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the 2Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
B.C. cir. 1057.
a Ps.116.11. Pr.13.12. Mat.14.31. Mar.5.36. 2 Co.7.4.
1 Heb. be consumed.
2 David here manifests a culpable want of confidence in God's protection. God had promised that he should be king after Saul; why should he therefore have dreaded to perish by his hand?—Note, While we may not imitate any man in his want of faith, such records of its weakness or failure are of singular service, as they teach us not to be high-minded, but to fear.—C.
2 And David arose, and bhe passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
b ch.23.13; 25.13; 21.10; 22.1,2; 30.9,10.
3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with chis two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.3
c ch.30.5; 25.42,43.
3 When David first fled to Gath he was a solitary refugee. His relation to Saul was not known; and consequently he would naturally be regarded as a spy or secret enemy. Now he went to Gath at the head of a daring band—valuable as a friend, dangerous as a foe. Saul's hostility must have been known; his relentless persecution Achish must have heard of; and David would consequently be welcome to the Philistine king.—P.
4 And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath; and dhe sought no more again for him.
d ch.26.21.
5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town ein the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
6 Then Achish gave him fZiklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.4
f Jos.15.31; 19.5. 1 Ch.12.1,20. ch.30.1.
4 The site of Ziklag has not been identified; but it must have been situated on the extreme southern border of Canaan, probably to the west or south-west of Beersheba.—P.
7 And the time5 that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was ga full year and four months.
A.M. cir. 2947. B.C. cir. 1057.
5 Heb. the number of days.
g Heb. a year of days, ch.29.9. Le.25.29. 2 Sa.1.1,2; 2.1.
8 And David and his men went up and invaded the hGeshurites, and the iGezrites, and the kAmalekites:6 for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur,l even unto the land of Egypt.
9 And David msmote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
m ch.15.13. De.25.17,19; 7.2.
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road7 to-day? And David nsaid, Against theo south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.8
7 Or, did you not make a road, &c.
n Jos.2.16. 2 Ki.5.25. Col.3.9. Ep.4.25. Ps.119.29.
o Jos.15.21. 1 Ch.2.9,25-42. Ju.1.16. ch.30.29.
8 This answer of David was not false in words, for he had done what he said; but it was equivocal in words, and evidently was misunderstood by Achish. How then is David to be vindicated? He cannot be vindicated at all. He had sinned in despairing of God's protection—he had erred in joining himself with the enemies of his country, and now he sins again—a melancholy example of the weakness of man, when leaning on his own understanding, and for a moment ceasing to trust solely in God.—Note, The honesty of the Scriptures in recording the faults of their chief characters is alone sufficient to convince infidels that they must have come from God.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 9. Left neither man nor woman alive. We are not here informed of the character and habits of these hordes—nor of any provocation they had given David; but there is no reason to conclude they were better than their ancestors whom Joshua, for their enormities in sinning, was commanded to expel or extirpate. Infidels, in accusing David, assume, without the shadow of evidence, that David had no cause for aggression; a conclusion which the recorded propensities and habits of these people, as well as David's previous and subsequent character, decidedly contradict. C.]
Reflections.—It is hard to withstand repeated and strong temptations to unbelief. It is prudent to withdraw from temptation, and especially for strangers to live as retired from courts as possible. And never shall we be losers by parting with earthly accommodations for the sake of God and our souls. But surely nothing can be more foolish, especially after warning given, than to expect safety out of the Lord's land, rather than in it. It is good to be always zealous against the Lord's devoted enemies. But we have need of grace, not only to make us do well, but to make us honestly stand to what we have done; otherwise strong temptation will involve us in the guilt of the basest equivocation.