1 Samuel 27
27
David Flees to the Philistines
1Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2So David arose and went over, he and #ch. 23:13; [2 Sam. 15:18] the six hundred men who were with him, #ch. 21:10; [1 Kgs. 2:39]to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with #See ch. 25:43his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. 4And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
5Then David said to Achish, “If #See Gen. 33:15I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6So that day Achish gave him #Josh. 15:31Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7#[ch. 29:3]And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
8Now David #See 1 Chr. 12 and his men went up and made raids against #Josh. 13:2 the Geshurites, #[Josh. 16:10; Judg. 1:29] the Girzites, and #[ch. 15:7, 8] the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, #See ch. 15:7as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. 10When Achish asked, “Where have you #[ch. 23:27] made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of #ch. 30:29 the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of #See Judg. 1:16the Kenites.” 11And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 27
27
1but he thought to himself, “One of these days, Saul is going to kill me. The only way to escape from him is to go to Philistia. Then I'll be outside Israel, and Saul will give up trying to catch me.”
2-3David and his six hundred men went across the border to stay in Gath with King Achish the son of Maoch. His men brought their families with them. David brought his wife Ahinoam whose home town was Jezreel, and he also brought his wife Abigail who had been married to Nabal from Carmel. 4When Saul found out that David had run off to Gath, he stopped trying to catch him.
5One day, David was talking with Achish and said, “If you are happy with me, then let me live in one of the towns in the countryside. I'm not important enough to live here with you in the royal city.”
6Achish gave David the town of Ziklag that same day, and Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.
7David was in Philistia for a year and four months. 8The Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites lived in the area from Telam to Shur#27.8 lived…Shur: One ancient translation; Hebrew “had lived for a long time in Shur”. and on as far as Egypt, and David often attacked their towns. 9Whenever David and his men attacked a town, they took the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and the clothing, and killed everyone who lived there.
After he returned from a raid, David always went to see Achish, 10who would ask, “Where did you attack today?”#27.10 Where…today: A few Hebrew manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and three ancient translations; most Hebrew manuscripts “Didn't you make a raid today?”
David would answer, “Oh, we attacked some desert town that belonged to the Judah tribe.” Sometimes David would say, “Oh, we attacked a town in the desert where the Jerahmeel clan lives” or “We attacked a town in the desert where the Kenites#27.10 Jerahmeel…Kenites: These were clans of the Judah tribe. live.” 11That's why David killed everyone in the towns he attacked. He thought, “If I let any of them live, they might come to Gath and tell what I've really been doing.”
David made these raids all the time he was in Philistia. 12But Achish trusted David and thought, “David's people must be furious with him. From now on he will have to take orders from me.”
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012