1 Samuel 27
27
1And David saith unto his heart, ‘Now am I consumed one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing for me better than that I diligently escape unto the land of the Philistines, and Saul hath been despairing of me — of seeking me any more in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.’
2And David riseth, and passeth over, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, unto Achish son of Maoch king of Gath;
3and David dwelleth with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, [even] David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess.
4And it is declared to Saul that David hath fled to Gath, and he hath not added any more to seek him.
5And David saith unto Achish, ‘If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, they give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, yea, why doth thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?’
6And Achish giveth to him in that day Ziklag, therefore hath Ziklag been to the kings of Judah till this day.
7And the number of the days which David hath dwelt in the field of the Philistines [is] days and four months;
8and David goeth up and his men, and they push unto the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite, (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as thou comest in to Shur and unto the land of Egypt,
9and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish.
10And Achish saith, ‘Whither have ye pushed to-day?’ and David saith, ‘Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.’
11Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in [word] to Gath, saying, ‘Lest they declare [it] against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus [is] his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.’
12And Achish believeth in David, saying, ‘He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.’
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1 Samuel 27: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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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