1 Samuel 22:1

David gathers support

1 David left Gath and escaped to Adullam's fortress. When David's siblings and all his extended family learned of this, they went to join him there.

1 Samuel 22:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 22:1

David therefore departed from thence
From Gath, being driven by Achish from his court, and let go by his servants, and glad he was of the deliverance:

and escaped to the cave Adullam;
which was no doubt near to a city of the same name in the tribe of Judah, of which (See Gill on Joshua 15:35); this being a strong place, and in his own tribe, he might hope to be in greater safety; here he penned his hundred forty second psalm, see ( Psalms 142:1-7 ) :

and when his brethren and all his father's house heard [it];
that he was come thither:

they went down thither to him;
to visit and comfort him, counsel and assist him all they could; and chiefly to secure themselves from the rage and malice of Saul, who they might fear would fall upon them, and avenge himself on them for David's sake.

1 Samuel 22:1 In-Context

1 David left Gath and escaped to Adullam's fortress. When David's siblings and all his extended family learned of this, they went to join him there.
2 Everyone who was in trouble, in debt, or in desperate circumstances gathered around David, and he became their leader. Approximately four hundred men joined him.
3 From there David went to Mizpeh in Moab. He said to the Moabite king, "Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do to me."
4 So David left his parents with the Moabite king, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the fortress.
5 Then the prophet Gad told David, "Don't stay in the fortress any longer. Leave now and go to the land of Judah." So David left and went to Hereth forest.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Correction; cf 22:4-5; MT cave
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