1 Samuel 27:9

9 When David attacked an area, he wouldn't leave anyone alive, man or woman. He would take the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothes and would then go back to Achish.

1 Samuel 27:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:9

And David smote the land
In which the above mentioned people dwelt, that is, the inhabitants of it:

and left neither man nor woman alive;
for these being the old Canaanites and Amalekites, according to the law of God were not to be spared, but utterly destroyed; which may be observed to remove the charge of cruelty that might be brought against David on this account, ( Deuteronomy 7:2 ) ( 25:19 ) ; though this must be understood of such that came within his reach; for it is certain there were people of these several names after this; see ( 1 Samuel 30:1 ) ( 2 Samuel 3:3 ) ( 1 Kings 9:15 ) ;

and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels,
and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish;
at Gath, to make a report of what he had been about and done; and what he brought was a good booty for the support of his men and their families.

1 Samuel 27:9 In-Context

7 David lived in the Philistine countryside for a total of one year and four months.

8 David and his soldiers went out on raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. They were the people who lived in the land from Telam to Shur all the way to the land of Egypt.

9 When David attacked an area, he wouldn't leave anyone alive, man or woman. He would take the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothes and would then go back to Achish.

10 When Achish asked, "Where did you raid today?" David would say, "The southern plain of Judah," or "The southern plain of the Jerahmeelites," or "The southern plain of the Kenites."

11 David never spared a man or woman so they could be brought back alive to Gath. "Otherwise," he said, "they might talk about us, and say, ‘David did this or that.'" So this was David's practice during the entire time he lived in the Philistine countryside.