1 Samuel 26:2

2 So Saul, accompanied by 3,000 of the choice men of Israel,^[a] went to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

1 Samuel 26:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 26:2

Then Saul arose
Immediately, glad of an opportunity to seize on David, having the same disposition towards him as ever; and perhaps had repented he had not laid hold on him when he followed him out of the cave:

and went down to the wilderness of Ziph:
or towards it:

having three thousand chosen men of Israel;
young men, so called, because usually chosen for business, and for war particularly, rather than old men; the same number he took with him when he sought him at Engedi, ( 1 Samuel 24:2 ) ;

to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph;
where or whereabouts he was informed by the Ziphites he was.

1 Samuel 26:2 In-Context

1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, "David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon."

2 So Saul, accompanied by 3,000 of the choice men of Israel, went to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

3 Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon. David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.

4 So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.

5 Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Sm 13:2; 24:2