1 Samuel 27:7

7 The time that David stayed in the Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.^[a]

1 Samuel 27:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:7

And the time that David dwelt in the country of the
Philistines
At Gath and Ziklag:

was a full year and four months;
or "days and four months"; days being sometimes put for a year, ( Judges 17:10 ) ; though some interpret it not of a year, but of some few days out of the fifth month, besides the four months; so Jarchi and Kimchi; and Josephus ^F8 makes his abode to be four months and twenty days; but, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, it was only four months; and so it may be rendered, "days, that is, four months"; for according to the Jewish chronology ^F9 Samuel died four months before Saul, and this flight of David was after the death of Samuel, and when Saul died he left the land of the Philistines, and took the throne of Judah; (See Gill on 1 Samuel 25:1).

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 13. sect. 10.
F9 Sepher Olam Rabba c. 13. p. 37.

1 Samuel 27:7 In-Context

5 Now David said to Achish, "If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?"

6 That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today.

7 The time that David stayed in the Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

8 David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.

9 Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Sm 29:1-11