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1 Samuel 23:12-22

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12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul? ” And the Lord said, 1“They will surrender you. ”
13 Then David and his men, 2who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went 3wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country 4of the wilderness of 5Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. 6Saul my father also knows this. ”
18 7And the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
19 8Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of 9Jeshimon?
20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, 10and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand. ”
21 And Saul said, 11“May you be blessed by the Lord, 12for you have had compassion on me.
22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning.
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1 Samuel 23:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 23

This chapter gives an account of David's relieving Keilah, when it had like to have fallen into the hands of the Philistines, 1Sa 23:1-6; and of Saul's design to surprise him there, which David having notice of, and inquiring of the Lord, departed from thence; which when Saul heard of, he forbore to come forth, 1Sa 23:7-13; and of David's being in the wilderness of Ziph, where, in a wood there, he had an interview with Jonathan, 1Sa 23:14-18; and of the Ziphites offering to deliver him up to Saul, for which he commends them, and gives them instructions how they should behave to him in that affair, 1Sa 23:19-23; and of his seeking him in the wilderness of Maon, where David and his men were in great danger of being taken; which was prevented by the news of the Philistines invading the land coming to Saul just at the nick of time, 1Sa 23:24-29.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
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Cross References 12

  • 1. 23:12 ver. 20
  • 2. 23:13 ch. 25:13; 27:2; [ch. 22:2; 30:9, 10]
  • 3. 23:13 [2 Sam. 15:20]
  • 4. 23:14 See Ps. 63
  • 5. 23:14 Josh. 15:24
  • 6. 23:17 ch. 24:20; [ch. 20:31]
  • 7. 23:18 ch. 18:3; 20:8, 16, 42; [2 Sam. 21:7]
  • 8. 23:19 ch. 26:1; See Ps. 54
  • 9. 23:19 Num. 21:20
  • 10. 23:20 ver. 12
  • 11. 23:21 See Ruth 2:20
  • 12. 23:21 [ch. 22:8]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025

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