1 Samuel 27:4-12

4 And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
5 Then David said to Achish, "If 1I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?"
6 So that day Achish gave him 2Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.
7 3And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
8 Now David 4and his men went up and made raids against 5the Geshurites, 6the Girzites, and 7the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, 8as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.
9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, "Where have you 9made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negeb of Judah," or, "Against the Negeb of 10the Jerahmeelites," or, "Against the Negeb of 11the Kenites."
11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, "lest they should tell about us and say, 'So David has done.'" Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant."

1 Samuel 27:4-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 27

David, fearing he should perish by the hand of Saul at one time or another, went into the land of the Philistines, which Saul hearing of, sought no more after him, 1Sa 27:1-4; and finding favour in the eyes of the king of Gath, desired a place in his country might be given him to reside in; and accordingly Ziklag was given him, 1Sa 27:5-7; from whence he made excursions into the land of the Amalekites, and others, and utterly destroyed them; but imposed on the king of Gath, pretending he had made his road into the southern parts of Judah, 1Sa 27:8-12.

Cross References 11

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.