1 Samuel 23:11

11 Will the men of Ke`ilah deliver me up into his hand? will Sha'ul come down, as your servant has heard? LORD, the God of Yisra'el, I beg you, tell your servant. The LORD said, He will come down.

1 Samuel 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:11

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hands? will
Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?
&c.] That is, if David continued there, which is the supposition all proceeds upon. The questions are not orderly put, as may easily be observed, the last should have been first; which shows some perturbation of mind David was in upon hearing the design of Saul against him:

O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant;
give an answer by Urim and Thummim, as he did:

and the Lord said, he will come down;
if David abode there; that was in his thoughts, in his purpose and design, which the Lord, being omniscient, full well knew, who knows all future contingencies: hence the Jews F14 gather, that two things are not to be asked together; and if they are asked, only answer is made to one, and the answer is only made to that which it was proper to ask first; and that which is asked out of order should be asked again, which was the case here, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 73. 1, 2.

1 Samuel 23:11 In-Context

9 David knew that Sha'ul was devising mischief against him; and he said to Avyatar the Kohen, Bring here the efod.
10 Then said David, O LORD, the God of Yisra'el, your servant has surely heard that Sha'ul seeks to come to Ke`ilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11 Will the men of Ke`ilah deliver me up into his hand? will Sha'ul come down, as your servant has heard? LORD, the God of Yisra'el, I beg you, tell your servant. The LORD said, He will come down.
12 Then said David, Will the men of Ke`ilah deliver up to me and my men into the hand of Sha'ul? the LORD said, They will deliver you up.
13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Ke`ilah, and went wherever they could go. It was told Sha'ul that David was escaped from Ke`ilah; and he gave up going there.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.