1 Samuel 23:23

23 Look, find out all of the hiding places where he hides. Then return to me {with dependable information}, and I will go with you. And then if he [is] there in the land, then I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah."

1 Samuel 23:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:23

See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places
where he hideth himself
Which he most frequents, that ye may be able to describe them, and the way to them, and easily find them when necessary:

and come ye again to me with the certainty;
of time and place, when and where he may be certainly found:

and I will go with you;
upon such certain intelligence: it is very much he did not seize this opportunity, and go directly with them; for by this delay, David being informed of the Ziphites coming to Saul to betray him, had time to depart elsewhere:

and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land;
in the land of Israel, or rather in the land that is in the tribe of Judah:

that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah;
through all the divisions of that tribe, which, as others, were divided into thousands, see ( Micah 5:2 ) .

1 Samuel 23:23 In-Context

21 And Saul said to them, "May you be blessed by Yahweh, for you have shown me compassion
22 Go, please, make certain again! Find out and see {exactly where he is} and who has seen him there! For they have said to me, 'He [is] very cunning.'
23 Look, find out all of the hiding places where he hides. Then return to me {with dependable information}, and I will go with you. And then if he [is] there in the land, then I will seek him among all the thousands of Judah."
24 Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.
25 And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "to being established"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.