1 Samuel 27:9

9 So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.

1 Samuel 27:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:9

And David smote the land
In which the above mentioned people dwelt, that is, the inhabitants of it:

and left neither man nor woman alive;
for these being the old Canaanites and Amalekites, according to the law of God were not to be spared, but utterly destroyed; which may be observed to remove the charge of cruelty that might be brought against David on this account, ( Deuteronomy 7:2 ) ( 25:19 ) ; though this must be understood of such that came within his reach; for it is certain there were people of these several names after this; see ( 1 Samuel 30:1 ) ( 2 Samuel 3:3 ) ( 1 Kings 9:15 ) ;

and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels,
and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish;
at Gath, to make a report of what he had been about and done; and what he brought was a good booty for the support of his men and their families.

1 Samuel 27:9 In-Context

7 The number of days that David lived in the countryside of the Philistines [was] one year and four months.

8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living [in] the land for a long time {in the direction of} Shur and {as far as} the land of Egypt.

9 So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish.

10 And Achish said, "Against whom have you raided today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites."

11 And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring [them back] to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, 'David did thus and so.'" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of [the] Philistines.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "flock," referring to either sheep or goats or both