1 Samuel 27:10

10 Now Achish said, "Where have you ¹made a raid today?" And David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of ²the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of ³the Kenites."

1 Samuel 27:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:10

And Achish said, whither have ye made a road today?
&c.] Or whither had they rushed in, or poured in and spread themselves? or where had they made their excursion to fetch in the prey and booty they now brought?

and David said, against the south of Judah;
he meant against some people that lay to the south of the land of Judah, without it; but expressed himself so, that Achish might think he meant the southern parts of Judah within the country; which, though not a downright lie, was an equivocation, and made with a design to deceive; and was by no means agreeably to the character of David, nor to be defended nor imitated:

and against the south of the Jerahmeelites;
these were the descendants of Jerahmeel, the son of Hezron, the grandson of Judah, and so inhabited in the tribe of Judah, and very probably in the southern part of it, ( 1 Chronicles 2:9 1 Chronicles 2:25 1 Chronicles 2:26 ) ,

and against the south of the Kenites;
the posterity of Jethro; these, at least some of them, at the first seating of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, went with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad, ( Judges 1:16 ) .

1 Samuel 27:10 In-Context

8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to Shur even as far as the land of Egypt.

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

10 Now Achish said, "Where have you made a raid today?" And David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites."

11 David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, 'So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.' "

12 So Achish believed David, saying, "He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever."

Cross References

• 1. 1 Samuel 23:27
• 2. 1 Samuel 30:29; 1 Chronicles 2:9, 25
• 3. Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. South country
• [b]. I.e. South country
• [c]. I.e. South country