1 Samuel 27:8

8 Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for these were the landed settlements from Telam on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 27:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:8

And David and his men went up
From Ziklag, where they dwelt:

and invaded the Geshurites;
some of the old inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the remains of the Amorites, whose land was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, but could never be expelled; and therefore David had a just right to invade them, and, if he could, either expel or destroy them; see ( Deuteronomy 3:14 ) ( Joshua 12:5 ) ( Joshua 13:11 Joshua 13:13 ) ; these are the Geshurites which are joined with the Philistines, ( Joshua 13:2 ) ;

and the Gezrites;
the inhabitants of Gezer, which place fell to the tribe of Ephraim; but that tribe could not drive out the inhabitants of it, and therefore David now fell upon them as the enemies of Israel, and seized on their country, as belonging to them, ( Joshua 16:3 ) ( Judges 1:29 ) ;

and the Amalekites;
the sworn and implacable enemies of Israel, and whose memory they were laid under obligation to root out. These were such as had escaped the sword of Saul, and had fled to the more distant parts, against whom David now went; and perhaps these had fled to and mixed themselves with the people here mentioned:

for these [nations were] of old the inhabitants of the land;
of the land of Canaan;

as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt;
see ( 1 Samuel 15:7 ) .

1 Samuel 27:8 In-Context

6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

7 The length of time that David lived in the country of the Philistines was one year and four months.

8 Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for these were the landed settlements from Telam on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.

9 David struck the land, leaving neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing, and came back to Achish.

10 When Achish asked, "Against whom have you made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negeb of Judah," or "Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites," or, "Against the Negeb of the Kenites."

Footnotes

• [a]. Compare Gk 15.4: Heb [from of old]