Shmuel Alef 23:15

15 And Dovid saw that Sha’ul was come out to seek his nefesh: and Dovid was in the midbar Ziph at Choresh.

Shmuel Alef 23:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:15

And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life
Either he saw him with his bodily eyes from the top of the mountain where he was, ( 1 Samuel 23:14 ) ; or he perceived, he understood by information given him by his friends, it may be by Jonathan, or by spies he sent to observe his motions:

and David [was] in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood;
where he and his men could hide themselves among the trees in it; sometimes he was in a mountain in this wilderness, and sometimes in a wood, where he thought himself the safest; thus was this great man obliged to shift about for his safety.

Shmuel Alef 23:15 In-Context

13 Then Dovid and his anashim, which were about shesh me’ot ish, arose and departed out of Ke’ilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Sha’ul that Dovid was escaped from Ke’ilah; and he refrained from going forth.

14 And Dovid stayed in the midbar in metzadot (strongholds, masadas) and remained on a har in the midbar Ziph. And Sha’ul searched for him every day, but Elohim delivered him not into his yad.

15 And Dovid saw that Sha’ul was come out to seek his nefesh: and Dovid was in the midbar Ziph at Choresh.

16 And Yonatan Ben Sha’ul arose, and went to Dovid at Choresh, and strengthened his yad in Elohim [i.e., encouraged him in G-d].

17 And he said unto him, Fear not; for the yad Sha’ul Avi shall not find thee; and thou shalt be Melech over Yisroel, and I shall be mishneh (second) unto thee; and that also Sha’ul Avi knoweth.