1 Samuel 21:11

11 And the servants of Achish said to him, when they had seen David, Whether this is not David, [the] king of the land? Whether they sang not to him by quires/by carols, and said, Saul smote a thousand, and David smote ten thousand? (Did they not sing about him as they danced, saying, Saul struck down thousands, but David struck down tens of thousands?)

1 Samuel 21:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 21:11

And the servants of Achish said unto him
Who knew who David was, and perceiving that he was respected by Achish:

[is] not this David the king of the land?
of the land of the Philistines; so some render the words, "the king of this land" ^F17; which belongs unto him for his conquest of Goliath; for this was what was proposed by him, that whoever was the conqueror should possess the kingdom; and seeing it belongs to him, O Achish, why dost thou admit him to court? thou wilt be driven from the throne, and we shall be his servants, and not thine ^F18: but rather they mean the king of the land of Israel, having heard that he was anointed king by Samuel, and was to succeed Saul; or rather, they called him so because he led out the armies of Israel as their general, and being victorious was more respected than even Saul was; for they had heard what the women sung in their songs as follows:

did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath
slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
which are the burden of their song, ( 1 Samuel 18:7 ) ; and from whence the servants of Achish concluded, that he was in greater authority or honour, and in greater esteem than Saul their king was.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 (Urah Klm) "rex hujus regionis", Vatablus.
F18 Vid. Jarchium & Jesaiam in loc.

1 Samuel 21:11 In-Context

9 And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath (the) Philistine, whom thou killedest in the valley of Terebinth, is wrapped in a cloth next after [the] ephod; if thou wilt take this, take it; for (t)here is none other except that. And David said, None other is like this, give thou it to me. (And the priest said, Lo! the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou killedest in the Elah Valley, is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod; if thou wilt have it, then take it; for there is nothing else here except that. And David said, There is no other like it, give it to me.)

10 And so David rose up, and fled in that day from the face of Saul, and came to Achish, the king of Gath.

11 And the servants of Achish said to him, when they had seen David, Whether this is not David, [the] king of the land? Whether they sang not to him by quires/by carols, and said, Saul smote a thousand, and David smote ten thousand? (Did they not sing about him as they danced, saying, Saul struck down thousands, but David struck down tens of thousands?)

12 And David took these words in his heart, and he dreaded greatly of the face of Achish, king of Gath. (And David took these words to heart, and so he greatly feared King Achish of Gath.)

13 And David changed his mouth before Achish, and felled down betwixt their hands, and he painted on the doors of the gate, and his dribbles, that is, spittles, flowed down into his beard.