1 Samuel 23:15

15 And David seeth that Saul hath come out to seek his life, and David [is] in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.

1 Samuel 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.

1 Samuel 23:15 In-Context

13 And David riseth -- and his men -- about six hundred men, and they go out from Keilah, and go up and down where they go up and down; and to Saul it hath been declared that David hath escaped from Keilah, and he ceaseth to go out.

14 And David abideth in the wilderness, in fortresses, and abideth in the hill-country, in the wilderness of Ziph; and Saul seeketh him all the days, and God hath not given him into his hand

15 And David seeth that Saul hath come out to seek his life, and David [is] in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.

16 And Jonathan son of Saul riseth, and goeth unto David to the forest, and strengtheneth his hand in God,

17 and saith unto him, `Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father doth not find thee, and thou dost reign over Israel, and I am to thee for second, and also so knoweth Saul my father.'