1 Samuel 29:4

4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?

1 Samuel 29:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 29:4

And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him
With Achish, for giving such a character of David, and taking his part, in order to detain him, if possible:

and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, make this fellow
return;
they speak of him with contempt, and insist on it that Achish order him to turn back, and go no further with them:

that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him;
to Ziklag, the place that Achish had given him for his residence, ( 1 Samuel 27:6 ) ; they did not desire to have him sent to his own country, and to Saul, since should a reconciliation be made between them, he would be of great service to Saul against them:

and let him not go down with us to battle;
into the valley of Jezreel, where the Israelites had pitched:

lest in the battle he be an adversary to us:
and fall upon them behind, being in the rear, while they were engaging in the front with Israel:

for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master?
to Saul he had offended, and fled from:

[should it] not [be] with the heads of these men?
the Philistines; or unless by the heads of these men F13; he had no other way of making his peace with his master but by cutting off the heads of the Philistines; and therefore he was a dangerous man to take with them into the battle.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (yvarb alh) "nisi per capita", Noldius, p. 257. No. 1147.

1 Samuel 29:4 In-Context

2 As the Philistine leaders marched out with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men marched behind them with Achish.
3 Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”
4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with Achish and told him, “Send that man back and let him return to the place you assigned him. He must not go down with us into battle only to become our adversary during the war. What better way for him to regain the favor of his master than with the heads of our men?
5 Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
6 So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.
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