1 Samuel 23:11

11 LORD God of Israel, will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Please tell your servant." "Yes, he will come down," the LORD answered.

1 Samuel 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:11

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hands? will
Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?
&c.] That is, if David continued there, which is the supposition all proceeds upon. The questions are not orderly put, as may easily be observed, the last should have been first; which shows some perturbation of mind David was in upon hearing the design of Saul against him:

O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant;
give an answer by Urim and Thummim, as he did:

and the Lord said, he will come down;
if David abode there; that was in his thoughts, in his purpose and design, which the Lord, being omniscient, full well knew, who knows all future contingencies: hence the Jews F14 gather, that two things are not to be asked together; and if they are asked, only answer is made to one, and the answer is only made to that which it was proper to ask first; and that which is asked out of order should be asked again, which was the case here, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 73. 1, 2.

1 Samuel 23:11 In-Context

9 When David learned that Saul was planning to harm him, he told the priest Abiathar, "Bring the priestly vest now."
10 Then David said, "LORD God of Israel, I, your servant, have heard that Saul plans on coming to Keilah and will destroy the town because of me.
11 LORD God of Israel, will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Please tell your servant." "Yes, he will come down," the LORD answered.
12 Next David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my soldiers over to Saul?" "Yes, they will hand you over," the LORD replied.
13 So David and his troops—approximately six hundred men—got up and left Keilah. They kept moving, going from one place to the next. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he didn't go there.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. DSS (4QSamb), LXX; MT LORD God of Israel, will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Cf 23:12 a
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