1 Samuel 23:4

4 David consulted ADONAI again; and ADONAI answered him, "Set out, and go down to Ke'ilah, because I will hand the P'lishtim over to you.

1 Samuel 23:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:4

Then David inquired of the Lord yet again
Not for his own sake, who firmly believed it was the will of God he should go and succeed, but for the sake of his men, and to remove the doubts and fears that hung on their minds:

and the Lord answered him, and said, arise, go down to Keilah;
immediately, make no stay, nor hesitate about it, but go with all haste to the relief of the place:

for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hands;
which is still more explicit, and is a promise not only of delivering Keilah out of the hands of the Philistines, but of delivering them into David's hands, and so of an entire: victory; and therefore none of David's men had anything to fear after such a declaration of the will of God.

1 Samuel 23:4 In-Context

2 David consulted ADONAI, asking, "Should I go and attack these P'lishtim?"ADONAI answered David, "Go, and attack the P'lishtim, and save Ke'ilah."

3 David's men said to him, "Look, we're already afraid here in Y'hudah. How much more, then, if we go to Ke'ilah to fight the armies of the P'lishtim!"

4 David consulted ADONAI again; and ADONAI answered him, "Set out, and go down to Ke'ilah, because I will hand the P'lishtim over to you.

5 David and his men went to Ke'ilah and fought the P'lishtim. They defeated them in a great slaughter and led away their livestock. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Ke'ilah.

6 When Avyatar the son of Achimelekh fled to David in Ke'ilah, he had brought a ritual vest with him.