1 Samuel 27:12

12 And Achish believed David. Achish thought, "He has definitely made his own people in Israel despise him. He'll be my servant from now on."

1 Samuel 27:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 27:12

And Achish believed David
As he would have him understand his story; imposing upon him by ambiguous terms, insinuating he had been against the southern parts of Judah, when he had been against foreign nations that lay to the south of Judah:

saying, he hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him;
they shall never forgive him the destruction of their cities, and the inhabitants of them, and the plunder of their goods and cattle; his name will be had in the utmost detestation and abhorrence, and he must never return thither any more:

therefore he shall be my servant for ever:
would be glad to continue with him as a servant, and be obliged to serve him faithfully and truly, since his own people, and even those of his own tribe, would never more receive him; it being, as he understood it, the south of Judah that he had been plundering.

1 Samuel 27:12 In-Context

10 Achish would ask, "Whom did you raid today?" And David would answer, "the Negev in Judah," or "the portion of the Negev where the descendants of Jerahmeel live," or "the portion of the Negev where the Kenites live."

11 He did not bring a single man or woman back to Gath alive. He thought, "They could tell Achish what I [really] did." This was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory.

12 And Achish believed David. Achish thought, "He has definitely made his own people in Israel despise him. He'll be my servant from now on."