1 Samuel 22:4

4 He brought them before the king of Mo'av: and they lived with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.

1 Samuel 22:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 22:4

And he brought them before the king of Moab
Having leave from him for it, and left them with him; so the Targum,

``caused them to remain before him:''

and they dwelt with him all the whole time that David was in the hold;
either in the cave of Adullam, as some think; or rather at Mizpeh in Moab, which might be a fortified place; or the sense may be, while he was in any hold in those parts, as he might go from one to another; what became of David's parents afterwards, we nowhere else read. The Jews ^F26 say the king of Moab slew his father and his mother, and his brethren, all but one, whom Nahash the Ammonite preserved; and is the kindness David speaks of, ( 2 Samuel 10:2 ) ; and if this was the case, now it was that his father and mother forsook him, and God took him up, ( Psalms 27:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Bemnidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 212. 1. Tanchuma apud Jarchium in loc.

1 Samuel 22:4 In-Context

2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

3 David went there to Mitzpeh of Mo'av: and he said to the king of Mo'av, Please let my father and my mother come forth, [and be] with you, until I know what God will do for me.

4 He brought them before the king of Mo'av: and they lived with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.

5 The prophet Gad said to David, Don't stay in the stronghold; depart, and get you into the land of Yehudah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Heret.

6 Sha'ul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him: now Sha'ul was sitting in Gevah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.