1 Samuel 23:26

26 Saul went {on one side of the mountain}, and David and his men {went on the other side of the mountain}. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men [were] closing in on David and his men to capture them.

1 Samuel 23:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:26

And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his
men on that side of the mountain
Saul with his army came to the very mountain where David and his men were, the one was on one side of it, and the other on the other side; there was only one mountain between them:

and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul;
he fled on one side of the mountain, while Saul was pursuing him on the other, and hastening to get round unto him:

for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take
them;
he took methods by dividing his troops, and sending them different ways, to surround David and his men, and had very near effected it.

1 Samuel 23:26 In-Context

24 Then they got up and went to Ziph before Saul. Now David and his men [were] in the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah, to the south of Jeshimon.

25 And Saul and his men went to seek [him], and they told David, so he went down [to] the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard [this], he pursued David [into] the wilderness of Maon.

26 Saul went {on one side of the mountain}, and David and his men {went on the other side of the mountain}. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men [were] closing in on David and his men to capture them.

27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Hurry and come, because [the] Philistines have made a raid on the land!"

28 So Saul returned from pursuing David, and he went to confront [the] Philistines. Therefore, they called that place the Rock of Division.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "from the side of the mountain from this"
• [b]. Literally "from the side of the mountain from this"