1 Samuel 22:4

4 David left his parents in the care of the king of Moab. They stayed there all through the time David was hiding out.

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 Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around - losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.

3 Then David went to Mizpah in Moab. He petitioned the king of Moab, "Grant asylum to my father and mother until I find out what God has planned for me."

4 David left his parents in the care of the king of Moab. They stayed there all through the time David was hiding out.

5 The prophet Gad told David, "Don't go back to the cave. Go to Judah." David did what he told him. He went to the forest of Hereth.

6 Saul got word of the whereabouts of David and his men. He was sitting under the big oak on the hill at Gibeah at the time, spear in hand, holding court surrounded by his officials.