1 Samuel 23:11

11 Will the city fathers of Keilah turn me over to him? Will Saul come down and do what I've heard? O God, God of Israel, tell me!" God replied, "He's coming down."

1 Samuel 23:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:11

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hands? will
Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?
&c.] That is, if David continued there, which is the supposition all proceeds upon. The questions are not orderly put, as may easily be observed, the last should have been first; which shows some perturbation of mind David was in upon hearing the design of Saul against him:

O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant;
give an answer by Urim and Thummim, as he did:

and the Lord said, he will come down;
if David abode there; that was in his thoughts, in his purpose and design, which the Lord, being omniscient, full well knew, who knows all future contingencies: hence the Jews F14 gather, that two things are not to be asked together; and if they are asked, only answer is made to one, and the answer is only made to that which it was proper to ask first; and that which is asked out of order should be asked again, which was the case here, as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 73. 1, 2.

1 Samuel 23:11 In-Context

9 But David got wind of Saul's strategy to destroy him and said to Abiathar the priest, "Get the Ephod."
10 Then David prayed to God: "God of Israel, I've just heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the city because of me.
11 Will the city fathers of Keilah turn me over to him? Will Saul come down and do what I've heard? O God, God of Israel, tell me!" God replied, "He's coming down."
12 "And will the head men of Keilah turn me and my men over to Saul?" And God said, "They'll turn you over."
13 So David and his men got out of there. There were about six hundred of them. They left Keilah and kept moving, going here, there, wherever - always on the move. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he called off the raid.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.