1 Samuel 24:2

2 So Saul took 3,000 of the best soldiers from the whole nation of Israel. He started out to look for David and his men. He planned to look near the Rocky Cliffs of the Wild Goats.

1 Samuel 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 24:2

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel,
&c.] Out of his army, with which he had been pursuing the Philistines:

and went to seek David, and his men, upon the rocks of the wild goats;
which were in the wilderness of Engedi; those rocks were exceeding high and terrible to look at, full of precipices, and so prominent, that to travellers they seemed as if they would fall into the adjacent valleys, that it even struck terror into them to look at them ^F24; called the rocks of wild goats, because these creatures, called from hence "rupicaprae", or rock goats, see ( Job 39:1 ) ; delighted to be there; and are, as Pliny ^F25 says, of such prodigious swiftness, that they will leap from mountain to mountain, and back again at pleasure; these mountains David and his men chose for safety, and the height and craggedness of them did not deter Saul and his men from seeking him there.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Adrichom Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 47. & Brocard. in ib.
F25 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53.

1 Samuel 24:2 In-Context

1 Saul returned from chasing the Philistines. Then he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi."

2 So Saul took 3,000 of the best soldiers from the whole nation of Israel. He started out to look for David and his men. He planned to look near the Rocky Cliffs of the Wild Goats.

3 He came to some sheep pens along the way. A cave was there. Saul went in to go to the toilet. David and his men were far back in the cave.

4 David's men said, "This is the day the LORD told you about. He said to you, 'I will hand your enemy over to you. Then you can deal with him as you want to.' " So David came up close to Saul without being seen. He cut off a corner of Saul's robe.

5 Later, David felt sorry that he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe.