1 Samuel 22:4

4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time 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 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Samuel 22:4 In-Context

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

3 Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me."

4 So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

5 Now the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

6 When Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered--now Saul was staying in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants standing about him--