1 Samuel 22:3

3 David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come to you, until I know what God will do for me."

1 Samuel 22:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 22:3

And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab
So called to distinguish it from a place of the same name in the land of Israel; which Junius says is the same with Malle, and signifies a fortified place, and refers to the Apocrypha:

``And how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are strong and great:'' (1 Maccabees 5:26)

here he might think himself safer, though in an enemy's country, than in the land of Israel:

and he said unto the king of Moab, let my father and my mother, I pray
thee, come forth;
out of the land of Israel, or out of the cave of Adullam, whither they were come to him:

[and be] with you;
if not with the king of Moab at his court, yet in some part or other of his country, where they might be safe from the rage of Saul:

till I know what God will do for me;
on whose power and providence he wholly relied, and not upon the men that flocked to him, nor upon his own power and policy, courage and wisdom; he knew the promise of God to him, and he put his trust in him for the performance of it; but knew not the time, nor way, and manner, in which it would be performed; and expected in the meanwhile to be obliged to remove from place to place; and considering that his aged parents were not fit for such quick and sudden motions, and long flights, he provided as well as he could for their settlement; which was an instance of his filial affection for them, and piety towards them. His father's name is well known, Jesse, ( Ruth 4:22 ) ( 1 Samuel 17:12 ) but his mother's name is nowhere mentioned; the Jews say her name was Natzbet, the daughter of Adal F25.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91. 1.

1 Samuel 22:3 In-Context

1 David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; when his brothers and all his father's house heard of it, they went down there to him.
2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Those who were with him numbered about four hundred.
3 David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. He said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come to you, until I know what God will do for me."
4 He left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not remain in the stronghold; leave, and go into the land of Judah." So David left, and went into the forest of Hereth.

Footnotes 1

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.