1 Samuel 23:8-18

8 Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to the priest Abiathar, "Bring the ephod here."

10 David said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account.

11 And now, will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant." The Lord said, "He will come down."

12 Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?" The Lord said, "They will surrender you."

13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they wandered wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.

14 David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord did not give him into his hand

15 David was in the Wilderness of Ziph at Horesh when he learned that Saul had come out to seek his life.

16 Saul's son Jonathan set out and came to David at Horesh; there he strengthened his hand through the Lord.

17 He said to him, "Do not be afraid; for the hand of my father Saul shall not find you; you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be second to you; my father Saul also knows that this is so."

18 Then the two of them made a covenant before the Lord; David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

1 Samuel 23:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 23

This chapter gives an account of David's relieving Keilah, when it had like to have fallen into the hands of the Philistines, 1Sa 23:1-6; and of Saul's design to surprise him there, which David having notice of, and inquiring of the Lord, departed from thence; which when Saul heard of, he forbore to come forth, 1Sa 23:7-13; and of David's being in the wilderness of Ziph, where, in a wood there, he had an interview with Jonathan, 1Sa 23:14-18; and of the Ziphites offering to deliver him up to Saul, for which he commends them, and gives them instructions how they should behave to him in that affair, 1Sa 23:19-23; and of his seeking him in the wilderness of Maon, where David and his men were in great danger of being taken; which was prevented by the news of the Philistines invading the land coming to Saul just at the nick of time, 1Sa 23:24-29.

Footnotes

• [a]. Q Ms Compare Gk: MT [Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will]
• [b]. Q Ms Gk: MT [God]
• [c]. Or [saw that]
• [d]. Compare Q Ms Gk: MT [God]