1 Samuel 23:8-18

8 And Saul commanded to all the people, that it should go down to battle into Keilah (that they should go down to do battle at Keilah), and besiege David and his men.
9 And when David perceived, that Saul made ready evil privily to him, he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring hither [the] ephod. (And when David understood, that Saul planned to attack him, he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring the ephod here.)
10 And David said, Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard say, that Saul disposeth to come to Keilah, that he destroy the city for me; (Then David said, Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard say, that Saul disposeth to come to Keilah, to destroy the city because of me;)
11 if the men of Keilah shall betake me into his hands, and if Saul shall come down, as thy servant hath heard, thou Lord God of Israel, show to thy servant? And the Lord said, He shall come down. (will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He shall come down.)
12 And David said again, Whether the men of Keilah shall betake me, and the men that be with me, into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said, They shall betake thee to Saul, if thou abidest him there. (And David asked, Shall the men of Keilah deliver me, and my men, into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said, They shall deliver thee to Saul, if thou waitest here for him.)
13 Therefore David rose, and his men, as six hundred; and they went out of Keilah, and wandered uncertain hither and thither. And it was told to Saul, that David had fled from Keilah, and was saved; wherefore Saul dissembled to go out. (And so David and his men, about six hundred in all, rose up; and they went out of Keilah, and wandered about with uncertainty. And it was told to Saul, that David had fled from Keilah, and so he was saved; and for a short while Saul left off going after him.)
14 But David dwelled in the desert, in full strong places, and he dwelled in the hill of (the) wilderness of Ziph, in a dark hill; nevertheless Saul sought him in all days, and the Lord betook not him into the hands of Saul. (And David lived in the wilderness, in secure places, and he stayed in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph, on a dark hill; and Saul continued to seek after him in all days, but the Lord did not deliver him into Saul's hands.
15 And David saw, that Saul went out, that he would seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood. (And David saw, that Saul went out to seek his life. And David was in the wilderness of Ziph, in a forest.)
16 And Jonathan, the son of Saul, rose up, and went to David into the wood, and comforted his hands in God. (And Saul's son Jonathan rose up, and went to David in the forest, and strengthened his hand in God/and encouraged him in the name of God.)
17 And he said to David, Dread thou not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign on Israel, and I shall be the second to thee; but also Saul my father knoweth this. (And he said to David, Fear not; for the hand of my father Saul shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign upon Israel, and I shall be second to thee; and my father Saul knoweth this.)
18 Therefore ever either smote (a) bond of peace before the Lord. And David dwelled in the wood; and Jonathan turned again into his house. (And so they both struck a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the forest; and Jonathan returned 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.