1 Samuel 23:23

23 Behold ye, and see all his hiding places, in which he is hid, and then turn ye again to me at a certain thing, that I go with you; that if he encloseth himself yea in [the] earth, I shall seek him with(in) all the thousands of Judah. (Seek ye out, and see all his hiding places, where he can be hid, and return to me with this certain information, and then I shall go back with you; yea, if he is hid there in the land, I shall seek him out among all the thousands of Judah.)

1 Samuel 23:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 23:23

See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places
where he hideth himself
Which he most frequents, that ye may be able to describe them, and the way to them, and easily find them when necessary:

and come ye again to me with the certainty;
of time and place, when and where he may be certainly found:

and I will go with you;
upon such certain intelligence: it is very much he did not seize this opportunity, and go directly with them; for by this delay, David being informed of the Ziphites coming to Saul to betray him, had time to depart elsewhere:

and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land;
in the land of Israel, or rather in the land that is in the tribe of Judah:

that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah;
through all the divisions of that tribe, which, as others, were divided into thousands, see ( Micah 5:2 ) .

1 Samuel 23:23 In-Context

21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord, for ye [have] sorrowed for my stead/for my while (for ye be concerned about my situation)
22 Therefore, I pray you, go ye, and make ready more diligently, and do ye more curiously, either attentively, and behold ye swiftly, where his foot is, either who saw him there, where ye said; for he thinketh on me, that fellily I ambush him. (And so, I pray you, go ye, and more diligently, yea, most attentively, seek ye him out, and quickly see ye, where his foot is, and who saw him there, where ye said; for he thinketh, that I am foolish to even try to ambush him.)
23 Behold ye, and see all his hiding places, in which he is hid, and then turn ye again to me at a certain thing, that I go with you; that if he encloseth himself yea in [the] earth, I shall seek him with(in) all the thousands of Judah. (Seek ye out, and see all his hiding places, where he can be hid, and return to me with this certain information, and then I shall go back with you; yea, if he is hid there in the land, I shall seek him out among all the thousands of Judah.)
24 And they rose up, and went into Ziph before Saul. And David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the field places, at the right half of Jeshimon (And David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, to the south of Jeshimon).
25 Therefore Saul went and his fellows to seek David, and it was told to David; and anon he went down to the stone, and lived in the desert of Maon; and when Saul had heard this, he pursued David in the desert of Maon. (And so Saul and his fellows went to seek out David, and this was told to David; and at once he went down to a rocky hill, and lived there in the wilderness of Maon; and when Saul had heard this, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.