1 Samuel 29:3

3 And the princes of Philistines said to Achish, What will these Hebrews to themselves? And Achish said to the princes of Philistines, Whether ye know not David, that was the servant of Saul, king of Israel? and he was with me many days, either years, and I found not in him anything of imagining to evil, from the day in which he fled to me unto this day. (And the princes of the Philistines said to Achish, What be these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the Philistine princes, Do ye not know David, who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel? he hath been with me for many years, and I have found nothing of evil in him, from the day in which he fled to me until this day.)

1 Samuel 29:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 29:3

Then said the princes of the Philistines
To Achish; not those of the court of Achish, who were his subjects, but the confederate princes with him in this war, the lords of the other principalities, as appears by the freedom they took with him, ( 1 Samuel 29:4 ) ;

what [do] these Hebrews [here]?
or Jews, as the Targum; what hast thou to do with them, or they to be with thee? men of another nation and religion, and known enemies to the Philistines:

and Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines;
in order to soften them, and reconcile them to these men, and their being with him:

[is] not this David the servant of Saul the king of Israel;
between whom there had been a quarrel, and the former had fled from the latter to him:

which hath been with me these days, or these years;
had been with him many days, and he might say years, as he had been with him one whole year, and part of another, see ( 1 Samuel 27:7 ) ; and he might have known him longer, if he was the same Achish David first fled to; Kimchi interprets it, that he knew him as well as if he had been with him as many years as days:

and I have found no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day?
the affair of David's going against the Geshurites not being yet known by him, or, if it was, he approved of it, they being enemies of his; this shows that David behaved with a great deal of prudence to have such a character as this from a king of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 29:3 In-Context

1 Therefore all the companies of the Philistines were gathered in Aphek, but also Israel setted tents above the well that was in Jezreel. (And so all the companies of the Philistines were gathered together at Aphek, and Israel pitched their tents by the well that was in Jezreel.)

2 And soothly the princes of the Philistines went in companies of an hundred, and in thousands; but David and his men were in the last company with Achish. (And the princes of the Philistines led out their companies in units of a hundred, and of a thousand; and David and his men were in the last group with Achish.)

3 And the princes of Philistines said to Achish, What will these Hebrews to themselves? And Achish said to the princes of Philistines, Whether ye know not David, that was the servant of Saul, king of Israel? and he was with me many days, either years, and I found not in him anything of imagining to evil, from the day in which he fled to me unto this day. (And the princes of the Philistines said to Achish, What be these Hebrews doing here? And Achish said to the Philistine princes, Do ye not know David, who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel? he hath been with me for many years, and I have found nothing of evil in him, from the day in which he fled to me until this day.)

4 Certainly the princes of (the) Philistines were wroth against Achish, and they said to him, (Have) The man turn again, and abide he in his place, in which thou hast ordained him, and come he not down with us into battle, lest he be made (an) adversary to us, when we have begun to fight; for how may he please his lord in other manner, but in our heads? (for how can he please his lord in any other manner, but than with our heads?)

5 Whether this is not David, to whom they sang in dances, and said, Saul smote in [his] thousands, and David smote in his ten thousands? (Is this not David, whom they sang about as they danced, and said, Saul struck down thousands, but David struck down tens of thousands?)