David therefore departed from there, and escaped to Adullam’s cave. When his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered themselves to him; and he became captain over them. There were with him about four hundred men. David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come out with you, until I know what God will do for me.” He brought them before the king of Moab; and they lived with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. The prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Depart, and go into the land of Judah.” Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.
Saul heard that David was discovered, with the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who discloses to me when my son makes a treaty with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”
Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of Yahweh for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; and they all came to the king. Saul said, “Hear now, you son of Ahitub.” He answered, “Here I am, my lord.”
Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as it is today?”
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, captain of your body guard, and honored in your house? Have I today begun to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me! Don’t let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more.”
The king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father’s house.” The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and kill the priests of Yahweh; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and didn’t disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king wouldn’t put out their hand to fall on the priests of Yahweh.
The king said to Doeg, “Turn and attack the priests!” Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod.
He struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing babies, and cattle and donkeys and sheep, with the edge of the sword. One of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. Abiathar told David that Saul had slain Yahweh’s priests.
David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me. Don’t be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. For you will be safe with me.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 17, 20, 23 Which was in the tribe of Judah, and near…
Which was in the tribe of Judah, and near to Bethlehem.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–23 1Sa 22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to…
1Sa 22:1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard [it], they went down thither to him.
Ver. 1. David therefore departed thence.] Full glad he was so fairly delivered; and got to a place where he might, to the glory of God, his Sospitator, compose that most elegant and excellent thirty-fourth Psalm.
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And escaped to the cave of Adullam.] Which was in the tribe of Judah, saith Lyra: {a} a place fortified by nature, saith Adrichomius, insomuch as that the Christians do there still shelter and secure themselves, - namely, from the force and spoil of the Turks that come to plunder and rob them.
And when his brethren, &c.] Who had, it is likely, suffered for his sake, by Saul’s cruelty. Christ’s friends shall be sure to be hated of all men, {Mat 10:22 Joh 15:19-21} and to suffer many things for the name of Jesus: they must be conformed unto him in sufferings, that he may be the firstborn among many brethren. {Rom 8:29}
They went down thither to him.] For mutual comfort, as Rom 1:11-12.
{a} In trib. Jud., Num 201. In this country dwelt that hangby Hiram, Judah’s friend, or rather broker. - Gen. xxxviii.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 The cave Adullam; a place of considerable strength, 2Sa…
The cave Adullam; a place of considerable strength, 2Sa 23:13; 1Ch 11:15, in the land of Judah, Jos 15:21,35, which being his own tribe, and the tribe to which God had first promised the kingdom, Gen 49:10, he hoped for some protection and assistance there.
They went down thither to him; partly, to comfort and assist him; partly, to secure themselves at the present from Saul’s rage, which they knew to be fierce and cruel, and thought he might extend it to David’s friends; especially, because they had so lately entertained him, 1Sa 20:6,29; and partly, that they might share with David in his honour and advancement; which they now concluded certain and near, though it was interrupted with some difficulties.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 20 Here, I. David shelters himself in the cave of…
Here, I. David shelters himself in the cave of Adullam, Sa1 22:1. Whether it was a natural or artificial fastness does not appear; it is probable that the access to it was so difficult that David thought himself able, with Goliath's sword, to keep it against all the forces of Saul, and therefore buried himself alive in it, while he was waiting to see (and he says here, Sa1 22:3) what God would do with him. The promise of the kingdom implied a promise of preservation to it, and yet David used proper means for his own safety, otherwise he would have tempted God. He did not do any thing that aimed to destroy Saul, but only to secure himself. He that might have done great service to his country as a judge or general is here shut up in a cave, and thrown by as a vessel in which there was no pleasure. We must not think it strange if sometimes shining lights be thus eclipsed and hidden under a bushel. Perhaps the apostle refers to this instance of David, among others, when he speaks of some of the Old Testament worthies that wandered in deserts, in dens and caves of the earth, Heb 11:38. It was at this time that David penned Psa 142:1-7, which is entitled, A prayer when David was in the cave; and there he complains that no man would know him and that refuge failed him, but hopes that shortly the righteous would compass him about.
II. Thither his relations flocked to him, his brethren and all his father's house, to be protected by him, to give assistance to him, and to take their lot with him. A brother is born for adversity. Now, Joab, and Abishai, and the rest of his relations, came to him, to suffer and venture with him, in hopes shortly to be advanced with him; and they were so. The first three of his worthies were those that first owed him when he was in the cave, Ch1 11:15, etc.
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III. Here he began to raise forces in his own defence, Sa1 22:2. He found by the late experiments he had made that he could not save himself by flight, and therefore was necessitated to do it by force, wherein he never acted offensively, never offered any violence to his prince nor gave any disturbance to the peace of the kingdom, but only used his forces as a guard to his own person. But, whatever defence his soldiers were to him, they did him no great credit, for the regiment he had was made up not of great men, nor rich men, nor stout men, no, nor good men, but men in distress, in debt, and discontented, men of broken fortunes and restless spirits, that were put to their shifts, and knew not well what to do with themselves. When David had fixed his headquarters in the cave of Adullam, they came and enlisted themselves under him to the number of about 400. See what weak instruments God sometimes makes use of, by which to bring about his own purposes. The Son of David is ready to receive distressed souls, that will appoint him their captain and be commanded by him.
IV. He took care to settle his parents in a place of safety. No such place could he find in all the land of Israel while Saul was so bitterly enraged against him and all that belonged to him for his sake; he therefore goes with them to the king of Moab, and puts them under his protection, Sa1 22:3, Sa1 22:4. Observe here, 1. With what a tender concern he provided for his aged parents. It was not fit they should be exposed either to the frights or to the fatigues which he must expect during his struggle with Saul (their age would by no means bear such exposure); therefore the first thing he does is to find them a quiet habitation, whatever became of himself. Let children learn from this to show pity at home and requite their parents (Ti1 5:4), in every thing consulting their ease and satisfaction. Though ever so highly preferred, and ever so much employed, let them not forget their aged parents. 2. With what a humble faith he expects the issue of his present distresses: Till I know what God will do for me. He expresses his hopes very modestly, as one that had entirely cast himself upon God and committed his way to him, expecting a good issue, not from his own arts, or arms, or merits, but from what the wisdom, power, and goodness of God would do for him. Now David's father and mother forsook him, but God did not, Psa 27:10.
V. He had the advice and assistance of the prophet Gad, who probably was one of the sons of the prophets that were brought up under Samuel, and was by him recommended to David for his chaplain or spiritual guide. Being a prophet, he would pray for him and instruct him in the mind of God; and David, though he was himself a prophet, was glad of his assistance. He advised him to go into the land of Judah (Sa1 22:5), as one that was confident of his own innocency, and was well assured of the divine protection, and was desirous, even in his present hard circumstances, to do some service to his tribe and country. Let him not be ashamed to own his own cause nor decline the succours that would be offered him. Animated by this word, there he determined to appear publicly. Thus are the steps of a good man ordered by the Lord.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–22 David therefore departed from thence,.... From Gath, being driven…
David therefore departed from thence,.... From Gath, being driven by Achish from his court, and let go by his servants, and glad he was of the deliverance:
and escaped to the cave Adullam; which was no doubt near to a city of the same name in the tribe of Judah, of which See Gill on Jos 15:35; this being a strong place, and in his own tribe, he might hope to be in greater safety; here he penned his hundred forty second psalm, see Psa 142:1,
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and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it; that he was come thither:
they went down thither to him; to visit and comfort him, counsel and assist him all they could; and chiefly to secure themselves from the rage and malice of Saul, who they might fear would fall upon them, and avenge himself on them for David's sake.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20 David escapes to the cave of Adullam, where many…
David escapes to the cave of Adullam, where many resort to him, ver. 1, 2. Lodges his parents with the king of Moab, ver. 3, 4. Comes to the forest of Hareth, ver. 5. Saul complains of his servants as unfaithful to him, ver. 6-8. On the information of Doeg, he orders the priests of Nob to be slain, and their city destroyed, ver. 9-19. David is informed of this by Abiathar, ver. 20-23.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 David flees to the cave of Adullam, where he…
CHAPTER XXII
David flees to the cave of Adullam, where he is joined by four
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hundred men of various descriptions, 1, 2.
He goes afterwards to Moab; and by the advice of the prophet
Gad, to the forest of Hareth, 3-5.
Saul, suspecting his servants of infidelity, upbraids them, 6-8.
Doeg informs him of David's coming to Nob; of his being
entertained by Ahimelech; on which Saul slays Ahimelech and
all the priests, to the number of eighty-five, and destroys
the city of Nob, 9-19.
Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, only escapes; he joins with
David, by whom he is assured of protection, 20-23.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXII
Verse 1. The cave Adullam] This was in the tribe of Judah, and, according to Eusebius and Jerome, ten miles eastward of what they call Eleutheropolis.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20 1Sa 22:1. To the cave of Adullam — Which…
1Sa 22:1. To the cave of Adullam — Which was a strong hold in the tribe of Judah, 1Ch 11:15; Jos 15:35. This place, fortified by nature, is so fitted for the security of persons in distress, according to Dr. Delaney, that it hath frequently given a refuge from the Turks to the Christians, who fled thither with their families, flocks, and herds. As it was in the tribe of Judah, and David belonged to that tribe, he might, perhaps, flee to it in hopes of finding some friends in those parts. And his brethren, &c., went down thither to him — Either to comfort him, or to secure themselves from the fury of Saul, who, they thought, might probably wreak upon them his hatred to David.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 23 To the cave Adullam - Or rather “of Adullam.”…
To the cave Adullam - Or rather “of Adullam.” Adullam was the name of a town of Judah in the “Shephelah,” not far from Bethlehem, and below it. Innumerable caverns, one nearly 100 feet long, are excavated in the soft limestone hills in the neighborhood of Beit-Jibrin. (The cave is placed by Ganneau and Conder on the hill (500 feet high) over ‘Aid el Ma or Miyeh.) David’s brethren and kinsmen joined him partly from sympathy with him, and partly because their own lives were in jeopardy front Saul’s furious enmity.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 Odollam, about two days’ journey from Geth, (Salien) nine…
Odollam, about two days’ journey from Geth, (Salien) nine miles east of Eleutheropolis, in the tribe of Juda. (Eusebius) (Calmet) --- Josue xii. 15., and 2 Machabees xii. 38. (Menochius) --- Thither, to avoid the fury of Saul, which fell so heavy upon the priests, ver. 16. The most warlike sons of Gad came hither also, to join David, 1 Paralipomenon xii. 8. (Abulensis) (Salien, the year of the world 2973.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 IV. David’s fugitive life in Judah and Moab. Saul’s…
IV. David’s fugitive life in Judah and Moab. Saul’s murder of the priests at Nob
1Sa_22:1-23
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1David therefore [And David] departed thence, and escaped to the cave1 Adullam; and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down 2thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented [embittered in soul] gathered themselves unto him, and he became a [om. a] captain over them; and there were with him 3about four hundred men. And2 David went thence to Mizpeh3 of Moab, and he [om. he] said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, 4come forth4 and be with you, till I know what God will do for [to] me. And he brought5 them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that 5David was in the hold. And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold, depart and get thee into the land of Judah. Then [And] David departed and came into the forest6 of Hareth [Hereth].
6When [And] Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him; [om. parenthesis] now [and] Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah [the tamarisk-tree7 on the height], having [and] his spear [ins. was] in his 7hand, and all his servants were standing about him. Then [And] Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites, will the son of Jesse give every one [all] of you fields and vineyards, and 8 make you all captains of 8thousands and captains of hundreds, That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth9 me that my son hath made a league10 with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up [set up] my servant against me to lie in wait [as a waylayer], 9as at this day? Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which [who] was set over the servants11 of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming [come] to Nob to Ahimelech 10the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord [Jehovah]12 for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
11Then [And] the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to 12the king. And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered 13[said], Here I am, my lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me to lie in 14wait [as a waylayer] as at this day? Then [And] Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David [And who among all thy servants is as David trusty], which is [om. which is, ins. and] the king’s son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding [and hath thy private ear],13 and Isaiah 15 honorable in thine house? Did I then begin to inquire14 of God for him? be [Be] it far from me; let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor15 to all the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more [little or 16much].And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy 17father’s house. And the king said unto the footmen [runners] that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the Lord [Jehovah]; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when [that] he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the 18priests of the Lord [Jehovah]. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests, and Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and 19slew on that day fourscore and five16 persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep with the edge of the sword.
20And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, 21and fled after David. And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s 22[Jehovah’s] priests. And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it [om. it] that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would surely tell Saul; I have occasioned 23the death17 of all the persons of thy father’s house. Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life;18 but [for] with me thou shalt be [art] in safeguard.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Sa_22:1-5. David a fugitive in Judah and in Moab.19
1Sa_22:1. His flight to the cave of Adullam in Judah. In the uncertainty as to this locality our best plan is to look to the city of the same name. Adullam, an ancient place (Gen_38:1), according to Jos_12:15 a Canaanitish royal city, was situated (Jos_15:35) near Jarmuth and Socho, now Shuweikeh, under the mountains of Judah (different from the Shuweikeh [Socho] in these mountains, Jos_15:48) in the lowland of Judah, about sixteen miles [English] south-west of Jerusalem, and twelve miles south-east of Gath. As the present Jarmuth lies on the eastern border of the Wady Sumt, that is, on the declivity of the Judah-mountain towards Philistia, and as there are many caves in the neighborhood, it is a probable conjecture that one of these caves took the name Adullam from the neighboring city. Perhaps we may regard the great cave Deir Dubban near Jarmuth (Rob., Amer. ed., II., 23, 51–53; Ritter, XVI., 136), as David’s retreat (so v. d. Velde, Reise, II., p. 163 sq.). However, there are other caves near in the western declivity of the mountain. Tobler locates Adullam in the present village Bat-Dula, about fifteen miles southwest of Bethlehem. The great caves on the western declivity of the mountain are dry and roomy enough to hold a larger number of men than is here mentioned. Since it is expressly said that the place was in the lowland of Judah, the statement of Euseb. and Jerome that it was ten (twelve) miles east from Eleutheropolis, is decidedly wrong, as the cave would in that case be in the mountains (see Winer, R.-W., s. v.). The supposition (from 2Sa_23:13-14) that it was near Bethlehem (Thenius) is opposed by the fact that David would then have cast himself into Saul’s hands unprotected. Similarly the traditional site near the village Khureitun, five miles southeast of Bethlehem, is incompatible with the geographical and historical situation of the narrative (Rob., I., 481, 482). As the combat between David and Goliath occurred in the Terebinth-vale (in Wady Sumt) between Socho and Azekah, David, in there seeking a fit refuge from Saul and the Philistines, might see in this experience a pledge of the further protection and deliverance of the Lord’s hand.20—“Thence,” not from Nob (Then.), but from Gath, whence the place of refuge was not far.—That David’s family must already have had proofs of enmity from Saul is clear from the statement that his brethren and all his father’s house went to him in his retreat at Adullam. For Saul looked on them as sharers in David’s presumed conspiracy against him, and they had therefore every reason to fear for themselves a repetition of the tragedy of Nob. See the statement in Clericus from Marcell. 23, 6, as to the procedure of oriental princes, according to which “the whole family perished for the fault of one person.”
1Sa_22:2. But along with his family a constantly increasing number of other persons gathered around David. They are described as partly those who were externally in distress, especially through debt, and therefore seeking to escape their creditors, partly those who were internally discontented, embittered in soul. He became their captain, leader, so that they were not a wild and lawless rabble, but a community controlled by and obedient to one will. The number at present was about four hundred, but afterwards rose to six hundred (1Sa_23:13).—The comparison of this body with Catiline’s followers (Cler., Then.) supposes that David’s retinue was of similar character with Catiline’s, a riotous, adventure-seeking rabble. But there is nothing in the narrative to support such a supposition, and David’s position as to them and to Saul is decidedly against it. He is far from making insurrection against Saul. His past history and his after-life up to Saul’s death absolutely excludes such a view. With such a position towards Saul he could not be the “head” or “captain” of a seditious band, and with such a head these people could not be rebels and seditious. Hengstenberg (on Psa_7:10) rightly remarks: “David’s war with Saul was one not of individuals, but of parties; the wicked espoused Saul’s side, the righteous David’s; comp. the much-misunderstood passage, 1Sa_22:2.” The “distressed” persons were those who were persecuted by Saul’s government on account of their love for David. The debtors were such as, under Saul’s arbitrary misrule, were oppressed by their creditors, and received from the government no protection against the violation of the law of loan and interest (Exo_22:25; Lev_25:36; Deu_23:19). They were “bitter of soul,”21 not as “desirous of new things,” not as merely “dissatisfied with their present condition” (Cler.), but as those “whose anxiety of soul over the ever-worsening condition of the kingdom under Saul drove them to a leader, from whom for the future they might hope for better things” (Ew.).—Comp. Jephthah’s fugitive life and retinue of “poor, empty persons,” Jdg_11:3.
1Sa_22:3. Without further statement concerning David’s life here with his family and his band, it is next related that he went “thence” (answering to the “thence” of 1Sa_22:1) to Mizpeh of Moab. David betook himself to the king of Moab, and asked him: Let my father and my mother come [out] to thee and abide with thee till I know what God will do to me. It is remarkable, in the first place, that he here mentions only “father and mother;” the reason obviously is that in his present dangerous condition he could not afford these aged, helpless persons secure protection. For in this continuation of the narrative it is clearly supposed that the caves at Adullam had become an uncertain and dangerous residence through Saul’s hostile attempts against David’s family. His choice of Moab as refuge for his parents was probably based on the relations of his great-grandmother, the Moabitess Ruth, to this country. Whether the “come forth” refers to Bethlehem or Adullam as point of departure is uncertain; in any case the road to Mizpeh of Moab passed through Bethlehem, because this was the shortest way; for this “Mizpeh of Moab,” which is to be taken as a proper name, undoubtedly lay not in the Moabitish territory proper south of the Arnon, but far north of it, “probably a city above the ‘araboth of Moab’ (Num_22:1; Deu_34:1; Deu_34:8; Jos_13:32) opposite Jericho, whither by way of Bethlehem and the Dead Sea one might come in little time” (Then.), perhaps on the mount Abarim or Pisgah (Deu_34:1). Saul had also to wage war with the Moabites (1Sa_14:47); at this time, therefore, the latter had possession of the southern portion of the transjordanic territory of the Israelites. From David’s taking his parents to the king of Moab, it is probable that there was now no war between the latter and Saul. The pregnant construction of the verb “come forth,” followed by the Prep. “with,” is not to be rejected as unsuitable, but to be retained as example of the frequent connection of a verb of motion with a predicate of rest. The renderings of the Sept. “let them be with thee,” and the Vulg. “let them remain,” are explanations, not signs of a different original text.22
1Sa_22:4. Bunsen, after Jerome, renders: “left them in the presence of the king” (וַיַּנִּחֵם), against which Thenius remarks that “no change in the vocalization to avoid harshness is required,” and refers to Ew., § 217, 1.—In regard to the length of his parents’ stay with the king of Moab, David says (1Sa_22:3): “till I know what God will do to me,” appropriately using to the king the divine name Elohim.23 According to this David did not remain with his parents, but went back to his life of motion and danger. Whither? The narrator says afterwards (1Sa_22:4) that the parents remained in Moab “all the while that David was in the mountain-fastness or hold.” But this fastness “on which David intrenched himself” (Bunsen) is not a height near the cave of Adullam (Bunsen); still less is it the retreat in the cave (Stähelin, Then.), or elsewhere in the wilderness; but, as David had to carry his parents to Moab for safety, we shall be justified in supposing that he had to find temporary shelter also for himself and his band in Moab. The refuge which he here found was no other than that Mizpeh24 of Moab; Mizpeh signifies “watch-place, mountain-height;” here David made himself a strong position, which became a mountain-fastness (מְצוּדָה). For this meaning see Job 39:38. Here he would await what the Lord would further do to him. The danger threatening his parents was the Lord’s factual hint to him to go where it would be safer not only for them, but also for him. To these humble, trustful words corresponds the further statement that God gave him directions concerning his further way through the prophet Gad. Through this prophet he is commanded (1Sa_22:5) to go into the land of Judah; whence it clearly appears that he was now not in that land, in which, however, Adullam lay, and therefore he could be only in the land of Moab. “The prophet Gad” is undoubtedly the same who is called “David’s seer” in 1Ch_21:9, announces to him God’s punishment for his sin in numbering the people, 2Sa_24:11 sq., and according to 1Ch_29:29, wrote down David’s acts. How Gad came into connection with David, is never said. Probably David’s intimate relation and here presupposed acquaintance with him date from the former’s close connection with Samuel’s prophetic communities. It is not clear whether Gad had gone to him at the cave of Adullam, or now came for the first time to him in Moab. It is equally uncertain whether he remained with him permanently from now on. In short, Gad’s sudden entrance on the scene in Moab suggests many unanswerable questions, which Stähelin excellently states: “How came he among such people? Was he always with David? Was he consulted by David as Samuel by Saul, 1 Samuel 9.? Was Gad connected with Samuel, or not?” We cannot suppose that the expression “and Gad said” refers to a message which he sent to David (Then.). The answer to the question “why David was not to stay in the hold, but go to Judah,” is not that “he ought not to have fled anew to a foreign nation, as before to the Philistines, to the displeasure of God” (Brenz., S. Schmid, Keil); for it does not appear that his stay in Philistia was in itself displeasing to God; and if his journey to Moab had been displeasing to God, he might have been restrained therefrom beforehand by divine direction. The reason for this prophetic direction is rather to be found in the circumstances; according to 1Sa_23:1 the Philistines were now making plundering incursions into the south of Judah, help and protection against them was needed, and this David with his valiant band could give. He was commanded to go into Judah and free it from its enemies, and thus fulfil part of the theocratic calling, in respect to which the distracted, arbitrary rule of Saul was now impotent. Of this new divine direction in David’s life Grotius well remarks: “God shows great care for David, instructing him now by prophets, now by Urim and Thummim.” Proceeding on the supposition that David goes from the king of Moab to the cave of Adullam, Thenius, in order to account for the prophetic direction to go into the land of Judah, where also the city Adullam was situated, is obliged to say that probably the cave of Adullam was in Benjamin on the border, and, as his retreat might thus, being near Gibeah, easily be betrayed to Saul, Gad advised him to go to Judah. This explanation stands and falls with its unfounded geographical basis, which also O. v. Gerlach adopts.—By this direction to go to Judah for the above end, the prophet Gad gave David, in divine commission, instructions as to his further course; in this interval of suffering and trial between his call to be king and his actual entrance on the duties of the office, he was to be not only passive but also active, serving his people and his God against the enemies of the theocracy.—He went into the forest of Hereth—an unknown region, probably according to 1Sa_23:1 in the western part of Judah. [Sept. and Josephus have “city of Hereth (Sarik).” Lieut. Conder, of the Palestine Exploration Fund, says (Dec., 1874) that there are now no trees in this district, and argues from the geological conditions that there never could have been. He is disposed to adopt the Sept. reading “city,” and to identify Hereth with a site called Kharas (near Keilah), which name is substantially identical with Hereth.—Tr.]
1Sa_22:6-23. Saul’s savage vengeance on Nob. While David goes the way shown him by God’s prophet the terrible consequences of his self-willed conduct at Nob, which did not accord with the Lord’s will, are accomplished.
1Sa_22:6-10. In a formal council, in which Saul expresses his suspicion in relation to a conspiracy made against him by David and his son, Doeg betrays the proceeding of Ahimelech towards David.
1Sa_22:6. It is first stated that the abode of David and his men was known at Saul’s court, and that Saul received information of his servants’ acquaintance with this circumstance. It is this fact, that Saul heard, received information of their knowledge of David’s position, that is the ground of his charging them (1Sa_22:7) with complicity in the supposed conspiracy of David and Jonathan. In 1Sa_22:6 the words: “And Saul heard …. with him” belong syntactically and logically to 1Sa_22:7, and the rest of 1Sa_22:6 forms a parenthesis [so Eng. A. V., but it is better to preserve in the translation the simple, direct form of the Hebrew.—Tr.]. And Saul abode in Gibeah (not, as Sept., “on the hill”) under the tamarisk,—the Article indicates that this place was the appointed and usual one for such councils. On the height (not with Luther [and Eng. A. V.] “in Ramah”) points out the elevated situation, in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion, as it is hereafter described.—His spear in his hand,—the spear, as well as the sceptre, was the symbol of royal power. All his servants stood about him, it was, therefore, a full assembly of the whole personnel of the Court. Bunsen: “He held a formal court, surrounded by all the magnates (chiefly Benjaminites) of his kingdom.”
1Sa_22:7. The address: Hear, ye Benjaminites, is in keeping with the importance of the solemn scene (so vividly sketched in a few strokes) as a sort of judicial assembly [Bib. Com. Parliament.—Tr.], and at the same time has a particularistic-partisan tone, as Saul was himself of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s question: Will the son of Jesse give you all fields and vineyards? make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands? is noteworthily and characteristically prefixed to the words which express his complaint and suspicion of the courtiers, on which only a question so spiteful and so tinged with venomous savagery could be based. In thus putting things hindmost first and upside down, Saul again exhibits himself as a man, who, through burning hatred to David and blind suspicion, has lost his mental control.—Also to you [Heb. literally: “also to you all will the son of Jesse give?” etc.—Tr.]; the Heb. text is to be maintained against the groundless change proposed by Thenius “in truth will the son,” etc. (הַאֻמְנָם after the merely elucidatory Sept. and Vulg.). This phrase does not mean “to you all also, besides the others to whom he has already given,” since it is nowhere said of David that he provided for his adherents, nor was he in condition to do so. According to the rule that the Heb. particle [גַּם] expresses reciprocal relation, the thought here is: “will David also by gifts show himself so grateful to you all for your making common cause with him against me?” The word (as here) is toneless [with maqqeph.—Tr.] in questions, to indicate reciprocity.25 Saul imagines that his courtiers all secretly hold with David, hence his question: “will he also give you all?”=“will he then give?” etc. In Saul’s words there is the latent sense: Will he, of another tribe, reward you, as I have done to you, my fellow-tribesmen? Will he not rather favor his tribesmen, the men of Judah? Will it not be to your interest to stand on my side? Seb. Schmid: “Ye have received the greatest benefits from me, such as ye could not expect from him, and yet ye are more attached to him than to me.” These words give us an insight into Saul’s partisan and particularistic mode of governing, in which he preferably filled court-offices with persons of his own tribe. From landed possessions (fields and vineyards), Saul goes on to refer to places of honor in the now organized army. The לְ before the second “all of you” is not to be exchanged for “and” (so Then, [and Eng. A. V.] after Sept. and Vulg., which indeed give the sense correctly), but is to be taken either in the sense of “as regards”—“will he (also) as regards you all make captains?” etc., that is, take account of you all in filling these offices (Ew., § 310 a), or, in the distributive sense, which it sometimes has (Ew., § 217 a, § 277 e)=“will he make all and each of you” (Ewald)? The sense is given correctly by Maurer: “Will he make as many tribunes and centurions as may be necessary in order that each of you may have such an office?”
1Sa_22:8. In his mental derangement and passionate excitement Saul takes it as certain that they have all conspired against him: because, as he says, they told him nothing of the covenant which his son had made with David against him. These words pre-suppose that he had learned something of the occurrence related in 1Sa_20:12-17 [the covenant between David and Jonathan], for they are too definite [made (Heb. cut) a covenant] to refer merely to the friendship of Jonathan and David. He assumes that his court-officials knew of this covenant, and then concludes that they had conspired against him with these two men. The words: “there is none that is sorry for me,” express the opinion that they had abandoned him in their hearts. His charge passes to the factually false assertion that his son had set his servant (David) as a lier in wait against him. (Sept. “enemy” = לְאֹיֵב, without ground, Vulg. appropriately insidiantem mihi.) There is herein a two-fold false accusation: 1) as to David, that he was lying in wait to take his throne and life; and 2) as to Jonathan, that he was the cause of this insurrectionary and insidious conduct of David. Saul fancies himself in the meshes of a conspiracy against his person and kingdom organized by his own son, and accuses his courtiers of knowledge thereof and active participation therein. To such a pitch had the darkening and wasting of his inner life grown through hate and suspicion.—As is now evident [=as it is this day], comp. Deu_8:18. In proof Saul points to David’s concealment and retinue. He was, therefore, not without information concerning this fact. S. Schmid: “as is proved by this day, in which David gathers an army, and from the forest lays snares for me.”
1Sa_22:9. Here we must especially note in the psychological point of view, how Doeg’s information about David’s visit to Ahimelech and the latter’s inquiring of the Lord for him and providing him with food and the sword of Goliath (comp. 1Sa_21:8), turns Saul’s dark thoughts away from the courtiers, and directs all his energy to the person of the high-priest, so that he now thinks only of taking vengeance on him. Doeg is said to be “set over (or, standing with) Saul’s servants;” why the version of the Sept.: “set over the mules” (פִּרְדֵי), should be the “only appropriate one” [Then.], it is hard to see. The rendering of the Heb.: set over the servants of Saul (Chald., Kimchi, Vulg., Syr.)=“highest court-official, court-marshal, minister of the household,” does not agree with the description in 1Sa_21:7 : “overseer of the herdsmen” (as was natural in this first stage of the development of the kingdom, and in accordance with the position of his family, Saul’s possessions consisted chiefly in herds). Rather the words answer to the statement (1Sa_22:7): “all his servants stood by (around) him,” and are to be rendered: And (or, also) he stood with the servants of Saul (Arab., De Wette, Buns. [Philipps.]). “As chief overseer of the herds Doeg was in a sort one of the dignitaries of the kingdom” (Bunsen). There is no superfluous statement here; the narrator declares that he was now here present, having in 1Sa_21:8 (7) described him as being in the sanctuary at Nob. From the connection it is clear that Doeg gave his information with evil purpose, in order to turn the king’s suspicion from the courtiers to the high-priest. In Saul’s frame of mind the mere statement of actual fact, of which he was ear and eye-witness, had all the more powerful effect on him. S. Schmid: “Far better, therefore, did Saul’s other servants, who kept silence.” Hengstenberg (Introd. to Psalms 52.) absolves Doeg from enmity to David, observing that he merely stated the fact, to which the malicious interpretation was given by Saul alone; but this does not agree with what Saul had just before said against David and his courtiers, nor with Doeg’s bloody proceeding against the priests at Nob, nor with what is said in Psa_52:3-5 of the tongue like a sharp razor, of the wickedness, falsehood, calumny and deceit of the enemy, all of which applies to Doeg, but not to Saul. Rightly Grotius: “see the description of Doeg in Psalms 52.” That Ahimelech inquired of the Lord for David is here by Doeg’s assertion added to the account in 1Sa_21:7-10 [6–9], and confirmed by Ahimelech himself, 1Sa_22:15.26
1Sa_22:11. On this treacherous and slanderous statement of Doeg, Saul straightway sends for Ahimelech and all his father’s house, that is, all the priests in Nob, “because these all belonged to the one family of Aaron” (Then.). In Nob, therefore, dwelt the whole priestly family with the high-priest.
1Sa_22:12 sq. The council now becomes a solemn tribunal with pleading and verdict.—Saul assumes that Ahimelech is guilty, adducing the three facts mentioned as in themselves proofs of guilt.
1Sa_22:14 sq. The high-priest’s answer has the stamp of quiet, clearness and a good conscience. First, he affirms that he was justified in unsuspiciously trusting to David. “And who among all thy servants is as David trusted” (De Wette)? that is object of confidence; in proof of which he refers to three things: David’s position at court as the king’s son-in-law, as his trusted privy-councillor and as an honored man in his house. The word מִשְׁמַעַת [Eng. A. V. “bidding”]=“audience;” so in Isa_11:14, as Böttcher has shown, “they are their (Israel’s) audience,” that is, “they are of those who seek audience of Israel, pay court to Israel, come with homage,” not “who obey them” [as in Eng. A. V., and so J. A. Alexander.—Tr.]—The word has the same signification also in 2Sa_23:23 and 1Ch_11:25, where it is said: “And David set Benaiah for his audience” [Eng. A. V.: “over his guard”], appointed him privy councillor.—[In 1Ch_11:25 the Preposition is עַל, “over,” in 2 Samuel it is אֵל, “to.”—Tr.]—סוּר = “to withdraw, turn aside,” for a definite purpose, for example, to see (Exo_3:3; Rth_4:1), here “withdrawing to thy audience” [Eng. A. V. “goeth”], as “having interior admission” (Böttch.); so Maurer: “who turns aside (from the other courtiers) that he may hear thee, that is, who has access to the interior of thy palace, and there takes part in thy more weighty counsels.” Schultz: “Leaving all else, listening to thee and doing thy will.” This explanation is here confirmed by the phrase “among all thy servants” (Böttch.). Thenius takes the word as = “obedience” in the special sense, as meaning the devotedly obedient body-guard (so also Ewald and Bertheau on 1Ch_11:25) and renders “captain over the body-guard” (reading עַל for אֶל and, after Sept. and Chald., שַּׂר for סָר). Against this Böttcher rightly remarks that the traces [of a different reading] in the versions are altogether uncertain, that Thenius’ reading is not Heb. (עַל is found with שַׂר, instead of the Gen., only where it is dependent on a verb), that according to 1Sa_18:5; 1Sa_18:13, David had command not of the body-guard, but of other more distant troops, that, as the other designation of David in the verse (even “son-in-law”) are moral marks of confidence, the mention of a military position would be strange, and the very question “Who is among thy servants captain over thy body-guard as David?” would sound somewhat queerly.27—Ahimelech says, therefore, that he could have done nothing less than in good conscience trust a man so trusted and honored by the king, “as a faithful subject of the king” (Keil) giving David bread and arms on his assertion that he had a secret commission from the king.—Further, in the question: Did I that day begin to inquire of God for him? he insists on the fact that David had often before received from him in the sanctuary divine direction in important undertakings. [This interpretation is denied by some (so Bib.-Com.) on the ground that nothing is said in 1 Samuel 21 of such an inquiry by Ahimelech for David. The Midrash also says that counsel was given by Urim and Thummim only to the king or his public ambassador (Philipps.); but Rashi agrees with the common interpretation, and Abarbanel gives both that and the direct form “that was the first day that I inquired of God for him, and I did not know that it was displeasing to thee.” Some, taking the phrase הֵחֵל לִשְׁאוֹל to mean simply “to inquire,” find a negative sense in the question: “did I inquire? Nay, I did not.” But this weakening of הֵחֵל is not justified by usage; the idea of “beginning” must be expressed here. This being so, the choice is between the two interpretations above given, the interrogatory and the direct, and of these the former (that of Erdmann) seems more in keeping with Ahimelech’s dignity of character. The omission of the fact in chap. 21 must then be attributed to the curtness of the narrative. Yet this omission is surprising, and, while Ahimelech’s somewhat obscure words here scarcely admit of any other satisfactory translation than that given by Erdmann, there is room for doubt as to his meaning.—Tr.].—On this statement of facts Ahimelech founds his affirmation: Far be it from me, that is, such a crime as he is accused of, that he was party to a conspiracy against the king.—In respect to this accusation, his defence culminates in the request: Let not the king impute anything to his servant, to the whole house of my father, wherein the absence of the copula [“nor,” supplied in Eng. A. V.] is to be referred with Keil to the excitement of the speaker. Finally he adds as reason: For thy servant knows nothing of all this, little or great, that is, nothing at all. The “all this” refers not to what David had told him, as if he intended to say that he knew nothing of David’s false assertion, but to what Saul had charged him with.—This answer of the high-priest supposes certainly that he knew nothing of the unhappy condition of things in respect to David, or of his flight with its causes and circumstances.
1Sa_22:16. Saul’s arbitrary, precipitate judgment as contrasted with the innocence of the high-priest and of the whole body of priests.
1Sa_22:17. The order for its immediate execution is given to the “runners,” who were either servants for running on messages, or guards who ran before or beside the king in his public appearance, [Eng. A. V., “footmen”]. Comp. 1Sa_9:11; 2Ki_10:25. As court-officials they stood also in this solemn assembly by the king. For the expression “stood by or about,” see 1Sa_22:6; 1Sa_22:9 [on 1Sa_22:9 see the Exposition.—Tr.]. According to Saul’s decision not only the high-priest, but also the whole priesthood should die for alleged participation in David’s conspiracy. For their hand also is with David, they make common cause with him against me. This assertion he bases on the unproved fact: they knew that he fled, and did not show it me. (Instead of Kethib “his ear” read with Qeri “my ear,” for such a sudden transition to indirect discourse “and (as he said) did not show him,” is impossible).—The guards refuse to obey Saul’s order, a proof of the disorder which his blind rage produced. This refusal reminds us of the scene in 1Sa_14:45, where Saul’s sentence of death against Jonathan is opposed. Saul’s servants will not lay their hands on the sacred persons of the priests; this is indicated in the expression “the priests of the Lord.” [Wordsworth: Thus they were more faithful to Saul than if they had obeyed his order, which was against the commandment of the Lord. Theodoret (in Wordsw.): The heinousness of Saul’s sin is made more conspicuous by his servants’ refusal.—Tr.].
1Sa_22:18. Saul’s choice of Doeg as the executor of his order is a proof of the savageness which was combined with wickedness and guile in this Edomite. On the form of his name “Doyeg” (as in 1Sa_22:22) see Ew. § 45 d. The pron. “he” [“he fell”] emphasizes Doeg’s willingness in contrast with the refusal of the guards. As above by the expression “priests of the Lord,” so here the wickedness of this act is brought prominently out by the significant reference to the official dress of the priests, “who wore a linen ephod,” the sign of the holiness of their persons. On the wearing of the ephod see 1Sa_2:18. Linen; the common priests, therefore, wore a linen over-garment similar in form to the high-priestly cape or ephod (Buns.).
1Sa_22:19. Nob is here expressly called the “city of the priests.” The whole city, as such, with all living things therein, is devoted to destruction by Saul in his fury. It is treated by him as a city under the ban (Cherem), which is polluted by idolatry and therefore devoted to destruction. The wrong alleged to be done to him by the priests is laid on the whole city as an idolatrous wrong against the Lord Himself, which is therefore thus to be avenged. Comp. Deu_13:13 sq. [Saul does not seem to have had the theocratic cherem or ban in mind, but in an access of rage did what was not uncommon among ancient oriental princes.—Tr.].
1Sa_22:20. Only one son of Ahimelech, Abiathar, escaped the slaughter. How that happened is not said. Perhaps he was not present at this trial, and hastened away from Nob while it was being destroyed. “After David,” that is, to the retreat of the fugitive David, This is another proof of the intimate relations between David and the high-priestly family.
1Sa_22:21-23. Through Abiathar David received information of Saul’s bloody vengeance on Nob. David said to Abiathar: “I knew that day (comp. chap, 1Sa_21:7-8) that, because Doeg the Edomite was there, he would certainly tell Saul.” So Vulg. and Then.; not (Keil): “I knew that day that Doeg … that he,” etc., nor (De Wette): “I knew … that Doeg … and that.” David confesses himself guilty of the blood shed in Nob, because his flight thither and conduct there, while he knew of Doeg’s presence, gave occasion to it. Vulg.: “I am guilty of all the souls.” This confession of David shows the strictness of his self-judgment. (סָבַב here = “to be guilty of a thing,” see Ges. Lex. s. v. In the Talmud סַבַּה “cause”).
1Sa_22:23. The consequence of David’s invitation to Abiathar to abide with him is that the high-priesthood goes over to David and to the new future kingdom, though David entered into no rebellion against Saul for this end. Fear not,—namely, Saul’s snares and power. For he that seeketh my life, etc.—Certainly the converse assertion would be natural here: “He that seeks thy life seeks mine;” but we are not therefore with Then, (after the Sept., whose translation seeks to get rid of this difficulty) to change the text, so that it would read: “for whatever place I seek for myself, that will I (also) seek for thee,” but we must explain it from the reference that David therein has to Saul. As against Saul David binds the fate of the fugitive high-priest to his own in an indissoluble covenant under the protection of God. The sense is: “The persecution which I suffer, touches thee also. But I stand under God’s protection as one that suffers injustice; so art thou, because thy life like mine is threatened, safely kept in company with me.” The second “for” [Eng. A. V. “but” כִּי] is also dependent on the “fear not.” This consolatory assurance is based first, on the reference to their common enemy, and on the reference to the protection which Abiathar will enjoy with him, who knew that, as regarded Saul, he was under God’s special protection, מִשְׁמֶרֶת “preservation” (Exo_12:6; Exo_16:33 sq), abstract for concrete, “a precious deposit or trust” (Ewald).
[During this first period of David’s life as outlaw several incidents occurred which are not mentioned in this narrative. We learn from 2Sa_23:13 that three of his chief heroes came to him in the cave of Adullam, one of whom was his nephew Abishai, afterwards a famous general. A little after (1Ch_11:15-19) occurred that noble act of loving daring, when the “three mightiest” broke through the Philistine army and brought their leader water from the well of Bethlehem, for which he longed. This was while he was in the “hold;” and at this time apparently came to him the stout band of lion-faced, gazelle-footed Gadites, who swam the Jordan when its banks were overflowed, and scattered all enemies before them (1Ch_12:8-15), and an enthusiastic body of men of Judah and Benjamin, for whose friendship Amasai answered in his passionate speech (1Ch_12:16-18). As to whether David was at Keilah when Abiathar came to him, see Erdmann on 1Sa_23:6. For fuller accounts of this period see Chandler (1 Samuel 7) and Stanley’s Lectures, 22—Tr.]
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. Whether Psalms 57, whose title is: “By David, when he fled from Saul in the cave,” refers to the case of Adullam or to Engedi (1 Samuel 24) is uncertain. Certainly, however, the situation here, the condition of his inner life as fugitive, and his experience of divine help, form the basis of the thought of the Psalm, in which first “believing hope (founded on experience) of speedy and sure divine help out of great peril of life from violent men, shows itself in the prayer for a new manifestation of divine grace, whereby God’s truth and trustworthiness will be shown by deeds,” and then, “after a short description of the snares, which resulted in the destruction of the enemies themselves, the certain assurance of victory is expressed in the invocation of the author’s own soul to praise God in all the world on the ground of His self-revelation in His glory” (Moll).—Psalms 52 certainly in its essential content agrees with David’s position as indicated by the reference in the title to Doeg’s treachery. But, from the general nature of the didactic content of the Psalm, we must also suppose a reference to the hate and persecution of Saul, whose tool Doeg was.
2. David is the representative of the theocratic principle, for which he suffers and endures. The uninterrupted tribulation which he experiences from now till he enters into the theocratic kingly office, he bears, for the sake of the Lord, who has chosen him for this office and the calling therewith conjoined for all Israel; it serves to humble and purify him, and its precious fruit is that he yields himself more absolutely into God’s hands, and treads solely the path which the divine providence points out; he will know only what God will do for him; he listens only to what God says, and obeys unconditionally God’s command announced by the mouth of the prophet. So, in the development of his inner and outer life under the many testing and purifying sufferings sent by God, David becomes more and more a shining type of the humble faith, which bows unmurmuringly under the Lord’s afflicting hand, accepts unconditionally God’s hidden providences, is attentive to the Lord’s word, and yields joyful obedience to His commands.—Saul has become the representative of the antitheocratic principle; conscious that the kingdom is justly taken from him for his self-willed apostasy from God, he suffers pain and anguish in the fear of losing the throne through David, and, his look distorted by this inner unrest, sees everywhere only conspiracy and treachery against his throne and life; the more he shuts his eyes to the divine leadings in David’s life, and obstinately withstands God’s known will concerning David, the more does he harden his heart against God’s word and instructions, the deeper does he sink into the abyss of wretched fear of man, and the farther from his heart recedes true fear of God, the more irretardably rushes on his inner life, pursued by the terrors of the angry God, and of a conscience pressed down by the burden of unforgiven sin, which yet leads him not to pure self-knowledge and humble subjection to God’s almighty hand, towards the abyss of doubt and the judgment of inner hardening of heart.
3. While apparently under Saul’s sharply-sketched despotic and cruel rule (a horrible caricature of the theocratic government) the three pillars of God’s kingdom in Israel break down—the theocratic kingdom in David hunted to the death, prophets oppressed and silenced, the priesthood exterminated—yet just here this threefold office appears in most significant facts under the protection of the almighty, faithful God, who will not let His covenant fail, as factual divine promise or prediction: about David, as the Lord’s chosen king, is grouped His family as representatives of Israel’s hope of salvation, and is gathered the root of the theocratic congregation, in Gad appears prophecy in God’s name, and with the light of His word pointing the way out of the gloom, and in Abiathar the high-priesthood is rescued from Saul’s purposed destruction into the safe-keeping of the future king.
[4. It is hardly necessary now to discuss the question, whether David was a rebel against Saul. As he never lifted his hand against his king, as he always cherished love for him, as his military enterprises were all against the enemies of Israel, as his efforts were confined to the saving of his life from Saul’s attempts, it is clear that he was not a traitor and a rebel. He was an outlaw, but a patriotic, God-fearing, loyal outlaw. See Chandler’s elaborate defence of David against Bayle in chs. 7 and 8 of his “Life of David.”—Tr.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa_22:1. S. Schmid: When God has rescued us from danger, we should make such a use of it as to grow wiser thereby.—Osiander: It makes our cross much heavier to see that evil comes upon our dearest friends and kindred for our sake.
1Sa_22:2. Berl. Bible: Though thou findest thyself without refuge, yet thou becomest a refuge for all the distressed.—All who find themselves in distress are even in the midst of their pains filled with joy, when they meet with other men who have to bear the same oppressions. This at once forms a very close union among them.—[1Sa_22:4. Descendants of Ruth compelled by civil strife to leave Jehovah’s country, and seek shelter in Moab.—Tr.]
1Sa_22:6-10. Schlier (Saul): Saul is filled with fear of men, because he lacks true fear of God.—O how much fear and anxiety there is, and so often it has no other ground than in an evil conscience; how much fear of man there is, and the fountain is in sins unforgiven; how much despondency there is, and yet all might be so far otherwise if people would only humble themselves and confess their sins.
1Sa_22:8. Starke: That is the way with the ungodly, that with their evil behaviour they yet want to have their rights.—Berl. Bible: Perturbation and distrust are constantly the companions of malevolence and sin, while tranquillity stands by the side of persecuted innocence.—[1Sa_22:9. A ruler who wants informers can always find them.—Tr.]
1Sa_22:11-15. Schlier (Saul): O how unkingly stands King Saul before us, how dignified, how truly kingly stands Ahimelech! So true is it that he that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city!—It is manliness to place the truth above everything, and go security for the truth, and defend the truth, even unto death. Let us learn from this royal manliness of an Ahimelech; who also confessed the truth even unto death.—[1Sa_22:13. It is so easy for the passionate to cheat themselves with hasty inferences.—Tr.]
1Sa_22:16 sq. Doeg and Saul were also men like ourselves, both had also a conscience, both were also yielding and receptive, and Saul was once even in good ways, he had learned to fear and love God, and yet both were now so deep-sunken, both were now hardened, and to human eyes irrecoverably lost. The reason is, they trifled with God’s word, they were not willing to obey the truth, they wilfully lived on in their sins.—No man is sure that he will not fall into sin, nor is any man sure that he will remain in a good way; it holds good for all that they must always work out their salvation with fear and trembling.—[1Sa_22:17. The best friends of an angry man are those who refuse to aid him in doing wrong.
1Sa_22:16-19. Henry: See the desperate wickedness of Saul, when the Spirit of the Lord was departed from him. Nothing so vile but they may be hurried to it, who have provoked God to give them up to their heart’s lusts. He that was so compassionate as to spare Agag and the cattle of the Amalekites, in disobedience to the command of God, could now, with unrelenting bowels, see the priests of the Lord murdered, and nothing spared of all that belonged to them. For that sin, God left him to this.—There are many historical cases in which sentimental humanity has become transformed into savage cruelty.
1Sa_22:18. So often in what calls itself the administration of justice, many innocent men are punished because the one man who did the wrong has escaped.—God makes the wrath of man to praise Him (Psa_76:10). The punishment foretold against the house of Eli (1Sa_2:31) is executed through the madness of Saul and the baseness of Doeg.—Hall: It was just in God, which in Doeg was most unjust. Saul’s cruelty, and the treachery of Doeg, do not lose one dram of their guilt by the counsel of God, neither doth the holy counsel of God gather any blemish by their wickedness. … If Saul and Doeg be instead of a pestilence or fever, who can cavil?
1Sa_22:19. A madly passionate man in authority (despot, parent, teacher) often seeks to justify his cruel conduct by still greater cruelty.—Tr.]
[1Sa_22:22. Taylor: Behold how impossible it is to arrest the consequences of our evil actions. … I have no doubt that when David heard of all this, he would willingly have given all that he had, ay, even his hopes of one day sitting on the throne of Israel, if he could have recalled the evil which he had spoken, and undone its dismal consequences. But it was impossible. The lie had gone forth from him; and having done so, it was no longer under his control, but would go on producing its diabolical fruits. And so it is yet. … We may, indeed, repent of our sin; we may even, through the grace of God for Christ’s sake, have the assurance that we are forgiven for it; but the sin itself will go on working its deadly results.—Tr.]
[Ch. 22. David struggling upward, Saul sinking downward. (Comp. Hist. and Theol., No. 2.)
[1Sa_22:3. Our Future. 1) Our future will be determined by God. Comp. Psa_31:15. 2) Our future cannot be clearly foreseen by us, and this is well. Comp. Pro_27:1. 3) We must provide as wisely as we can for our future, and then wait. 4) Whatever God may do to us in the future, we must try to receive it as from Him.
[1Sa_22:5. Danger and Duty. 1) Where no duty calls, let us keep away from danger. Comp. Gen_13:12-13; Exo_2:15; 1Sa_23:13; Joh_4:1; Joh_11:53-54. 2) But often, to keep away from danger is to be out of the reach of success. If David had remained in Moab, he would never have become king of Israel. “Nothing venture, nothing have.” Comp. Mat_16:25; Act_21:13; Joh_12:23. 3) How can we tell when duty calls us into danger? Not now by special revelation, but by keeping our minds familiar with the written word, watching the leadings of Providence, seeking counsel from the wise and good, striving to judge calmly even amid perturbations, and praying all the while for the guidance of God’s Spirit. Comp. 1Ch_28:9; Pro_3:6.
[1Sa_22:17. Three scenes in the life of Saul, 1Sa_11:13; 1Sa_15:22-23; 1Sa_22:16-19.
[1Sa_22:6-23. Pictures of Human Nature. 1) A man in authority, whose misfortunes, though due to his own fault, make him suspicious (1Sa_22:8) and cruelly unjust (1Sa_22:16). 2) A basely ambitious man who seeks to build himself up by ruining others (1Sa_22:9-10; 1Sa_22:18, comp. Psalms 52). 3) An innocent man accused, who defends himself both with forcible argument (1Sa_22:14) and with dignified denial (1Sa_22:15). 4) A good, but erring man who mournfully sees that his sin has brought destruction on his friends (1Sa_22:22).—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][1Sa_22:1. Wellhausen proposes to read מְצָדַת, “hold,” on the ground of the identity of the locality with the מְצוּדָה of 1Sa_22:4. But, in addition to the uniform support which the VSS. give to the Heb. text, the same locality might be called from one feature of it a “cave,” and from another a “mountain-hold.”—Tr.]
[2][1Sa_22:3. It has been questioned whether 1Sa_22:3-4, belonged to the original narrative, because they carry David to Moab, and say nothing of his return. But this omission is not against the habit of these ancient narratives. However, supposing this paragraph to be an insertion from another source by the editor, this does not affect the genuineness of the narrative as a whole. That David’s parents are mentioned here, and not in 1Sa_22:1, or in 1Sa_20:29, accords with the circumstances; there is occasion here to mention them, there was none before.—Tr.]
[3][1Sa_22:3. Sept., Syr., Arab., Vulg., write this with a in the first syllable, which is perhaps an old pronunciation. Some Greek VSS. render σκοπίαν.—Tr.]
[4][1Sa_22:3. One MS. has יֵשֵׁב, “dwell” (with you), and so Sept., Syr., Arab., Vulg.; this is probably the correct reading, the יצא, “go out,” not suiting the following preposition “with,” and a construct. pregn. being improbable here.—Tr.]
[5][1Sa_22:4. Sept. takes this from stem נָחַם, and renders: “he persuaded [or appealed to] the king,” which is contrary to the meaning of this verb, and against the other VSS. Wellhausen prefers the pointing וַיַּנִּחֵם (from נוּחַ), “he settled or left them with the king,” as better agreeing with the following אֶת־פְנֵי, and so read Chald., Syr., Arab., Vulg. This seems the better rendering, though after וַיַּנִּחֵם the usage would lead us to expect either simple אֵת, “with,” or לִפְנֵי, “before.” Possibly we have here a blending of the two prepositions.—Tr.]
[6][1Sa_22:5. So the VSS. except Sept., which has πόλει, “city” (עִיר instead of יַעַר), and this is approved by Lieut. Conder, of the Palestine Exploration Fund on topographical grounds. As to this we must await further explorations.—Tr.]
[7][1Sa_22:6. On the various and apparently arbitrary treatment of this word in the VSS. see Ges., Thes. s. v. The אֵשֶׁל of 1Sa_31:3 is אֵלָה in 1Ch_10:12, and Gesen. suggests that the word may have come to have the general signification “tree.” See Stanley’s “Sinai and Pal.,” App., § 79. There is no ground for doubting the correctness of the Heb. text here.—Tr.]
[8][1Sa_22:7. The ל is strange, perhaps an Aramaism after יָשִׂים (the Chald. and Syr. have it), perhaps by error for ו, “and.”—Tr.]
[9][1Sa_22:8. Literally “that uncovereth my ear.”—Tr.]
[10][1Sa_22:8. Omission of בְּרִית as in 1Sa_20:16.—Tr.]
[11][1Sa_22:9. Sept. “mules,” as in 1Sa_21:8 (7). Or: “was standing with the servants of Saul.”—Tr.]
[12][1Sa_22:10. One Heb. MS. and Grk., Syr., Arab., have “Elohim.”—Tr.]
[13][1Sa_22:14. On this difficult phrase see Erdmann’s exposition.—Tr.]
[14][1Sa_22:15. The Kethib has the full form שְאוֹל, which before Maqqeph the Qeri reduces to the slenderer שְׁאָל.—Tr.].
[15][1Sa_22:15. Heb. simply בְּ, “in,” before which a ו has probably fallen out.—Tr.]
[16][1Sa_22:18. Heb. 85, Sept. 305. Josephus 385. Thenius suggests that Sept. 300 is for 400 represented in Heb. by ת, which was mistakenly read for ף (80), to which Wellh. objects that the final ף is not 80, but 800.—The Kethib דּוֹיֵג has י where Qeri דוֹאֵג has א, a not unfrequent interchange in Heb. The Syriac usage is according to the Kethib.—Tr.]
[17][1Sa_22:22. Literally: “I am cause as to all the souls.” On this use of סָבַב in the sense of “cause, occasion,” see Ges., Thes. s. v. But Then, after Sept. ἐγώ εἰμι αἵτιος τῶν ψυχῶν, reads חַבְתִּי, “I am guilty;” this stem חוּב occurs only once in Old Test. in Dan_1:19 in Piel as causative; it is frequent in later Heb.—Tr.]
[18][1Sa_22:23. On this reading see Erdmann’s Expos.—Tr.]
[19][Comp. 2Sa_23:13-17; 1Ch_12:8-19.—Tr.]
[20][On Adullam see Smith’s Bib.-Dict.; Stanley’s Lectures, II., 69; Thomson, Land and Book, II., 424–427. The latter decides for Khureitun, and gives a vivid description of its labyrinthine intricacies and its strength.—Tr.]
[21][“The same phrase is used of Hannah, 1Sa_1:10; of David and his companions, 2Sa_17:8; and of David’s followers, 1Sa_30:6. Hence the phrase here denotes those who are exasperated by Saul’s tyranny” (Bib.-Com.) It is not necessary to suppose in all these men a theocratic feeling or love for David.—Tr.]
[22][On this reading see “Text. and Gramm.”—Tr.]
[23][As distinguished from Jehovah. Yet that the name Jehovah was not unknown in Moab is made probable by its occurrence on the Inscription of Mesha, dating about one hundred and fifty years after this time.—Tr.]
[24][Syr. here has Mizpeh. Wordsworth (on 1Sa_22:4) strangely derives מְצוּדָה from צוּר, “rock.”—Tr.]
[25][This rule (Ew., § 352) hardly applies here; גַּם=“together” (Psa_133:1), and can express reciprocity only when the connection affirms something to be true of two or more persons; here it would apply to the courtiers only, excluding David. It is better to take it as qualifying the whole sentence,=“yet” (Ew., § 354 a), or as qualifying “son of Jesse,” as it may do, though it stands at the beginning of the sentence.—Tr.]
[26][This is not certain. See on 1Sa_22:15.—Tr.]
[27][The passage 1Ch_11:25, nevertheless, makes a difficulty and the differences of the vss. suggest a corruption of the text. Here the rendering of Böttcher and Erdmann (and Philippson and Bib. Com.) seems the best, though we can hardly sever this passage from 1Ch_11:25.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17, 19, 20 every one that was in distress--(See on Jdg 11:3).
every one that was in distress--(See on Jdg 11:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22 DAVID IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM, 1Sa_22:1-2.
DAVID IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM, 1Sa_22:1-2.
David has now found that neither the privacy of his own house, nor the sanctity of Samuel, nor the love of Jonathan, nor the favour of the high priest, avails to save him from the persecutions of Saul. Nor will he dare again trust himself alone in the hands of a heathen king. He now resolved to act, for the time, the part of a Jephthah, and gather around himself a band of warriors, in whom he may find at least a powerful body-guard.
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1. Departed thence, and escaped — Whether he was thrust out of the land or escaped by stealth we are not here told, but from the title of Psalms 34 we infer that he was driven away. Having thus effected his escape, his joyful heart gives vent to its feelings in that inimitable psalm.
The cave Adullam — A city Adullam was situate in or near the plain of Philistia, (Jos_15:35;) but there is no passage of Scripture that necessarily connects the cave of Adullam with the city of that name. There appears, therefore, no sufficient reason to disturb the tradition of seven hundred years, which fixes this cave about six miles southeast of Bethlehem, in the side of the wild gorge el-Kureitun. It has been visited by many travellers, who all describe it as an immense natural cavern in the side of the cliff, and very difficult of access. Dr. J.P. Newman, who explored it in 1861, thus writes: “Entering the cave through a passage way six feet high, four wide, and thirty long, but which soon contracted to such dimensions as to compel us first to stoop and then to creep, we at length found ourselves in the hiding place of David. Owing to the curve in the entrance, no sunlight ever penetrates this dismal abode. Lighting our candles, we began to explore.
We found the interior divided into chambers, halls, galleries, and dungeons, connected by intricate passageways. The chief hall is one hundred and twenty feet long, and fifty wide; the ceiling is high and arched, ornamented with pendants resembling stalactites; and from the walls extend sharp projections, on which the ancient warriors hung their arms. The effect was grand as our tapers revealed each irregular arch, graceful pendant, and sharp projection, giving the whole the appearance of a grand Gothic hall. Lateral passages radiate in every direction from this chamber, but ultimately converge in a central room. The darkness and silence were oppressive, and the seclusion and intricacies of the cave would have baffled any attempt of Saul to capture the object of his pursuit. From the side of the first chamber we reached a pit ten feet deep, and from it a low, narrow alley, two hundred and ten feet long, leads to another hall, the inner sanctum, where David held his secret counsels.” David probably became familiar with this cave in his childhood, when he kept his father’s flocks near Beth-lehem.
His brethren and all his father’s house… went down thither — Because, on account of Saul’s rage, their lives were no longer safe at Bethlehem.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 Ch. 1Sa_22:1-5. David’s band of Followers
Ch. 1Sa_22:1-5. David’s band of Followers
1. the cave Adullam] Rather, the cave of Adullam. Adullam was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, in the neighbourhood of Jarmuth, Socoh, Azekah, and Shaaraim, all places in or near the valley of Elah (Jos_12:15; Jos_15:35). In this valley, about 2½ miles S. of the point where it takes an abrupt turn to the west, some ruins have been discovered bearing the name Aid el Ma, which is thought to be a corruption of Adullam. They lie at the foot of a high rounded hill, almost isolated by subordinate valleys, and commanding a fine view over the main valley to the east. It forms a natural fortress, well adapted for the site of a city, which numerous ruins shew once stood there. The sides of the tributary valleys are lined with rows of caves, amply sufficient to accommodate David’s 400 men, and still used for habitations. See Conder’s Tent Work, II. 157 ff. The traditional identification of Adullam with the cave at Khureitun, five miles S.E. of Bethlehem, is quite untenable.
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they went down thither to him] For fear lest Saul might wreak his vengeance upon them. In the East it was not uncommon for a whole family to be put to death for the fault of one member, and the massacre at Nob soon shewed them what they might expect.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 (1) The cave Adullam.—The great valley of Elah forms…
(1) The cave Adullam.—The great valley of Elah forms the highway from Philistia to Hebron. In one especially of the tributary vales or ravines of the Elah valley are many natural caves, some of great extent, roomy and dry, which are still used by the shepherds as dwelling-places, and as refuges for their flocks and herds. David chose one of these natural fastnesses as the temporary home for himself and his followers. The traveller sees that there was ample room for the 400 refugees who gathered under David’s skilled leadership. Stanley even speaks of this Adullam Cavern as “a subterranean palace, with vast columnar halls and arched chambers.”
The name Adullam was probably given to the largest of these great caverns from its proximity to the old royal Canaanitish city of Adullam (Jos_15:35), ruins of which on a rounded hill to the south of the cave are still visible.
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His brethren and all his father’s house.—They of course soon felt the weight of Saul’s anger against the prominent hero of their race, and dreading the fate which often overwhelms whole families for the faults of one of the more distinguished members, fled from their homes, and joined David and his armed force of outlaws.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 23 The cave Adullam. According to Josephus this was situated…
COMMENCEMENT OF DAVID"S LIFE AS AN OUTLAW.
The cave Adullam. According to Josephus this was situated near a city of the same name ("Ant.," 6:12, 3), which formed one of a group of fifteen in the Shephelah, (see on 1Sa_17:1) and its site has now been recovered by Mr. Conder (see "Tent Work," 2:156-160). "The great valley," he says, "of Elah, which forms the highway from Philistia to Hebron, runs down northwards past Keilah and Hareth, dividing the low hills of the Shephelah from the rocky mountains of Judah. Eight miles from the valley head stands Shochoh, and two and a half miles south of this is a very large and ancient terebinth." This stands on "the west side of the vale, just where a small tributary ravine joins the main valley; and on the south of this ravine is a high rounded hill, almost isolated by valleys, and covered with ruins, a natural fortress," the site of the city Adullam. David"s cave, he considers, would not be one of the larger caverns, as these are seldom used for habitations; but "the sides of the tributary valley are lined with rows of caves, and these we found inhabited, and full of flocks and herds; but still more interesting was the discovery of a separate cave on the hill itself, a low, smoke-blackened burrow, which was the home of a single family. We could not but suppose, as we entered this gloomy abode, that our feet were standing in the very footprints of the shepherd king, who here, encamped between the Philistines and the Jews, covered the line of advance on the cornfields of Keilah, and was but three miles distant from the thickets of Hareth." After describing the fine view from this hill, which is about 500 feet high, he adds, "There is ample room to have accommodated David"s 400 men in the caves, and they are, as we have seen, still inhabited." Thus then David"s cave was one of many in the Terebinth valley and the ravine opening into it, and was not far from Gath, though over the border. Here his brethren and all his father"s house joined him through fear of Saul. Among these would be Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, his cousins; and we learn how great was the love and enthusiasm which David was able to inspire among them from the feat of the three heroes, of whom Abishai was one, who, while he was in the cave of Adullam, and a garrison of the Philistines at Bethlehem, broke through them to bring David water from the well there. (2Sa_23:13-17) As Bethlehem was thus held by the Philistines, there was double reason for the flight of Jesse"s family; and it is a proof how thoroughly Saul"s government had broken down that, while Samuel could maintain a son at Beersheba as 1Sa_8:2-4 Saul was unable to defend places so much more distant from the Philistine border.
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Vers. 1-5.
Difficult circumstances.
The facts are
1. David, escaping from Garb, takes refuge in the cave of Adullam.
2. Here he is joined by his kindred and a miscellaneous band of men, overwhom he exercises authority as captain.
3. Anxious for the comfort of his father and mother, he desires and obtainsof the king of Moab permission for them to dwell at Mizpeh.
4. On being advised by the prophet Gad, he returns to Judah. This sectioncovers the conduct of David up to the point when the "walking in darkness" terminated in a merciful Divine intervention. Four leading characters are here set before us: David, his adherents, his parents, and the seer; and the teaching of the passage may be arranged by making each of these in succession the prominent figure.
I PRUDENCE IN DIFFICULTY. The line of action taken by David after his escape from the dangers of Gath is a remarkable instance of prudence, when regard is had to the utterly hopeless condition to which he was apparently reduced, and that no light was afforded him from any prophetic source. Lonely and bunted, he sought an impregnable cave for shelter, abstaining from any publicity to attract men into revolt against Saul. Being, apart from his choice, surrounded by men who for various private reasons were in sympathy with him, he simply organised them for defence in case of need. Knowing the peril of parents advancing in years, he sought out a place of safety where they would be free from possibility of annoyance. To secure this, and also to betake himself as far as possible from collision with Saul, he availed himself of the advantage of a kinship through Ruth, and yet, after having made the best disposition of affairs his judgment could suggest, he at once yielded to the superior wisdom of the prophet of God. In all this we get traces of the qualities which subsequently made David a wise king. Herein are lines of conduct worthy of our imitation amidst the perplexities which sometimes fall to our lot in private, domestic, and public life. Amidst the fears and gloom of our position let us cherish that faith in God"s purpose concerning us which, in spite of fears and sorrows, underlies all David"s procedure, (Psa_7:2-4) and then exercise our best judgment on the avoidance of evil, the discharge of daily duty, and the measures most conducive to the end in view. To avoid all occasions of annoyance, to avail ourselves of such aid as Providence may bring to us, to lay hold of and control any unsatisfactory surroundings so as to divest them of possible mischief and convert them into useful agents, to see to it that others shall not if possible come to grief by being associated with our movements, to go on steadily awaiting God"s time for action, and to welcome any clear intimations of his will, however contrary to our own arrangements this will prove our wisdom.
II UNSATISFACTORY ADHERENTS. The men who flocked to David were of miscellaneous characters, and were swayed by diverse motives; not such perhaps as David would have chosen. The manifestly unjust treatment of the young deliverer of Israel, and the increasingly irritable and impulsive temper of the king, accompanied with misgovernment in matters of detail, could not but make brave and chivalrous men "discontented;" and it was no wonder if at such a time many were brought to poverty. It is certain, however, that many of them did not enter into the lofty spiritual aims of David, and, in so far as their principles were not identical with his, they were a questionable support. Yet the fact is instructive.. Persons of high character and lofty aims exercise an attractive influence over many who cannot enter fully into their conceptions. The assertors of great principles do sometimes find adherents very inferior to themselves. The adherents of a just cause are not always to be credited with an intelligent appreciation of its nature. It is therefore wrong to judge leaders of important movements by the crude notions and imperfect character of their followers. In the case of our Saviour it was the force of his personal character that drew disciples of diverse tastes and degrees of intelligence around him. But just as David disciplined and educated his followers till they became valiant, loyal men in the kingdom, (1Ch 11) so Christ in due time endowed his disciples with power to enter into the spirit of his mission. Neither in the Church nor in social and political affairs can we dispense with men who, though drawn to leaders, are not yet in perfect harmony of intelligence and character.
III FILIAL PIETY. Amidst the gravest anxieties of his life David manifested concern for the welfare of his parents. Indeed all his private and public movements for a time seem to have been subordinated to securing their freedom from danger and distress. If ever a man could plead inability he could just then. This tenderness of character is very prominent in his entire life. Filial piety is strongly enjoined in the Bible. The "commandment with promise" relates to duty to parents. Our Saviour"s example is conspicuous (Luk_2:50-52; Joh_19:26, Joh_19:27) It is impossible to lay claim to religion without this love, care, tender interest, self-denial, and reverence for parents. (Eph_6:1-3) There are manifold ways in which it may be displayed: by sympathy in sorrow and sickness, by reverence and affection in health, by deference to their wishes whenever consistent with holiness and right, by forecasting their needs and providing for them, by insuring support and comfort in old age, and by the cherished love which ever causes them to thank God for the gift of children.
IV OPPORTUNE COUNSEL. During the long season of darkness David had groped his way from place to place, exercising his judgment, and doubtless lifting up his heart for more light. He stumbled at Nob; he fell into a net at Gath; he showed prudence at Adullam; and now in the land of Moab, where perhaps he mourned in being so far from the sanctuary of God, he is remembered on high, and the prophet Gad brings to him the first Divine and official communication he, as far as we can learn, ever received. This circumstance was full of meaning. The prophetic order was recognising him. The dayspring had come. Henceforth he was to be instructed more openly in the way in which he should go. (vers. 20-23; 1Sa_23:2) There is, also, a limit to our seasons of darkness. We have not a prophet Gad; but when patience has had her "perfect work," and discipline has brought us nearer to God, a "more sure word of prophecy," which "shineth as a light in a dark place," will make clear to us the perfect will of God. Like as Christ found an end to the "hour of darkness," so all who share in his sorrows will find darkness made light before them. The resurrection morn was an end to the gloom and uncertainty of the apostles. Many an anxious soul, troubled with dark doubts and on the borders of despair, has found at last a light which has turned doubt into confidence and made the path of submission to Christ the path of joy. "I will not leave you comfortless, but will come unto you.
General lessons:
1. We should not despise or discourage persons seeking to be identified with a good cause on account of their inferiority to those who lead.
2. There may be many waiting for action if men of energy andattractiveness would afford them facility.
3. The experience of the Church in all ages justifies faith in the guidance ofGod when we have work to do for him.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1, 2. (THE CAVE OF ADULLAM.)
David"s refuge and following.
David"s escape from Gath to the cave of Adullam marks a fresh starting point in his career. Henceforth he led the life of an independent outlaw at the head of a band of armed men. He was openly and continually persecuted by Saul, under the illusion that he was aiming at the crown, although he neither rebelled nor encouraged rebellion against his authority. He was thereby kept prominently before the minds of the people, and must have fixed the attention of the most observant and devout upon him, as, in contrast to Saul (whose government became more and more arbitrary, inefficient, and ungodly), the man who alone was worthy to be "captain over the Lord"s inheritance;" and the experience through which he passed served to prepare him for his destination. "This very period of his deepest sufferings becomes the decisive turning point of his whole history, at which it enters upon a true upward course, thence to rise ever higher and higher; while his real destiny, viz., to rule, is now for the first time not only foreshadowed, but already begun, though only on the smallest scale; and the clearest proof that this actually is his destiny is found in the fact that he begins to work it out without consciously exerting himself to do so" (Ewald). He may be considered as representing, in some respects, the good man under persecution, and as
I PROTECTED FROM THE VIOLENCE OF PERSECUTORS, with which the servants of God have been threatened in every age.
1. Underneath the personal and ostensible grounds of such violence lie the opposition of "the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God, and the enmity of the evil heart against righteousness and goodness. David was "the representative of the theocratic principle for which he suffers and endures; Saul of the antitheocratic principle." Like Moses, David bore "the reproach of Christ," who was in him and suffered with him. (Act_9:4; Col_1:24; Heb_11:26, Heb_11:32-38)
2. It is limited in its power, and is always ultimately defeated. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body," etc.. (Luk_12:4)
3 . God himself is the Refuge of the persecuted, and provides varied, wonderful, and effectual means for their deliverance. "Thou art my refuge". (Psa_142:5) "Thou hast delivered my soul from death," etc. (Psa_56:13) The operation of Divine providence was displayed in a remarkable manner in the preservation of David throughout the whole course of his persecution by Saul.
II SYMPATHISING WITH THE MISERY OF THE OPPRESSED. "His brethren and all his father"s house," endangered by Saul"s jealousy as well as by the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem, (2Sa_23:13, 2Sa_23:14) "and every one that was in distress" (outwardly impoverished and harassed), "and in debt" (to avaricious usurers, and not necessarily through any fault of his own), "and discontented" (inwardly embittered and dissatisfied with the existing state of things), owing to bad government. "Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad", (Ecc_7:7) and incites and justifies the adoption of a course which, under other circumstances, would be highly culpable. They did not gather to David in vain.
1. Sympathy with suffering is usually felt in an eminent degree by those who have themselves suffered. (Heb_2:18)
2. It is always shown, when it is genuine, in practical effort for its alleviation. (2Co_1:4)
3. It generally produces in those toward whom it is shown a peculiarlystrong and enduring attachment. "Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other" (A.H. Hallam). "I do not know where a better home could have been provided for David than among those men in distress, in debt, in discontent. If it behoved a ruler to know the heart of his subjects, their sorrows, their wrongs, their crimes, to know them and to sympathise with them, this was surely as precious a part of his schooling as the solitude of his boyhood, or as any intercourse he had with men who had never faced the misery of the world, and never had any motive to quarrel with its laws. Through oppression, confusion, lawlessness he was learning the eternal, essential righteousness of God" (Maurice).
III ASSUMING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE FAITHFUL. "He became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men afterwards six hundred; (1Sa_23:13) including his nephews, Abishai, (1Sa_26:6) Joab, Asahel, and Amasa, Ahimelech the Hittite, the "three mighty men" who "broke through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem", (2Sa_23:16) many of those whose names are recorded in the list of David"s heroes, (1Ch_11:10 1Ch_11:47) Gadites "whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains," Benjamites and men of Judah, under Amasai, on whom "the Spirit came, and he said, Thine are we," etc.; "for thy God helpeth thee". (1Ch_12:8-18) Some of them possessed, perhaps, little religious principle, and were ready for any adventurous enterprise; but most of them were young, free, noble spirits, resenting the tyranny of Saul, and sympathising with all that was best in the nation unconscious materials out of which a new world was to be formed." David"s leadership was
1. Exercised by virtue of his peculiar position, eminent godliness, and
surpassing ability.
1. Accepted by them voluntarily, and followed with fidelity and enthusiasm.
2. Contributed to their discipline, improvement, (Psa_34:11) and future service against the common enemy, as well as his own moral force and power of organisation and rule. "The effect of such a life on his spiritual nature was to deepen his unconditional dependence on God; by the alternations of heat and cold, fear and hope, danger and safety, to temper his soul and make it flexible, tough, and bright as steel. It evolved the qualities of a leader of men, teaching him command and forbearance, promptitude and patience, valour and gentleness. It won for him a name as a founder of a nation, and it gathered around him a force of men devoted to him by an enthusiastic attachment, bred by long years of common dangers and the hearty friendships of many a march by day and nightly encampment round the glimmering watchfires beneath the lucid stars" (Maclaren).
IV DEVOTED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. The effect of persecution on a good man is to cause him to draw nigh to God in
1. Renewed confidence and hope.
2. Intense desire for the manifestation of his glory in "bringing the wickedness of the wicked to an end and establishing the just". (Psa_7:9) He wishes above all things and strives for the setting up of the kingdom of God upon earth.
3. Earnest prayers and thanksgivings, such as are expressed in the "cave songs" of David. Psalm 142., "A cry of the persecuted to God" (see inscription):
With my voice to Jehovah do I cry, With my voice to Jehovah do I make supplication. Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I
Psalm 57, "Trusting in the protection of God" (see inscription):
Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me, For in thee hath my soul found refuge; And in the shadow of thy wings will I find refuge Until the destruction passeth by. Be thou exalted above the heavens, O God, Thy glory above all the earth.
"When his companions in arms were carousing or asleep, he sat by his lamp in some still retreat, or "considered the heavens" as they spread above him,
or meditated on the law, or engaged in prayer, or held intimate communion with God, and composed and wrote (though he thought not so) what shall sound in the Church and echo through the world to all time" (Binney). D.
HOMILIES BY D. FRASER Vers. 1, 2.
The cave of Adullam.
David knew well that he could nevermore live in safety at the court of Saul. He would not raise a hand against his king and father-in-law, but he would not place himself again within his reach. Better a free life even in deserts and caves of the earth than a life in constant peril in ceiled houses. Behold him then in the cave of Adullam.
I THE CAPTAIN OF THE REFUGEES. No question arises here respecting the right of revolt against a perverse, tyrannical king. We entirely believe in such a right, because the king exists for the good of the people, not the people for the service of the king. We have no misgiving as to the right of the British nation to rid itself of King James II, or that of the people in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies to drive away King Francis II But the case of Saul"s royalty over Israel was unique. The people had chosen him by acclamation, and there was no proof as yet that the mass of the people wished to dethrone him. Even if they had so wished, David was not the man to lead their revolt; for it was one of the tests of his fitness for the succession that he should not snatch at the honour to which he was destined, but wait the evolution of the Divine purpose, recognising God only as the true and absolute King of Israel. Therefore, what he did at this period was simply for preservation of himself and his relatives. The times were "out of joint," and he had no protection of law or civil order against the mad suspicions of the king. So he took refuge in a cavern, waiting for God and hoping in his word. The hero raised no standard of revolt, and drew no followers by prospect of plunder or revenge. Yet he did draw hundreds of the men of Israel to his place of refuge. These must not be likened to the riotous and desperate followers of Catiline, or even to the "empty persons" who attached themselves to Jephthah. Doubtless there may have been among the young men some who were more adventurous than devout, and cared for their leader"s sword and spear more than for his psalms; but they were in general young men of patriotic temper who had suffered damage through the misrule of the time, and found the public disorder and tyranny intolerable. They turned their wistful eyes towards one who had borne himself wisely in the station he had occupied, and from whom they hoped for a just and prudent administration of public affairs. There are parallels to this position in the history of other nations; but most worthy of our thought is the parallel of the great Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ. When he was a young man in Galilee the people were distressed under their rulers. The civil government was oppressive; the religious surveillance by the chief priests and elders was worse. Heavy burdens were imposed without pity, and grievous abuses of power and office were committed. The eyes of many had failed them, looking long for a deliverer who should be the Consolation of Israel. Then appeared Jesus of Nazareth, raising no standard of revolt, indeed refusing to be made a king by the voice of the multitude, while himself under the evident displeasure of the authorities, and exposed to frequent risks of arrest and death. But to him followers repaired, and they were welcome. Jesus called to him the labouring and heavy laden. He had powerful attraction for all who were distressed. And from the day when he took up a position apart from the rulers of the Jews, though he headed no movement of resistance, it became more and more obvious that those rulers had lost the favour of Jehovah, and had nothing before them but thickening disaster and a final collapse of their power like that of Saul on Mount Gilboa. The only hope of Israel thenceforth was with and in the despised and rejected One who had been born in David"s city and of David"s line. So it is still. It is Jesus Christ, as rejected of men, humbled, crucified, who appeals to human hearts. Who will go out to him, "without the camp, bearing his reproach"? Who will repair to him at the cave of Adullam? Not the proud, nor the thoughtless, nor the self-satisfied; but the distressed, the ruined, and the bereaved will go; and over such he is willing to be Captain. Let them come to him, and his life is thenceforward bound up with theirs, and theirs with his. With him they are "in safeguard" till the end of the tribulation; and when the King appears in his great power these will appear with him in glory; the trials of Adullam more than recompensed by the joys of New Jerusalem.
II THE POSITION OF SEPARATION. When is it justified? David and his followers went apart from the common life of their countrymen, and renounced all idea of rendering service or occupying any post of honour under Saul. Jesus Christ and his disciples broke with the course of the Jewish and Galilean world in which they lived, and took up a position quite aloof from the priests, elders, and scribes. What is the duty of modern Christians towards the society around them? Are they to come out and be separate? Some persons have almost a craze for separation, and support it on this story of Adullam. They hold it to be the duty of Christians to stand aloof from all the existing order of things, and all the plans and occupations of society; to accept no office in the State, and be subject to the powers that be only in the sense in which David continued subject to Saul; and to come out from all organised historical Churches, on the ground that they contain worldly elements and principles, and are therefore impure and ready to perish. All this seems to us extravagant in theory and uncharitable in spirit. Separation from evil does not mean alienation from every place and every institution in which a fault can be found. For good men to hold aloof from public affairs is simply to play into the hands of evil doers; and to separate from every Church that has a faulty element in it is to disintegrate Christian society, and miserably embitter it in the process. But we must hold the balance true. It may be one"s duty to separate himself from institutions of both Church and State under which he was born. As to civil institutions, this is plain enough. As to ecclesiastical relations, there are critical times when, as it was right for Israelites to separate from Saul and go over to David, so it has been and is right for Christians to withdraw from positions which they could not correct or amend, and go over to some simpler and purer expression of their faith and hope. On this ground we justify without hesitation the erection of reformed Churches in the sixteenth century apart from the unreformed. The Papal system had a long trial, and was found wanting. Such men as Wickliffe, Savonarola, and Huss tried to correct its errors and rouse a new spirit within its pale, just as David played on his harp to cure the mania of King Saul. It was labour lost. That which was evil grew worse. The tyranny which hung over Western Christendom became intolerable. Then they did wisely and well who threw off the yoke and began afresh, with the word of God for their directory, and the Son of God, who became Son of David, for their Captain. On the same ground we justify those who now a days break away from the same Papal infallible, and therefore incurable, system to join or to organise a reformed Church. And we add that those who do so in a Roman Catholic country, like Spain or Italy, to worship with some small evangelical congregation in a hall, mocked and despised, show a courage not at all inferior to that of the four hundred who defied the power of Saul, and flocked around David in the cave of Adullam. Those men did not lift their swords against Saul. David did not desire them to do so. He saw something still to honour in that king, and knew that the throne would be vacated without any assistance from him. So, in that system of infatuation and spiritual tyranny which centres at Rome, there is something of that common Christianity which we must reverence, and against which we may not fight.
While we expose its errors, let us always acknowledge whatever of the truth of God it contains, and be patient. Ultimately that system must perish. As the Philistines, and not the followers of David, made an end of Saul, so the democratic infidelity, not the reformed Church, is likely to make an end of the Papacy, and all the religious delusion and oppression of the Latin Church. Happy they who are in a fellowship which gives them direct access to the Lord Jesus, and has in him the living centre and the joy of all. O Saviour, draw us to thyself, and be thou a Captain over us! F.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 14 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave…
1Sa_22:1-2
David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam.
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David at the cave of Adullam
David had strangled a lion, slain a giant, and overcome two hundred Philistines; but he is himself overcome by his needless fear. The fear that terrified David arose as much from his own sin as from Sauls fury. Had David been truthful to the priest at Nob he would not have had to dissemble before the king of Gath, and hide like a traitor in the cave of Adullam. One misstep leads to another. The troubles of life frequently spring from our own folly.
I. Davids escape to the cave of Adullam.
1. It was a place of perfect safety.
2. It was a place of comparative seclusion. David needed rest and quiet. The tremendous excitement through which he had passed had exhausted both body and mind.
3. It was a place of earnest supplication. If David sinned at Nob, he sincerely repented at Adullam. David sought for forgiveness for his sin. David sought protection from his enemies. David sought deliverance from his prison. There is a cave of Adullam in every life. Doubt may be such a cave. Persecution may be such a cave. Sickness may be such a cave. Bereavement may be such a cave. There is no cave deep and dark enough to shut out God.
II. Davids associates in the cave of Adullam. Notice three things respecting Davids followers:
1. It was an affectionate association. In time of trouble God will raise up friends to comfort His believing children.
2. It was a mixed association.
3. It was a faithful association. These men proved both their courage and constancy. When David longed for water from Bethlehem they imperilled their lives to gratify his desire. Davids experience agrees in some points with Christs. David was concealed in a cave, Christ was laid in a manger. David was an outlaw, Christ was despised and rejected of men. David was sustained by men in distress, Christ selected for His disciples men who were poor and unknown. David was made a captain over four hundred, Christ is the Captain and Saviour of all who are in distress. If any man is weary of Satans service, he may become a soldier of the cross.
III. Davids thoughtfulness in the cave of Adullam. David was therefore deeply concerned for their safety, and his ardent attachment manifested itself in three ways:
1. By his dangerous journey to promote the comfort of his parents. David went thence to Moab. This was not a long journey, but it was difficult, to accomplish.
2. By his earnest intercession to obtain protection for his parents.
3. By his special endeavour to secure respect for his parents. He brought them before the king: This was a prudent introduction. And they dwelt with him: This was gracious reception. All the while that David was in the hold: This was generous hospitality. We cannot too highly commend Davids devotion to his parents. He was willing to sacrifice his life and liberty for their safety.
IV. Davids departure from the cave of Adullam. We may learn three things from Davids departure from the cave of Adullam.
1. Good men receive timely direction from God. Abide not in the hold. God will not disappoint those who wait for his guidance. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
2. Good men receive minute direction from God. Get thee into the land of Judah. All the agencies of life--seen and unseen--known and unknown--are regulated by God.
3. Good men promptly obey the direction of God. Then David departed. Whether God call us to serve or suffer, we must cheerfully obey. We dare not resist, the leadings of Divine providence. There is a time coming when we must all depart. (J. T. Woodhouse.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
CHAPTER X X I X.
DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, AND HARETH.
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1Sa_22:1-23.
THE cave of Adullam, to which David fled on leaving Gath, has been placed in various localities even in modern times; but as the Palestine Exploration authorities have placed the town in the valley of Elah, we may regard it as settled that the cave lay there, not far indeed from the place where David had had his encounter with Goliath. It was a humble dwelling for a king's son-in-law, nor could David have thought of needing it on the memorable day when he did such wonders with his sling and stone. These "dens and caves of the earth" - effects of great convulsions in some remote period of its history - what service have they often rendered to the hunted and oppressed! How many a devout saint, of whom the world was not worthy, has blessed God for their shelter! With how much purer devotion and loftier fellowship, with how much more sublime and noble exercises of the human spirit have many of them been associated, than some of the proudest and costliest temples that have been reared in name - often little more - to the service of God!
If David at first was somewhat an object of jealousy to his own family in this the day of his trials they showed a different spirit, ''When his brethren and all his father's house heard of it, they went down thither to him." As the proverb says, "Blood is thicker than water," and often adversity draws families together between whom prosperity has been like a wedge. If our relations are prospering while we are poor, we think of them as if they had moved away from us; but when their fortunes are broken, and the world turns its back on them, we get closer, our sympathy revives. We think all the better of David's family that when they heard of his outlaw condition they all went down to him. Besides these, ''every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men." The account here given of the circumstances of this band is not very flattering, but there are two things connected with it to be borne in mind: in the first place, that the kind of men who usually choose the soldier's calling are not your men of plodding industry, but men who shrink from monotonous labour; and, in the second place, that under the absolute rule of Saul there might be many very worthy persons in debt and discontented and in distress, men who had come into that condition because they were not so ready to cringe to despotism as their ruler desired. Mixed and motley therefore though David's troop may have been, it was far from contemptible; and their adherence was fitted greatly to encourage him, because it showed that public feeling was with him, that his cause was not looked on as desperate, that his standard was one to which it was deemed safe and hopeful to resort.
But if, at the first glance, the troop appeared somewhat disreputable, it was soon joined by two men, the one a prophet, the other a priest, whose adherence must have brought to it a great accession of moral weight. The prophet was Gad (1Sa_22:5), who next to Samuel seems to have stood highest in the nation as a man of God, a man of holy counsel, and elevated, heavenly character. His open adherence to David (which seems to be implied in ver. 5) must have had the best effects both on David himself and on the people at large. It must have been a great blessing to David to have such a man as Gad beside him; for, with all his personal piety, he seems to have required a godly minister at his side. No man derived more benefit from the communion of saints, or was more apt to suffer for want of it; for, as we have seen, he had begun to decline in spirituality when he left Samuel at Naioth, and still more when he was parted from Jonathan. When Gad joined him, David must have felt that he was sent to him from the Lord, and could not but be full of gratitude for so conspicuous an answer to his prayers. It would seem that Gad remained in close relation to David to the close of his life. It was he that came from the Lord to offer him his choice between three forms of chastisement after his offence in numbering the people; and from the fact of his being called ''David's seer" (2Sa_24:11) we conclude that he and David were intimately associated. It was he also that instructed David to buy the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and thus to consecrate to God a spot with which, to the very end of time, the most hallowed thoughts must always be connected.
The other eminent person that joined David about this time was Abiathar the priest. But before adverting to this, we must follow the thread of the narrative and especially note the tragedy that occurred at Nob, the city of the priests.
From the mode of life which David had to follow and the difficulty of obtaining subsistence for his troop at one place for any length of time, he was obliged to make frequent changes. On leaving the cave of Adullam, which was near the western border of the tribe of Judah, he traversed the whole breadth of that tribe, and crossing the Jordan, came to the territories of Moab. He was concerned for the safety of his father and mother, knowing too well the temper of Eastern kings, and how they thirsted for the blood, not only of their rivals, but of all their relations. He feared that they would not be let alone at Bethlehem or in any other part of Saul's kingdom. But what led him to think of the king of Moab? Perhaps a tender remembrance of his ancestress Ruth, the damsel from Moab, who had been so eminent for her devotion to her mother-in-law. Might there not be found in the king of Moab somewhat of a like disposition, that would look with pity on an old man and woman driven from their home, not indeed, like Naomi, by famine, but by what was even worse, the shameful ingratitude and murderous fury of a wicked king? If such was David's hope, it was not without success; his father and his mother dwelt with the king of Moab all the time that David was in the hold.
But it was not God's purpose that David should lurk in a foreign land. The prophet Gad directed him to return to the land of Judah. It was within the boundaries of that tribe, accordingly, that the rest of David's exile was spent, with the exception of the time at the very end when he again resorted to Philistine territory. His first hiding-place was the forest of Hareth.
While David was here, Saul, encamped in military state at Gibeah, delivered an extraordinary speech to the men of his own tribe. "Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or that showeth me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?" It would have been difficult for any other man to condense so much that was vile in spirit into the dimensions of a little speech like this. It begins with a base appeal to the cupidity of his countrymen, the Benjamites, among whom he was probably in the habit of distributing the possessions of his enemies, as, for instance, the Gibeonites, who dwelt near him, and whom he slew, contrary to the covenant made with them by Joshua (2Sa_21:2). It accuses his people of having conspired against him, because they had not spoken to him of the friendship of his son with David, although that fact must have been notorious. It accuses the noble Jonathan of having stirred up David against Saul, while neither Jonathan nor David had ever lifted a little finger against him, and both the one and the other might have been trusted to serve him with unflinching fidelity if he had only given them a fair chance. It indicates that nothing would be more agreeable to Saul than any information about David or these connected with him that would give him an excuse for some deed of overwhelming vengeance. Did ever man draw his own portrait in viler colours than Saul in this speech?
There was one bosom - let us hope only one - in which it awoke a response. It was that of Doeg the Edomite. He told the story of what he had seen at Nob, adding thereto the unfounded statement that Ahimelech had inquired of the Lord for David. Ahimelech and the whole college of priests were accordingly sent for, and they came. The charge brought against him was a very offensive one; in so far, it was a statement of facts, but of facts placed in an odious light, of facts coloured with a design which Ahimelech never entertained. Oh, how many an innocent man has suffered in this way! Even in courts of justice, by pleaders whose interest is on the other side, and some- times by judges (like Jeffreys) steeped in hatred and prejudice, how often have acts that were quite innocent been put to the account of treason, or put to the account of malice, or cunningly forged into a chain, indicating a deliberate design to injure another! It can never be too earnestly insisted on that to be just to a man you must not merely ascertain the real facts of his case, but you must put the facts in their true light, and not colour them with prejudices of your own or with suppositions which the man repudiates.
The conduct of Ahimelech was manly and straight- forward, but indiscreet. He admitted the facts, with the exception of the statement that he had inquired of the Lord for David. He vindicated right manfully the faithful, noble services of David, services that ought to have excluded the very idea of treason or conspiracy. He protested that he knew nothing of any ground the king had against David, or of any cause that could have led him to believe that in helping him he was offending Saul. But just because Ahimelech's defense was so true and so complete, it was most offensive to Saul. What is there a despot likes worse to hear than that he is entirely in the wrong? What words irritate him so much as those which prove the entire innocence of someone with whom he is angry? Saul was angry both with David and with Ahimelech. Ahimelech had the great misfortune to prove to him that in both cases there was no shadow of ground for his anger. In proportion as Saul's reason should have been satisfied, his temper was excited. What an uncontrollable condition that temper must have been in when the death of Ahimelech was decreed, and all his father's house! We do not wonder that no one could be found in his bodyguard to execute the order. Did this not stagger and sober the king? Far from it. His fit of rage was so hot and imperious that he would not be baulked. Turning to Doeg, he commanded him to fall on the priests. And this vile man had the brutality to execute the order, and to plunge his sword into the heart of fourscore and five unarmed persons that wore the garments which even in heathen nations usually secured protection and safety. And as if it were not enough to kill the men, their city, Nob, was utterly destroyed. Men and women, children and sucklings, oxen and asses and sheep- a thorough massacre was made of them all. Had Nob been a city of warriors that had resisted the king's armies with haughty insolence, harassed them by sorties, entrapped them by stratagems, and exasperated them by hideous cruelty to their prisoners, but at last been overpowered, it could not have had a more terrible doom. And had Saul never committed any other crime, this would have been enough to separate him from the Lord forever, and to bring down on him the horrors of the night at Endor and of the day that followed on Mount Gilboa.
This cruel and sacrilegious murder must have told against Saul and his cause with prodigious effect. There could not have been a single priest or Levite throughout the kingdom whose blood would not boil at the news of the massacre, and whose sympathies would not be enlisted, more or less, on behalf of David, now openly proclaimed by Saul as his rival, and probably known to have been anointed by Samuel as his successor. Not only the priests and Levites, but every right-minded man throughout the land would share in this feeling, and many a prayer would be offered for David that God would protect him, and spare him to be a blessing to his country. The very presence in his camp of Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who escaped the massacre, with his ephod, - an official means of consulting God in all cases of difficulty,- would be a visible proof to his followers and to the community at large, that God was on his side. And when the solemn rites of the national worship were performed in his camp, and when, at each turn of public affairs, the high priest was seen in communication with Jehovah, the feeling could not fail to gain strength that David's cause was the cause of God, and the cause of the country, and that, in due time, his patient sufferings and his noble services would be crowned with the due reward.
But if the news of the massacre would tend on the whole to improve David's position with the people, it must have occasioned a terrible pang to David himself. There was, indeed, one point of view in which something of the kind was to be looked for. Long ago, it had been foretold to Eli, when he tolerated so calmly the scandalous wickedness of his sons, "Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, but there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thy house forever." Ahimelech was a grandson of Eli, and the other massacred priests were probably of Eli's blood. Here, then, at last, was the fulfillment of the sentence announced to Eli; doomed as his house had been, their subsistence for years back was of the nature of a respite; and here, at length, was the catastrophe that had been so distinctly foretold.
That consideration, however, would not be much, if any, consolation to David. If the falsehood which he had told to Ahimelech was really dictated by a desire to save the high priest from conscious implication with his affairs - with the condition of one who was now an outlaw and a fugitive, it had failed most terribly of the desire defect. The issue of the lie only served to place David's duplicity in a more odious light. There is one thing in David, when he received the information, that we cannot but admire - his readiness to take to himself his full share of blame. "I have occasioned the death of all thy father's house." And more than that, he did not even protest that it was impossible to have foreseen what was going to happen. For at the very time when he was practicing the falsehood on Ahimelech, he owns that he had a presentiment of mischief to follow. "I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul." Nor did he excuse himself on the ground that the massacre was the fulfillment of the longstanding sentence on Eli's house He knew well that that circumstance in no degree lessened his own guilt, or the guilt of Doeg and Saul. Though God may use men's wicked passions to bring about His purposes, that in no degree lessens the guilt of these passions. It seems as if David never could have forgiven himself his share in this dreadful business. And what a warning this conveys to us! Are you not sometimes tempted to think that sin to you is not a very serious matter, because you will get forgiveness for it, the atoning work of the Saviour will cleanse you from its guilt? Be it so; but what if your sin has involved others, and if no atoning blood has been sprinkled on them? What of the youth whom your careless example first led to drink, and who died a miserable drunkard? What of the clerk whom you instructed to tell a lie? What of the companion of your sensuality whom you drove nearer to hell? Alas, alas! sin is like a network, the ramifications of which go out on the right hand and on the left, and when we break God's law, we cannot tell what the consequences to others may be! And how can we be ever comforted if we have been the occasion of ruin to any? It seems as if the burden of that feeling could never be borne; as if the only way of escape were, to be put out of existence altogether!
The superscription of the fifty-second Psalm bears - "Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, David is come to the house of Ahimelech." There is not much in this title to recommend it, as the information that was given by Doeg to Saul is not stated accurately. We might have expected, too, that if Doeg was alone in the Psalmist's eye, the atrocious slaughter of the priests would have had a share of reprobation, as well as the sharp, calumnious, mischievous tongue which is the chief object of denunciation. And though Doeg, as the chief of Saul's bondmen, might be a rich man, that position would hardly have entitled him to be called a mighty man, nor to assume the swaggering tone of independence here ascribed to him. Whoever was really the object of denunciation in this psalm, seems however to have belonged to the same class with Doeg, in respect of his wicked tongue and love of mischief. It is indeed a wretched character that is delineated: the Psalmist's enemy is at once mischievous and mighty; and not only is he mischievous, but he boasts himself in it. He is shameless and without conscience, bent on doing all the evil that he can. Let him only have a chance of bringing a railing accusation against God's servants, and he does it with delight. But his conduct is senseless as it is wicked. God is unchangeably good, and His goodness is a sure defense to His servants against all the calumnious devices of the greatest and strongest of men. It is the tongue of this evil man that is his instrument of mischief. It is utterly unscrupulous, sharp as a razor, cunning, devouring. A liar is a serious enemy, one who is utterly unprincipled, clever withal, and who trains him- self with great skill to do mischief with his tongue. It is painful to be at the mercy of a calumniator who does not launch against you a clumsy and incredible calumny, but one that has an element of probability in it, only fearfully distorted. Especially when the calumniator is one that deviseth mischief, who loves evil more than good, to whom truth is too tame to be cared for, who delights in falsehood because it is more piquant, more exciting. To those who have learned to regard it as the great business of life to spread light, order, peace, and joy, such men appear to be monsters, and indeed they are; but it is a painful experience to lie at their mercy.
To this class belonged Doeg, a monster in human form, to whom it was no distress, but apparently a congenial employment, to murder in cold blood a very hecatomb of men consecrated to the service of God. No doubt it would appall David to think that such a man was now leagued with Saul as his bitter and implacable enemy. But his faith saw him in the same prostrate position in which his faith had seen Goliath. Men cannot defy God in vain. Men dare net defy that truth and that mercy which are attributes of God. "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever: He shall take thee .away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him."
What became of Doeg we do not know. The historian does not introduce his name again. Before David came to power, he had probably received his doom. Had he still survived, we should have been likely again to fall in with his name. The Jews have a tradition that he was Saul's armour-bearer at the battle of Gilboa, and that the sword by which he and his master fell, was no other than that which had slain the priests of the Lord. As for the truth of this we cannot say. But even supposing that no special judgment befell him, we cannot fancy him as other than a most miserable man. With such a heart and such a tongue, with the load of a guilty life lying heavy on his soul, and that life crowned by such an infamous proceeding as the massacre of the priests, we cannot think of him as one who enjoyed life, but as a man of surly and gloomy nature, to whom life grew darker and darker, till it was extinguished in some miserable ending. In contrast with such a career, how bright and how much to be desired was David's anticipated future: - "I am like a green olive-tree in the house of my God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise Thy name for ever, because Thou hast done it: and I will wait on Thy name, for it is good before Thy saints."
"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 6 1Sa_22:1. “Adullam.” “The site of Adullam (mentioned in Jos_15:35,…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—
1Sa_22:1. “Adullam.” “The site of Adullam (mentioned in Jos_15:35, etc) has not yet been identified, but from the mention of it in the above and other passages in proximity with other known towns, it is likely that it was near Deir Dûbban, five or six miles north of Eleutheropolis … The limestone cliffs of the whole of that locality are pierced with extensive excavations (Robinson ii. 23, 51–53), some one of which was possibly the refuge of David.” (Abridged from Smith’s Biblical Dictionary). The general opinion of commentators and travellers agree with this, but Thomson supports the ancient view that it was near the village Khureitein, five miles south-east of Bethlehem, and thus describes his visit to that spot: “Leaving our horse in charge of wild Arabs, and taking one for a guide, we started for the cave, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and a path winding along a shelf of the rock, narrow enough to make the nervous among us shudder. At length from a great rock hanging on the edge of this shelf, we sprang by a long leap into a low window which opened into the perpendicular face of the cliff. We were then within the hold of David, and creeping half doubled through a narrow crevice for a few rods, we stood beneath the dark vault of the first grand chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern. Our whole collection of lights did little more than make the damp darkness visible. After groping about as long as we had time to spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that, with David and his lion-hearted followers inside, all the strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an entrance—would not even have attempted it.”
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1Sa_22:2. “Everyone that was discontented,” etc. Literally, bitter in soul, as in 1Sa_1:10 “The comparison of this body with Catiline’s followers (Clericus, Thenius) supposes that David’s retinue was of a similar character with Catiline’s, a riotous, adventure-seeking rabble. But there is nothing in the narrative to support such a supposition, and David’s position as to them, and to Saul, is decidedly against it.… Hengstenberg (on Psa_7:10) rightly remarks David’s war with Saul was one not of individuals, but of parties; the wicked espoused Saul’s side, the righteous David’s; compare the much misunderstood passage 1Sa_22:2. The distressed persons were those who were persecuted under Saul’s government on account of their love for David. The debtors were such as, under Saul’s arbitrary misrule, were oppressed by their creditors, and received from the government no protection against the violation of the law of loan and interest (Exo_22:25; Lev_25:36; Deu_23:19). They were ‘bitter of soul,’ not as ‘desirous of new things,’ not as merely dissatisfied with their present condition (Clericus), but ‘as those whose anxiety of soul over the ever-worsening condition of the kingdom under Saul, drove them to a leader from whom for the future they might hope for better things.’ (Ew.) Comp. Jephthah’s fugitive life and retinue of “poor empty persons.” (Erdmann.) “Four hundred men.” “A list of the principal among them is given in 1Ch_12:8-18; and some of their acts are described in 2Sa_23:13-22.” (Wordsworth.)
1Sa_22:3. “Mizpeh of Moab.” “Mizpeh; literally a watch-tower or mountain height commanding a very extensive prospect. Here it is probably a proper name belonging to a mountain fastness on the high land which bounded the Arboth Moab on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, most likely on the mountains of Abarim or Pisgah (Deu_34:1), and which could easily be reached from the country round Bethlehem by crossing the Jordan near the point where it entered the Dead Sea.” (Keil.) “Perhaps he resorted to Moab for refuge because his ancestress Ruth was from that country.” (Wordsworth.)
1Sa_22:4. “The hold.” This fastness could not have been the cave of Adullam, because in the next verse we read that David was commanded to return to Judah, but it was probably the same refuge to which David had taken his parents.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_22:1-4
THE CAVE OF ADULLAM
I. Oppressive rule transforms good subjects into outlaws. When those who are in authority disregard those universal laws of righteousness and beneficence which are equally binding upon every man, they must not expect obedience from those under their rule; their injustice will create a lawlessness in the governed classes which, although it is rebellion against them, may be obedience to a higher and juster rule. David had been a loyal servant to King Saul, and had given full proof of true patriotism, but the oppression which he had undergone, and the danger to which he was exposed through Saul’s injustice compelled him to take up the position of an outlaw. He had once and again gone forth at the peril of his own life to defend the throne of the king, but justice to himself now demanded that he should take up arms in self-defence. It is most probable also that those who joined him were men who had likewise been transformed by oppression from obedient subjects into rebels. Before we condemn men for resistance to authority we must know what is the nature of the authority they resist.
II. Common suffering is a strong bond of union. There are many influences which tend to bridge over the differences which divide men—differences of birth, of education, of character and disposition—but perhaps there is nothing which does this so effectually as a common calamity. If a vessel is in danger of sinking, the passengers who have hitherto been separated by distinctions of rank recognise their common brotherhood and forget all minor differences in their common danger. When a city is besieged the noble in the palace and the artisan in the workshop exchange words and looks of sympathy as they recognise their common peril. In the band which gathered to David in the cave of Adullam there were doubtless men who would have never united in any common action if they had not been suffering from a common calamity—the misrule of Saul. Separated from each other and from David by every variety of circumstance and disposition, they were one with him and with each other in indignation against oppression, and in determination to defend their lives and liberties. Times of prosperity are not favourable to the promotion of union among men, but times of adversity often bring them very near together.
III. Relationship to great men has its penalties as well as its advantages. It was doubtless a proud day for Jesse when he became aware that he was to be the head of a royal house, but the immediate consequences were not pleasant. If he had not been related to the chosen king of Israel, he would doubtless have been permitted to remain unmolested in his quiet village home, but because he was the father of David he was obliged to flee from his native land. When the storm is abroad, the highest trees are most exposed to its violence, and if they fall they bring down with them those which stand near. So, in times of national disquietude, the most prominent men are most in danger, and those who are related to them are endangered by their relationship. There are, therefore, drawbacks as well as advantages in belonging to the family of a great man.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
If it behoved a ruler to know the heart of his subjects—their sorrow, their wrongs, their crimes—to know them and to sympathise with them, this was surely as precious a part of his schooling as the solitude of his boyhood, or as any intercourse he had with easy men who had never faced the misery of the world, and had never had any motive to quarrel with its laws. He was now among the lowest of those whom he would afterwards have to govern—not hearing at a distance of their doings and sufferings, but partaking in them livingly, realising the influences which were disposing them to evil. And here he was acquiring more real reverence for law and order, more understanding of their nature, than those can ever arrive at who have never known the need of them from the want of them. He was bringing his wild followers under a loving discipline and government which they had never experienced; he was teaching them to confess a law which no tyrant had created, no anarchy could set aside.—Maurice.
Who can fail to recognise in David, as he here appears, a remarkable type of the Divine Prince of Peace, who at a future age would go forth from his house. As David then stood, so Christ, his illustrious descendant, “according to the flesh,” now stands almost everywhere, misapprehended by the world where not hated and persecuted, and only surrounded by a little band of devoted followers, comparatively small and insignificant, and for the most part contemptible in the eyes of the world, and, moreover, reviled by bitter enemies.… The dwelling-place of the exalted Son of David upon earth is meanwhile as unlike to a splendid royal palace as was David’s cave of Adullam to a proud lordly mansion. The true Church is as yet concealed under a dark covering, yea, as with a widow’s veil. Her Lord is not yet present to the sight. Her people walk by faith and not by sight, and know that they are surrounded by the powers of darkness, against whom their weapons of war are to be laid aside neither by day nor by night. A world stands in arms against the decided followers of the crucified King of Glory, and they are dealt with as very outlaws, on whom anyone may lay his hands. But even to them also the time comes when, as our fugitive must exchange the cave of Adullam for the gorgeous palace on Mount Zion, even so for those who are not offended at the “form of a servant” assumed by the Divine Son of David, and at the lowly aspect of His kingdom upon earth, the simple dwelling in which the Church now gathers together shall become transformed into a glorious building, irradiated with heavenly splendour, whose dome shall tower upward into the ever-opened heavens, whose pillars shall encompass the whole earth, and whose inhabitants, after they have waited patiently with their Head here below, shall reign with Him for ever.—Krummacher.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 1Sa 22:1
1Sa 22:1
Notice:—
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I. David’s escape to the cave of Adullam. Sudden preferment is often followed by unexpected reverses. (1) It was a place of safety. (2) It was a place of comparative seclusion. (3) It was a place of earnest supplication. In that cave David sought forgiveness, protection, deliverance. There is a cave of Adullam in every life. Doubt, persecution, sickness, bereavement, any of these may be our cave.
II. David’s associates in the cave of Adullam. (1) It was an affectionate association. (2) It was a mixed association. (3) It was a faithful association.
III. David’s thoughtfulness in the cave of Adullam. He proved his ardent attachment to his parents. (1) By his dangerous journey to promote their comfort. "David went thence to Moab." (2) By his earnest intercession to obtain protection for his parents. "Let my father and mother, I pray thee, come forth to be with you." (3) By his special endeavour to secure respect for his parents, "He brought them before the king."
IV. David’s departure from the cave of Adullam. (1) Good men receive timely direction from God. "Abide not in the hold." (2) Good men receive minute direction from God. "Get thee into the land of Judah." (3) Good men promptly obey the direction of God. "Then David departed." We dare not resist the leadings of Divine Providence. There is a time coming when we must all depart. We must depart from our work, and wealth, and friends, and home, and life.
Parker, The City Temple, vol. i., p. 341.
References: 1Sa 22:1, 1Sa 22:2.—F. W. Krummacher, David the King of Israel, p. 131. 1Sa 22:1-5.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii., p. 211. 22:5-23:28.—W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 79. 1Sa 22:22.—T. Coster, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 393.. 1Sam 22—Parker, vol. vii., p. 28. 1Sa 23:14.—F. W. Krummacher, David the King of Israel, p. 149. 1Sa 23:16.—J. Thain Davidson, Talks with Young Men, p. 247. 1Sa 23:19.—Parker, vol. vii., p. 76. 1Sa 23:19, 1Sa 23:20.—J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii., p. 112. 1Sa 23:28.—J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 439. 1Sam 23—Parker, vol. vii., p. 34. 1Sam 24—R. Lorimer, Bible Studies in Life and Truth, p. 231; W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 95.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 David in the Cave of Adullam. Saul's Slaughter of…
David in the Cave of Adullam. Saul's Slaughter of the Priests at Nob
1. Adullam] probably in the valley of Elah between Philistia and Hebron.
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2. Four hundred] They soon increased to six hundred (1Sa_23:13). Cp. the description given of Jephthah's band in Jdg_11:3.
5. Gad] is here mentioned for the first time. After David's accession he became the king's seer (2Sa_24:11). He was sent to rebuke David for his sin in numbering the people, and after his death wrote a history of his reign (1Ch_29:29). From 2Ch_29:25 he appears to have been concerned in arranging the temple service. Forest of Hareth] not known.
6. In Ramah] RM 'on the height.'
14. Goeth at thy bidding] RV 'is taken into thy council.'
15. Did I then begin?] RV'Have I today begun?' Ahimelech had been accustomed to place his services at David's disposal.
17. Footmen] Heb. 'runners'; they ran before the king's chariot (1Sa_8:11) and sometimes carried news from one place to another. On occasion they acted as executioners, but this was not their special office.
19. Saul probably wished to make an example which would deter others from rendering David any assistance.
20. Abiathar shared in all David's wanderings and was made by him joint priest with Zadok. But he shared in Adonijah's rising and was deposed by Solomon.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. In the cave of Adullam (1Sa 22:1-2)
CHAPTER 22
1. In the cave of Adullam (1Sa 22:1-2)
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2. In Moab and Gad’s message (1Sa 22:3-5)
3. Saul’s discovery of David’s visit to Nob (1Sa 22:6-10)
4. The murder of the priests (1Sa 22:11-19)
5. David and Abiathar (1Sa 22:20-23)
Next we find him in the cave of Adullam (a witness). Here a strange company gathers around the rejected king. It consisted of 400 men. He became their captain. Some of them were in distress, others in debt, and discontented. Such were attracted to the rejected David. It was a blessed scene foreshadowing Him to whom all can gather who are in distress, who feel their debt, their sinfulness, their sorrow and their need. And a greater One than David is here. Our Lord rejected, but owned by those who acknowledge their need, has power to meet it all in the riches of His grace. They with their captain, the Lord’s anointed were “outside of the camp.” Such a place there is today for all who know Him, who is rejected of men and so much dishonored in that which claims and bears His name. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb 13:13). And later those who had gathered around David in the cave, and suffered with him, were specially remembered (2Sa 23:8-39). “If we suffer we shall reign with Him” (2Ti 2:12). Psalm 57 was written by David when he fled to the cave. And when he was in the cave he prayed. This prayer is embodied in Psalm 142. It was answered too when the Lord sent to him the 400 men. What food for meditation and reflection is here!
Then he came to Moab. His father and mother were there with him. He thought of making his nest there, yea, more than a nest, a hold; it was not according to the mind of the Lord. His ancestress of blessed memory, Ruth, the Moabitess, had left the land of Moab to dwell in Israel; her great-grandson David leaves the land to dwell in Moab. Again it was unbelief. He tried to escape the troubles which were in store for him. He had to learn patience and endurance. Therefore the Lord sent the prophet Gad with the message to depart. In all his unbelief and failures the Lord did not forsake him, but His watchful, loving eye followed His rejected servant. He cared and provided for him. No harm could reach him. He was not in Saul’s hands but in the hands of the Lord. And this is our happy lot. In a psalm he saith “Thou tellest all my wanderings.”
A frightful scene follows. Doeg the Edomite tells Saul of what happened at Nob. Saul, demonized Saul, orders the slaughter of the priests and while the servants of Saul refused the bloody work, the Edomite executed the command. Abiathar the son of murdered Ahimelech told David. He knew of Doeg’s words to Saul about the shelter Ahimelech had given him. At that time David wrote Psalm 52. Prophetically Doeg, the Edomite, is the type of that cunning man of sin.
Beautiful are David’s words to Abiathar (verse 23). They suggest the blessed assurance of salvation and preservation all receive who in faith turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 David a Fugitive in Judah and Moab
David a Fugitive in Judah and Moab
v. 1. David, therefore, because he could find no refuge in the land of the Philistines, departed thence and escaped to the cave Adullam, in the foothills of the Judean mountains, about sixteen miles southwest of Jerusalem; and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him, all his nearest relatives joined him, evidently because they feared the revenge of Saul upon their entire family; for it was nothing unusual for an Oriental prince to destroy a whole family for the fault of one person.
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v. 2. And everyone that was in distress, feeling that the government of Saul was an arbitrary misrule, and everyone that was in debt, oppressed by his creditors and having failed to receive from the government that protection against the violation of the law of loan and interest which he might expect, Exo 22:25; Lev 25:36; Deu 23:19, and everyone that was discontented, bitter or embittered of soul, whose anxiety of soul over the condition of the kingdom, as it grew worse from day to day, drove them to a leader from whom they might, for the future, hope for better things, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them, their leader; and there were with him about four hundred men, the number afterward rising to six hundred, 1Sa 23:13. It was not a wild and lawless band, hut a well organized company, who were here trained in warfare, so that many of them afterwards became heroes in the nation.
v. 3. And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab, southeast of the Dead Sea, the country of his great-grandmother; and he said unto the king of: Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. He wanted his aged parents to have some protection, to live in some degree of security, until the present uncertain period. of his own life would come to an end.
v. 4. And he brought them before the king of Moab, to remain under the latter’s protection; and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold, in his fortified position, in his mountain fastness near Mizpeh.
v. 5. And the Prophet Gad said unto David, in a direct message which shows the loving care of God, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. The Prophet Gad may have been one of the band which lived near Ramah, where David became acquainted with him, 1Sa 19:18. Then David departed, out of the land of Moab, and came into the forest of Hareth, an unknown region, probably in the southwestern part of the territory of Judah. Like David, his great descendant, Jesus, accompanied by only a small band of faithful men, befriended by publicans and sinners, journeyed about in this country, in Palestine, entering into His glory through suffering and persecution.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 a hollow space under the ground, generally opening into…
cave
a hollow space under the ground, generally opening into the side of a hill, large enough for people to enter
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Adullam
This is the name of a town near the city of Gath. (See: How to Translate Names)
heard it
heard that David had gone to hide in the cave
Everyone who was in distress ... everyone who was discontented
This is a generalization. AT: "Many people who were distressed ... many people who were unhappy" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
captain
military officer who leads soldiers
four hundred
"400" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
David
brother
ancestor
house
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20 22:1-23 Saul’s character becomes evident here. Unable to exact…
22:1-23 Saul’s character becomes evident here. Unable to exact revenge on David himself, Saul slaughtered those he believed to be guilty of giving aid and comfort to David.
22:1 Adullam was some sixteen miles southwest of Jerusalem, near Philistine territory. • Had David’s brothers and all his other relatives stayed in Bethlehem, they would have been vulnerable to Saul’s revenge.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.