David was told, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.”
Therefore David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” Yahweh said to David, “Go strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
Then David inquired of Yahweh yet again. Yahweh answered him, and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their livestock, and killed them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3 Which was a city in the tribe of Judah,…
Which was a city in the tribe of Judah, Josh. 15:44.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–5 1Sa 23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the…
1Sa 23:1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
Ver. 1. Then they told David.] The men of Keilah in the land of Judah seek help of David their countryman; but having served themselves of him, they soon proved false hearted to him, and would have made him an ill requital. {1Sa 23:12} In trust I have found treason, said Queen Elizabeth. {a}
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And they rob the threshingfloors.] Vatablus hath it, Horrea, the barns. Horreum ab hauriendo, barns and threshingfloors were without the city, as Jdg 6:11, but necessary appendages to it.
{a} Camden.
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 vv1–5 Then they told David; or, Now they had told…
Then they told David; or, Now they had told David, to wit, before he heard of the slaughter of the priests. Keilah; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:44, not far from the forest of Hareth, where David now was, 1Sa 22:5.
The threshing-floors usually were without the cities, in places open to the wind. See Jdg 6:11; Rth 3:2, &c.
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 v1 Now we find why the prophet Gad (by divine…
Now we find why the prophet Gad (by divine direction, no doubt) ordered David to go into the land of Judah, Sa1 22:5. It was that, since Saul neglected the public safety, he might take care of it, notwithstanding the ill treatment that was given him; for he must render good for evil, and therein be a type of him who not only ventured his life, but laid down his life, for those that were his enemies.
I. Tidings are brought to David, as to the patron and protector of his country's liberties, that the Philistines had made a descent upon the city of Keilah and plundered the country thereabouts, Sa1 23:1. Probably it was the departure both of God and David from Saul that encouraged the Philistines to make this incursion. When princes begin to persecute God's people and ministers, let them expect no other than vexation on all sides. The way for any country to be quiet is to let God's church be quiet in it. If Saul fight against David, the Philistines shall fight against his country.
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II. David is forward enough to come in for their relief, but is willing to enquire of the Lord concerning it. Here is an instance, 1. Of David's generosity and public-spiritedness. Though his head and hands were full of his own business, and he had enough to do, with the little force he had, to secure himself, yet he was concerned for the safety of his country and could not sit still to see that ravaged: nay, though Saul, whose business it was to guard the borders of his land, hated him and sought his life, yet he was willing, to the utmost of his power, to serve him and his interests against the common enemy, and bravely abhorred the thought of sacrificing the common welfare to his private revenge. Those are unlike to David who sullenly decline to do good because they have not been so well considered as they deserved for the services they have done. 2. Of David's piety and regard to God. He enquired of the Lord by the prophet Gad; for it should seem (by Sa1 23:6) that Abiathar came not to him with the ephod till he was in Keilah. His enquiry is, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? He enquires both concerning the duty (whether he might lawfully take Saul's work out of his hand, and act without a commission from him) and concerning the event, whether he might safely venture against such a force as the Philistines had with such a handful of men at his feet, and such a dangerous enemy as Saul was at his back. It is our duty, and will be our case and comfort, whatever happens, to acknowledge God in all our ways and to seek direction from him.
III. God appointed him once and again to go against the Philistines, and promised him success: Go, and smite the Philistines, Sa1 23:2. His men opposed it, Sa1 23:3. No sooner did he begin to have soldiers of his own than he found it hard enough to manage them. They objected that they had enemies enough among their own countrymen, they needed not to make the Philistines their enemies. Their hearts failed them when they only apprehended themselves in danger from Saul's band of pursuers, much more when they came to engage the Philistine-armies. To satisfy them, therefore, he enquired of the Lord again, and now received, not only a full commission, which would warrant him to fight though he had no orders from Saul (Arise, go down to Keilah), but also a full assurance of victory: I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand, Sa1 23:4. This was enough to animate the greatest coward he had in his regiment.
IV. He went accordingly against the Philistines, routed them, and rescued Keilah, (Sa1 23:5), and it should seem he made a sally into the country of the Philistines, for he carried off their cattle by way of reprisal for the wrong they did to the men of Keilah in robbing their threshing-floors. Here notice is taken (Sa1 23:6) that it was while David remained in Keilah, after he had cleared it of the Philistines, that Abiathar came to him with the ephod in his hand, that is, the high priest's ephod, in which the urim and thummin were. It was a great comfort to David, in his banishment, that when he could not go to the house of God he had some of the choicest treasures of that house brought to him, the high priest and his breast-plate of judgment.
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 vv1–5 Then they told David,.... Either the men of Keilah…
Then they told David,.... Either the men of Keilah sent to him, being near them, or some well wishers of theirs, and of their country, acquainted him with their case:
saying, behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah; had laid siege to it, being a fortified place, Sa1 23:7; it was a city in the tribe of Judah, on the borders of the Philistines; of which See Gill on Jos 15:44,
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and they rob the threshing floors; took away the corn upon them, which they were threshing and winnowing, which were usually done without the city for the sake of wind, see Jdg 6:11; it was harvest time when the three mighty men came to David in the cave of Adullam, and so now it might be the time of threshing, harvest being over, see Sa1 22:1; compared with Sa2 23:13.
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, 4 David saves Keilah from the Philistines, ver. 1-6. His…
David saves Keilah from the Philistines, ver. 1-6. His danger there, and deliverance from it, ver. 7-13. He remains in the wilderness of Ziph, and is visited by Jonathan, ver. 14-18. Saul pursues him, ver. 19-25. His narrow escape, ver. 26-29
The Philistines, &c. - Probably it was the departure of God and David from Saul, that encouraged the Philistines to make this inroad. When princes begin to persecute God's people and ministers, let them expect nothing but vexation on all sides.
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, 4, 5 David succours Keilah, besieged by the Philistines; defeats
CHAPTER XXIII
David succours Keilah, besieged by the Philistines; defeats
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them, and delivers the city, 1-6.
Saul, hearing that David was at Keilah, determines to come and
seize him, 7, 8.
David inquires of the Lord concerning the fidelity of the men of
Keilah towards him; is informed that if he stays in the city,
the men of Keilah will betray him to Saul, 9-12.
David and his men escape from the city, and come to the
wilderness of Ziph, 13-15.
Jonathan meets David in the wood of Ziph, strengthens his hand
in God, and they renew their covenant, 16-18.
The Ziphites endeavour to betray David to Saul, but he and his
men escape to Maon, 19-22.
Saul comes to Maon; and having surrounded the mountain on which
David and his men were, they must inevitably have fallen into
his hands, had not a messenger come to call Saul to the succour
of Judah, then invaded by the Philistines, 25-27.
Saul leaves the pursuit of David, and goes to succour the land;
and David escapes to En-gedi, 28, 29.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII
Verse 1. The Philistines fight against Keilah] Keilah was a fortified town in the tribe of Judah near to Eleutheropolis, on the road to Hebron.
Rob the threshing-floors.] This was an ancient custom of the Philistines, Midianites, and others. See Jdg 6:4. When the corn was ripe and fit to be threshed, and they had collected it at the threshing-floors, which were always in the open field, then their enemies came upon them and spoiled them of the fruits of their harvest.
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, 5 1Sa 23:1. Then they told — Or rather, Now…
1Sa 23:1. Then they told — Or rather, Now they had told David. For it is evident from 1Sa 23:6, that David had received the information here referred to, and had even delivered the inhabitants of Keilah before Abiathar came to tell him of the slaughter of the priests. The Philistines fight against Keilah — Probably the Philistines were encouraged to make this inroad into the land of Israel by hearing that David was forced to flee his country, and that God had departed from Saul. When princes begin to persecute God’s people and ministers, let them expect nothing but vexation on all sides. Keilah was a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:44. They rob the thrashing-floors — Which were commonly without their cities, for the convenience of wind, to separate the chaff from the corn. See Rth 3:2.
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 David’s growing importance, fugitive as he was, is marked…
David’s growing importance, fugitive as he was, is marked by this appeal to him for deliverance from the Philistines. The “threshing floors” were the natural objects of plunder Jdg 6:11. Keilah was in the Shephelah (marginal reference), probably close to the Philistine border, but its site is uncertain.
Jos 2:11 Samuel Jos 23:1 PP1
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 vv1–4 Barns. The floors were composed of earth and the…
Barns. The floors were composed of earth and the dregs of oil, made into a sort of mortar, so that rain, mice, &c., could not hurt them. (Cato 91 and 129.) --- Hither the people of Ceila had gathered their corn, and the enemy came to plunder, or to spoil, according to custom, Judges v. 4., and xv. 5. (Calmet) --- Ceila was about seven miles from Hebron, and as many from Eleutheropolis. (St. Jerome)
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 V. 1. David’s expedition against the Philistines for the…
V. 1. David’s expedition against the Philistines for the rescue of Keilah. 2. His abode in the wilderness of Ziph, and the treachery of the Ziphites against him. 3. His deliverance from Saul in the wilderness of Moon
Chap. 23. [Eng. A. V. 1Sa_23:1-28]
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1Then [And] they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, 2and they rob the threshing-floors. Therefore [And] David enquired of the Lord [Jehovah], saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord 3[Jehovah] said unto David, Go and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be [are] afraid here in Judah; how much more, then, if we come1 [go] to Keilah against the armies [ranks]2 of the Philistines? 4Then [And] David enquired of the Lord [Jehovah] yet again. And the Lord [Jehovah] answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver 5[give] the Philistines into thine hand. So [And] David, and [with]3 his men, went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter; so [and] David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand [an ephod came down in his hand].4
7And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered5 him into mine hand, for he is shut in by6 entering into a town [city] that 8hath gates and bars. And Saul called all the people together [summoned all the people] to war, to go down7 to Keilah to besiege David and his men. And David 9knew that Saul secretly [om. secretly] practised8 mischief against him, and he said 10to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. Then said David [And David said], O Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that9 Saul seeketh to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men [citizens] 11of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord [Jehovah] God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And 12the Lord [Jehovah] said, He will come down. Then said David [And David said], Will the men [citizens] of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord [Jehovah] said, They will deliver thee up.
13Then [And] David and his men, which were about six10 hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul 14that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth. And David abode in the wilderness in [ins. the] strongholds, and remained [abode] in a [the] mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
15And David saw11 that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in 16the wilderness of Ziph in a [the] wood. And Jonathan, Saul’s son arose, and went 17to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God, And he [om. he] said to him, Fear not, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee, and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father 18knoweth [and that knoweth Saul my father also]. And they two made a covenant before the Lord [Jehovah]. And David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.12
19Then came up the Ziphites13 to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in [ins. the] strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah,14 which 20is on the south of Jeshimon [the desert]? Now, therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down, and our part shall be to deliver 21him into the king’s hand. And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord [Jehovah], 22for ye have compassion on me. Go, I pray you, prepare yet [be yet heedful],15 and know and see his place where his haunt [foot] is, and [om. and] who hath seen16 23him there; for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly. See therefore, [And see], and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout [among] all the thousands 24of Judah. And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but [and] David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon 25[the desert]. Saul also [And Saul] and his men went to seek him.17 And they told [it was told] David, wherefore [and] he came down into a [to the] rock [cliff] 26and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul18 went on the side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul, for [and] Saul and his 27men compassed David and his men round about to take them, But [And] there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have 28invaded the land. Wherefore [And] Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against [to meet] the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela hammahlekoth.19
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Sa_23:1-14. David’s march against the Philistines to rescue Keilah.
1Sa_23:1. David’s recall to Judah by Gad, and the distress of a part of Judah in consequence of a Philistine inroad stood probably in pragmatical connection. In this, his people’s time of need, David the fugitive was to do them a service by a successful feat of arms against the hereditary enemy; and this was to be of service to him by gaining for him higher consideration as God’s chosen one for the throne and the helper of his people. The Philistines were warring against Keilah, a fortified city (1Sa_23:7) in the lowland of Judah (Jos_15:44), according to the Onomasticon eight miles from Eleutheropolis towards Hebron, with an evil-disposed population, who acted ungratefully and treacherously toward David (verse 12), though he had saved them from imminent danger. Inhabitants of this city took part (Neh_3:17-18) in the building of the wall of Jerusalem. According to Kiepert’s map (from the Onom. Κεειλά, Ceila, or ’Εχελά), it lay somewhat south-west of Tarkumieh, and is, according to Tobler (3 Wand. 151), the present Kila, near the Philistine border.20—The Philistine inroad was also a predatory incursion, in which they had an eye to the grain which was threshed and stored in the threshing-floors. 1Sa_23:2. The news of the Philistines’ incursion determined David to attack them. It is probable, as we have already intimated, that he was brought to Judah by Gad for this purpose. But here, in David’s inquiry of the Lord, the agent is not the prophet Gad (Ew.), of whom it is not said, that he remained with David after 1Sa_22:20, but the high-priest Abiathar21 by Urim and Thummim, the expression “to inquire of Jehovah” being never used when the divine will was sought through a prophet, but undoubtedly of the high-priest’s inquiry by the sacred lot (as in 1Sa_22:10; 1Sa_22:13; 1Sa_22:15).—By this inquiry David learns God’s will; to attack the Philistines and rescue Keilah is now a divine command with the promise of victory in the order: “Rescue Keilah.”
1Sa_23:3. Against this David’s men protest from the point of view of their present situation, which on merely human grounds was certainly not of a nature to inspire them with courage.—We are afraid here in Judah, namely, as persecuted fugitives, who have abandoned a comparatively safe abode for the present more dangerous one, and are now further to rush into this danger by open war against the Philistines; we are always in danger from Saul, and now shall we march against the Philistine ranks at Keilah? Being not safe in Judah,22 ought we forsooth to go to Keilah against the Philistines? (אַף כִּי, comp. Hab_2:5; 1Sa_14:30; 1Sa_21:6; Ew., § 354 c [= “yea, is it that?” or: “how much more when?”—Tr.]).
1Sa_23:4. David holds to his resolution against these objections; to confirm it and to encourage his men he again inquires of the Lord and receives the same affirmative answer with the assurance that the Lord has given his enemies into his hand.—Though treated by the king as an outlaw, he yet maintains true love to his people, which impels him to help them in their need, and to show that, in spite of his undeserved sufferings, he will not sin against them by refusing to perform a deed of deliverance which is well-pleasing to God.—The “go down” indicates that David was still in the mountains of Judah whence he must descend in order to reach Keilah.
1Sa_23:5. In accordance with the divine declaration the attack on the Philistines was successful; David inflicted a severe defeat on them, and gained large booty, driving off their flocks. Thus he rescued the people of Keilah.
1Sa_23:6 is a supplementary historical explanation relative to the possibility of the inquiry of the Lord in 1Sa_23:2-3, which was not possible without the high-priestly cape or ephod to which was attached the Urim and Thummim. The main point is that, when Abiathar fled from Saul to David, he brought with him the high-priestly dress from Nob. But it was before this time that Abiathar came to David; he came as fugitive (1Sa_22:20) before David went to Keilah, for before this David inquired of the Lord through the high-priestly oracle. Accordingly, the remark: “when Abiathar fled to David to Keilah” is an indefinite statement, in which Keilah is by anticipation put as the first goal of his flight. The Sept. correctly explains: “When Abiathar, the son of Ahitub, fled to David, the ephod was in his hand, and he had gone down with David to Keilah, the ephod in his hand.” [Dr. Erdmann here gives not the reading of the Sept., but the Hebrew text as amended by Thenius after the Sept.; the Greek text, however does imply that Abiathar had come to Keilah with David, having fled to him before. Thenius’ amended Heb. text would indicate the back reference of this statement in 1Sa_23:6; but the present Heb. text naturally means that it was at Keilah that Abiathar first came to David, and so it is understood by Ewald, Stanley and the Bible Commentary. In 1Sa_22:20-23 it is not said where or when the priest reached David, and the statement may be an anticipatory conclusion of the narrative of the massacre, the intermediate fact 1Sa_23:1-5 being then taken up with its consequent procedures. Ewald also remarks that the account of the inquiry in 1Sa_23:2-3 is differently worded from that in 1Sa_23:9-12; the former may have been by the prophet Gad, against which, however, as Erdmann remarks, is the use of the phrase “inquire of the Lord,” which regularly refers to the sacred oracle.—On the whole, if we retain the Heb. text of 1Sa_23:6, we must hold that Abiathar joined David after the rescue of Keilah; but a slight change in the text23 (which seems to be corrupt) will permit us to adopt the view of Thenius, Keil, Philippson, and Erdmann, which is in other respects more satisfactory. This latter is also the view of Wordsworth, while Bp. Patrick adopts the other (referring to the employment of Urim and Thummim by Saul 1Sa_28:6, on which see Erdmann), but neither of these writers mentions the difficulties of the question.—Tr.].
1Sa_23:7. On hearing of David’s march to Keilah, Saul imagines that God has given him into his hands. He thinks that he will act as an instrument of the Lord against David. His reason therefor is indeed external and superficial enough: “for he is there shut in in a city with gates and bars.” (נִכַּר in pregnant sense = “look at, ignore, Deu_32:27, despise, reject,” Jer_19:4); into my hands [Heb. hand], that is, he hath given him, by abandoning and rejecting him. By blinding and self-deception Saul has fallen into the dreadful illusion that it is David, instead of himself, that is rejected by God.—The difficulty of the pregnant expression [God has rejected him into my hands] no doubt occasioned the change in the Sept. to “sold.”—For he is shut in in entering.24 The fact that David has entered or been drawn into this city with gates and bars, Saul thinks equivalent to his being shut in.
1Sa_23:8. And Saul caused the whole people to hear, summoned them to war (comp. 1Sa_15:4). Such summons to war was a royal right. The reason assigned to the people for the summons was to drive out the Philistines. Saul’s real purpose, which he could the more easily conceal under this pretext of war on the Philistines, was: to besiege David and his men, who were already in Keilah, the city with gates and bars.
1Sa_23:9. David, however, had information of these evil plans, which Saul was forging against him; the Heb. (חָרַשׁ) is literally “to work in metals,” and so “vigorously to work evil,” as in Pro_3:29; Pro_14:22; comp. Hos_10:13. [The “secretly” of Eng. A. V. is to be omitted.—Tr.]. This gives David occasion again to consult the divine oracle. Bring hither the ephod, said he to Abiathar (comp. 1Sa_14:13; 1Sa_30:7). The high-priestly dress had to be brought, because it was the sacred dress for official duties.
1Sa_23:10. This inquiry of the Lord by the ephod was connected with outspoken prayer, whereby is indicated the innermost kernel and most essential significance of this questioning of the divine oracle. In the invocation of God there is here to be noted 1) the designation of the covenant-God as the God of Israel, and 2) David’s avowal that he is the servant of this God, in whose service he knew himself to be. The reason for his questions is given in the words: I, thy servant, have heard that Saul seeks to come, etc.
1Sa_23:11. The two questions. The first is: Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me into his hand?—“Citizens” (בַעֵלֵי ק׳) comp. Jos_24:11, “citizens” of Jericho, 2Sa_21:12; Jdg_9:6. That this question stands first is certainly surprising, since logically this position belongs to the second question: Will Saul come down? We cannot regard this as a mere inconcinnity in the narrative. We may see in it the expression of David’s excited state of mind. Thenius’ proposed reading in order to secure logical arrangement in the two questions, namely: “Saul comes … to destroy the city, in order that the citizens of Keilah may deliver me into his hand” (he omits the suffix in בַעֲבוּרִי in 1Sa_23:10 and for הֲיַסְנִּרֻנִי reads הַסְגִּרֻנִי) is all the more hazardous and untenable, as no version gives any hint for such a reading.—The divine answer, which is affirmative, refers only to the second question. Therefore the first question is repeated in 1Sa_23:12, and is then answered in the affirmative. There is thus a sort of chiasm or crossing in the order of the questions and answers. 1Sa_23:13. The certainty that Saul will come with an army, and that the men of Keilah will treacherously deliver him up,25 determines David to depart with his band (about six hundred men) before Saul can carry out his plan. They went about whither they went, “whither their way led them” (Maurer), as chance circumstances required, without fixed plan or aim. A mode of warfare by means of scouts and spies now arose between the two men. They have precise information of each other’s plans and enterprises. Saul soon learns that David has escaped from Keilah, and accordingly abandons his intended march thither.
1Sa_23:14. David in the wilderness of Ziph and the treachery of the Ziphites towards him. 1Sa_23:14. David’s next place of abode is in general the wilderness, that is, of Judah, and its sheltering heights; but “the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph” is specially mentioned as a more permanent dwelling-place. Ziph (different from the place named in Jos_15:24, which lay southwest of Arad), perhaps the present Kuseifeh (Rob. III., 184, 188 [Am. ed., II., 200]) Jos_15:55, lay farther north on the highland, about eight miles southeast of Hebron; see Robins., II., 47 [Am. ed., I., 492] who found there a hill, Tell Zif, and near by considerable ruins of old fortifications. [Mr. Grove, who formerly objected to Robinson’s conjecture, now accepts it, but puts Zif (= Ziph) three miles south of Hebron. See his Art. in Smith’s Bib.-Dict., and Dr. Hackett’s note in Am. ed.—Tr.] Individual parts of the great wilderness of Judah, which extended from the north of Judah to the Amorite mountain in the south between the mountains of Judah and the Dead Sea, were named from the various cities on the border of the mountains and the wilderness; so, besides the wilderness of Ziph, the wilderness of Maon, whither David afterwards went from Ziph (1Sa_23:25). The mountain in the wilderness of Ziph is probably the mount Hachilah of 1Sa_23:19. The general remark is here proleptically made that all Saul’s attempts against David were vain. Saul sought him every day, not: throughout his life (Keil), but = continually; but God gave him not into his (Saul’s) hands.—David was under the special protection of God. These words form the contrast to Saul’s word, 1Sa_23:7 : “God has rejected [delivered] him into my hand.” After the general remark on the failure of Saul’s continued attempts follows (1Sa_23:15) the mention of special cases, and the description of David’s persecution. Thus connected with the preceding this verse (15) is not a “useless repetition” (Then.); for, after the statement that Saul pursued David, it is here first declared that David received information of this pursuit, and then David’s retreat in the wilderness is more exactly described by the word “wood,” or thick wood (בַהֹרְשָׁה, from חֹרֶשׂ, with ה parag.). Here, too, the forest is David’s chief means of concealment. Perhaps the word is also a proper name [Horesh], so called from the forests, of which there is now no trace in that region.
1Sa_23:16-18. Here is related how Jonathan comforted and strengthened David, when the latter, having heard of Saul’s attempts against him, greatly needed consolation. There is no ground for regarding this (Then.) as merely the essential content of the traditional narration of Jonathan’s secret interview with David in 1 Samuel 20. It is another interview of Jonathan with his friend, whose distress and danger led him to hasten to him in order by consoling and encouraging words to give him the most precious proof of his faithful friendship.26 The fact is especially emphasized that Jonathan went to David into the wood; there they could be safest from Saul. He strengthened his hand in God; that is, he revived his sunken courage (comp. Neh_12:18), by pointing to the divine promises, the divine protection, and the great things that God had in store for him. Not wholly correct and exhaustive is Clericus’ remark: “he drew consolation from his innocence and God’s promises.”
1Sa_23:17. The words of Jonathan, explaining what was just before said. Fear not, is the key-note of Jonathan’s address. As ground of which he points 1) to God’s almighty help: Saul’s hand will not find thee,—he is firmly convinced that he (David) is under God’s protection, and that therefore Saul can gain no advantage over him,—and 2) to the fixed divine decree: Thou wilt be king over Israel; Jonathan was certain through divine illumination that David was called by the Lord to be king of Israel, and could therefore console and encourage him; for Saul could not make void God’s counsel and will (comp. 1Sa_20:13 sq.). I shall be next to thee,—herein Jonathan shows 1) his absolute willingness to resign all claim to the throne, and 2) his hope that David will confer on him as a subject the place nearest in association to himself. And so also Saul knows, my father is sure that thou wilt be king. Saul must therefore have already learned this through the voice of God and of the people.
1Sa_23:18. A new covenant is made by the two men, comp. 1Sa_20:16 sq., 42. Here, as there, the parting is briefly and vividly described: David remained in the thicket—Jonathan went his way home. [The two friends meet no more in life. How it would have been if Jonathan had lived we cannot tell; but all possible complications were avoided by his death. His life thus presents an untarnished picture of pure, self-denying friendship. This parting is one of the many dramatic situations that occur in this Book.—Tr.]
1Sa_23:19-24 a. The Ziphites betray to Saul David’s abode among them; Saul forms with the betrayers his crafty scheme against David. 1Sa_23:19 is connected with 1Sa_23:15, not with 1Sa_23:14 (Thenius). “Ziphites,” people of Ziph [without the Art.—Tr.] Some Ziphites went up to Saul to Gibeah to betray to him David’s abode. The mountain Hachilah, with its wood and its rocks, lay “on the right of the desert;” that is, south of the waste region which stretched out on the west of the Dead Sea within the steppe of Judah. The Article indicates the desert to be that well-known desert in this region, the designation being almost a proper name [written as nom. pr. “Jeshimon” in Eng. A. V.—Tr.] So in Num_21:20; Num_23:28, a desert is called “the desert” [Eng. A. V. Jeshimon]. This is the desert northeastern border of the Dead Sea.
1Sa_23:20. The lively tone of the address of the Ziphites shows that they were somewhat passionate adherents of Saul, and acquainted with his most secret desires. Two things they say to him: 1) Come down to us, for all thy desire to get David in thy power may now be fulfilled; 2) it is our affair to deliver him up to thee. [Bib.-Com. less well renders: “it is in our power,” etc.—Tr.].
1Sa_23:21. The feeling expressed in Saul’s answer agrees with the Ziphites’ word as to his keen desire to come down to them. He invokes God’s blessing on them for their offer and promise. He remains true to his illusion that David is attempting his throne and life, and so committing a crime against God. He imagines that he is in a dangerous situation, and that the Ziphites had compassion on him or sympathy with him in making him this offer.
1Sa_23:22. He directs them how to act in order to gain information of every retreat of David in his constant shifting of place. “Fix your mind, observe” (supply לֵב as in Jdg_12:6; 2Ch_29:36). The heaping up of synonyms is no argument against this rendering; the conception “see” is not thrice expressed (Then.), but there is a gradation, Saul describing in an animated manner how they are to get information of David’s abode: “Keep a good look-out still, that ye may learn, and that ye may see in what place his foot will be,” that is, where he fixes himself in his wandering. “Who has seen him” refers to the last: “And see his place,” etc. The words, in keeping with Saul’s animated manner, are loosely put together, he having in mind the moment when the man who discovers David’s abode comes to inform him. Saul affirms the necessity for this espionage in the remark: “for it is told me that he is very subtle.” This trait of character in David agrees with what we otherwise know of him in this respect.
1Sa_23:23. Saul continues his directions, and cannot say enough (to satisfy himself) to exhort them to search in every nook and cranny. “Return to me unto what is certain;” that is, when you have gotten certain information. Not till then will he go down with them. He confidently declares that he will then seize him among all the thousands of Judah. The Alaphim, thousands are, according to Num_1:16; Num_10:4, the larger divisions of the twelve Tribes.
1Sa_23:24 a. The Ziphites went back to their region before Saul, who, according to the agreement, was to follow later.
1Sa_23:24 b–28. David retires to the wilderness of Maon, and is delivered from Saul.
1Sa_23:24 b. The wilderness of Maon lay farther south. The name still exists, = Maïn, eight miles southeast of Hebron; the distance from Ziph is therefore only six miles. Maïn lies on a conical hill, which commands a wide view, so that Rob. (II., 433 [Am. Ed., I., 493–495]) thence saw nine cities of the hill-country of Judah, Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jattir, Socho, Anab, Eshtemoa, and Hebron (Jos_15:48-55). On the character of the ground see Van de Velde II. 107 sq. [Mr. Grove in Smith’s Bible Dict. thinks that the wilderness of Maon formed part of the larger region called the Arabah, rendered in Eng. A. V. 1Sa_23:24, “the plain.”—Tr.].—David, doubtless in consequence of information received as to the designs of Saul and the Ziphites, betook himself to the wilderness of Maon.
1Sa_23:25. And Saul … went, namely, after he had gotten information from the Ziphites. The “rock,” on which it is here presupposed that David was staying, and which was in the wilderness of Maon, is perhaps the conical hill of the present Maïn, whose summit is surrounded with ruins. He went down not (as Sept.) “into the rock,” nor “to the rock” (Buns.), but “descended the rock,” in order to conceal himself in the lowland or in the caves at its base. It is the same mountain that is mentioned in 1Sa_23:26, on opposite sides of which Saul and David found themselves. Here (1Sa_23:26) David was sore troubled (נֶחְפָּז) to escape Saul, while, on his part, Saul attempted to surround and seize him.
1Sa_23:27. But suddenly, when David is in the greatest danger of being surrounded, Saul receives information of a new Philistine incursion. He must desist from farther pursuit. This was God’s plan to save David. The Philistines had seized on the moment when Saul had withdrawn his men to the south in pursuit of David, to invade the upper part of the land.
1Sa_23:28. The place was called Sela hammahlekoth (סֶלַע הַמַּחְלְקוֹת). There are two explanations of the name: 1) rock of smoothness, that is, of escape, and 2) rock of dividings or divisions. The first (Ges., De Wette, Keil), takes the notion of “escape” from the signification of the verb (חָלַק) “to be smooth,” for which application, however, only Jer_37:12, and that very doubtfully, can be adduced. Further the substantive here used never means “escape,” but always “distribution” (Jos_11:23; Jos_12:7; Jos_18:10; Eze_48:29) and “division” (1Ch_26:1; 1Ch_27:1; 2Ch_31:17) and it must so be taken here. This explanation is favored also by the word “therefore,” which clearly refers to the circumstantially related fact that the armies of Saul and David were separated, divided by the rock. Ewald’s explanation: “lot of fate” (= חֶלֶק) is unfounded. It accordingly means: “Rock of division.” Cler.: “rock of divisions, where Saul and David were separated.” The rock divided the two armies, held them asunder. Böttcher conjectures that the rock might originally from its nature have been called “rock of smoothness,” and this name might afterwards from historical recollection have been made to refer to the movements of Saul and David, who according to 1Sa_23:26 had divided the rock-ground between them. Certainly this explanation of the name “Rock of dividings, partings,” would be possible as respects the ground. But, by reason of the “therefore,” the reference to Saul and David’s relation to one another suits the connection better.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. David did not seek, but received from the Lord’s hand the opportunity by the march to Keilah to perform a heroic deed, and thus to win further consideration in the eyes of the people as a warrior blessed by God and crowned with glorious success. The king left the city open to the attacks of the Philistines. He neglected his duty as protector of his people against the hereditary foe, thinking only of revenging himself on David. Here also David was under God’s protection, to which he humbly resigned himself. After he had at the Lord’s command returned from Moab to Judah, he must, in the fact that the Philistines undisturbed besieged Keilah and carried off the grain, while Saul took no steps to oppose them, have recognized God’s command to draw the sword for his people, especially as he was the king’s general, though he had received no order from the king. But for his conscience and his assurance of faith, as well as for the certainty and success of the whole undertaking, he needed the divine authorization; if he had not the sanction of the theocratic king, he must have that of God Himself, since the question was of a matter important for the people of God and for the affairs of God’s kingdom in Israel,—war against Israel’s hereditary foe. He received the divine authorization and the promise of success through a twice affirmed divine oracle. By the divine promise he is inwardly certain of success. Even in straits and danger, he now with the Lord’s support becomes the saviour of his people out of straits and danger. But in the deed of deliverance itself lies the seed of new suffering. The rescue of Keilah by David occasioned Saul’s march to Keilah against David. The inhabitants of Keilah exhibit base ingratitude towards him. By God’s word he learns what dangers here threaten him. By God’s direction he again takes to flight to save himself from Saul—but the incursion of the Philistines, occasioned by Saul’s march to the south, compels him to desist from following David, who thus escapes his persecutor. Thus this section exhibits David anew in the clearest light of divine guidance as the Chosen and Anointed of God: 1) submitting himself unconditionally to God’s determining word and guiding will, and 2) guided directly by God’s hand and determined in all his affairs by God’s will and word.
2. Whatever may have been the form of the inquiry of God through the Urim and Thummim (which was attached to the ephod of the high-priest), yet in this section it is clearly and distinctly indicated that it was an embodied prayer to God for the revelation of His will, and only to such prayer was God’s counsel and will thus revealed. One’s own natural objection and other men’s opposition to God’s will must by this repeated questioning of the Lord and decision and confirmation of His will be most completely refuted and set aside. Flesh-and-blood’s deliberations concerning what pertains to God’s kingdom lead to indecision, doubt, timidity; taking counsel with God in direct access to His grace and truth makes the heart firm and the look clear, and gives true courage and victorious prowess, as is shown by the example of David, who repeatedly inquired of the Lord.
3. The teaching of the Ziphites forms the historical background of Psalms 54, the title of which refers its origin to David’s thence resulting sorrowful experiences, 1Sa_23:19 sq. In full accordance with his then dangerous situation and with a backward glance at God’s wonderful help, he first utters a prayer for deliverance from wicked and ungodly enemies, 1Sa_23:3-5 (1–3), and then expresses his assurance of divine help, together with the promise of thanksgiving for deliverance, 1Sa_23:6-9 (4–7).
4. Out of these great experiences, in David’s sorrowful life, of the grace and power, wisdom and justice, mercy and goodness of God, was developed in him and through him in his people that intelligence of faith and theological knowledge which we see in the Psalms and the prophetical writings.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1Sa_23:2. Starke: God forsakes not those who seek Him (Psa_9:11 [10]). When we wish to begin any thing, we should first ask counsel of God.
1Sa_23:3. Cramer: Flesh and blood trembles when at God’s command we have to encounter danger. Schmid: Corrupt human reason always has something which it opposes to the word of God.
1Sa_23:4. Starke: When we have God’s will on our side, we should not let ourselves be led astray by men (Act_21:13-14). The shield of the pious is with God, who helps pious hearts (Psa_7:11 [10]).
1Sa_23:5. Cramer: In trouble God yet sometimes gives a joyous day, and after the troublous storm He shows a glimpse of His grace (Ecc_7:14).
1Sa_23:7. Osiander: Hypocrites have God’s name in the mouth, but the devil always in the heart. And although they speak of God, yet they have always a bloody mind against God’s people (Psa_50:16-17).
1Sa_23:11-12. God foresees not only what will really happen, but also what would follow if this and that should happen. His omniscience and foreknowledge is a boundless and bottomless sea (Act_27:24-31).—The greatest benefits are often requited with the greatest ingratitude, and this is a shameful evil among men, which then most betrays itself when they should be thankful.—Schlier: True thankfulness which fears God knows well how to find out the right. Let us be thankful in all things! We need not for that reason do wrong when the point is to be thankful, but when true thankfulness fills the heart there open up ways enough to show it.
1Sa_23:16 sq. Osiander: It is a work acceptable to God to comfort the afflicted (Isa_40:1; 1Th_5:14).—God is wont always to refresh again His people who are in danger, that they may not utterly sink under the cross (2Co_7:6).—Starke: True friendship must be grounded in communion with God. Real love does not diminish, but increases.—Schlier: God lets a David be persecuted—lets him be driven about like a hunted animal; but at His own time He also sends him a Jonathan with friendly words. And so God the Lord still always does to all His servants.—F. W. Krummacher: The picture of this pair of friends—a picture nobler and more exalting than that of the heathen Dioscuri, beams inextinguishably in the heaven of the church, as a kindling and inspiring ideal of unfeigned manly friendship, sanctified in God.
1Sa_23:25 sq. Starke: God never leaves one that loves Him without a cross, and when one cross has ceased, another is at once ready (Psa_73:14).—Osiander: God often lets His people fall into extreme need, so that they can neither counsel nor help themselves, in order that the divine help may be so much the more recognized and honored (Mat_8:25).—Cramer: God lets nothing so bad happen, but that He knows how to make out of it something good (Gen_50:20).—Wuert. Bib.: Even enemies must serve our God in reserving His believing children from peril or need (2Pe_2:9).
1Sa_23:28. Osiander: The benefits of God we should with thankful mind keep in lively remembrance (Psa_103:2).—Schlier: Why is it that the Lord very often helps only when the need has reached its height! It is in order that we may give the honor to the Lord alone.—F. W. Krummacher: David was delivered “at the last hour,” it is true; but this never strikes too late for the Lord still to furnish in it the proof to those that trust in Him, that His word is Yea and Amen when it says, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
J. Disselhoff: How trying days should be borne after God’s heart: 1) By despairing of all self-help and believingly fleeing to God’s heart, there to learn supplication and thanksgiving. 2) By opening heart and hand amid our own need for others’ need. 3) By contending with the weapons of gentleness and humility against the supposed or real authors of the trials.
[1Sa_23:7-13. David at Keilah. 1) Saul eagerly arranges to seize him: a) Rejoicing beforehand in a success taken for granted. “Counting the chickens,” etc.; b) Inferring that God was on his side from the mere prospect of a single success; misinterpreting Providence, comp. 1Sa_24:4. 2) The citizens of Keilah ready to betray him—doubtless remembering Nob; Ingratitude—which always finds itself some excuse. 3) David sees reason to fear them, and seeks divine direction: a) He speaks humbly as God’s servant; b) He earnestly implores direction. Prayer. In answer to humble and earnest prayer, God often delivers from ungrateful friends and scheming foes.
[1Sa_23:16-18. The last meeting of Jonathan and David: 1) David feeble and fearful (“strengthened,” “fear not”). Naturally discouraged by cowardly ingratitude, malignant hostility, weary wandering, uncertainty of life. 2) Jonathan encourages him: a) By the mere fact of coming to meet him through difficulties and dangers; b) By piously pointing him to God; c) By confident assurances of preservation and triumph; d) By declaring that his great enemy himself knows this, comp. 1Sa_24:20; e) By avowing his own willingness to be second to David. 3) They renew their league of friendship before the Lord (comp. 1Sa_18:3; 1Sa_20:16; 1Sa_20:42). They part to meet no more on earth. Jonathan is next mentioned in David’s pathetic lament (2Sa_1:17-27).
[1Sa_23:25-27. David’s narrow escape: 1) He is betrayed by men of his own tribe (1Sa_23:19), and skilful plans are laid to apprehend him (1Sa_23:22-23). 2) Hard pressed, fleeing in haste, surrounded (1Sa_23:26). 3) Prays to God for help and deliverance (Psalms 54). 4) Strangely delivered at the last moment by overruling Providence (1Sa_23:27).—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1]1Sa_23:3. Erdmann: “and we are really to go, etc.?” Syr.: “how shall we go?” Sept.: “how will it be if we go?” all of which give the general sense; Eng. A. V. has the more exact rendering, and so Chald. and Vulg.—Then.: “how much less shall we go?”—Tr.]
[2][1Sa_23:3. Sept. σκῦλα “spoil,” which Then. prefers, supposing it to represent מְשִׁסּוֹת “booty,” whence the Heb. text מַעַרְכוֹת might easily come. Against this Wellhausen justly points out the unsuitableness of the resulting thought, and suggests that σκῦλα (variants σκωλα, κοιλιας) is another form of Κεἴλά, and that the Greek omits the מַעַרְכוֹת—as to the improbability of battle-lines in Philistine raiding-parties, they might well exist, or David’s men may naturally exaggerate the danger.
[3][1Sa_23:4. Heb.: “David and his men,” but the following verbs are in the Singular, making David the subject.—Tr.]
[4][1Sa_23:6. Erdmann: “The ephod came down to him,” which, however, the Heb. does not mean from the connection. Erdmann suggests the right sense in the Exposition.—Tr.]
[5][1Sa_23:7. נִכַּר is rendered by the VSS. “delivered,” but Sept. “sold” מָכַר, adopted by Then.; Wellh. says the text seems made up of מכר and נתן. The word is literally “ignored,” and so perhaps=“abandoned.”—Tr.]
[6][1Sa_23:7. Literally. “at entering” (לָבוֹא), not “shut in (forced) to enter.”—Tr.]
[7][1Sa_23:8. Sept. in inverse order; “to go down to war,” perhaps a mere softening. The Heb. order is better; Saul summons the people generally to war, and then the special purpose is added of going down to Keilah.—Instead of צוּר some MSS. have צוּד.
[8][1Sa_23:9. חַרַשׁ= “cut, work on the forge” = “practice.” Eng. A. V. gets its “secretly” from Vulg. clam, and this is perhaps from the meaning “to be deaf, dumb,” also found in this verb, but not applicable here; so Sept. rendered παρασιωπᾷ before which, however, it naturally found itself obliged to insert the negative.—Tr.]
[9][1Sa_23:10. Thenius reads: “Saul seeks … to destroy the city in order that the citizens of Keilah may deliver me into his hand,” on which see Erdmann. To this the objections are 1) that it supposes a construction (Inf. with suffix followed by Accus.-subject) doubtful in Heb. (Wellh.), and 2) Saul’s purpose in destroying the city, namely, that the citizens may deliver David up, seems a strange one. On the other hand the omission of the first clause of 1Sa_23:11 (Wellh.) is a violent procedure, like that of Syr., which omits the whole of this verse. The procedure of the vers. shows the difficulty they had with the text, but also seems to vouch for its integrity. It is perhaps better to attribute the repetition to excitement, or to regard the first question as a general one, which is afterwards for the sake of clearness, divided into two.—Tr.]
[10][1Sa_23:13. Sept. four hundred by error from 1Sa_22:2.—Tr.]
[11][1Sa_23:15. Ewald and Wellhausen emend to וַיִּרָא “feared” on the ground that this is required in order to connect with the preceding context and to explain the words of Jonathan in 1Sa_23:17. Yet the connection is so general a one that such a change seems unnecessary.—Tr.]
[12][1Sa_23:18. Some MSS. have דַּרְכּו “his way,” but the text is best supported.—Tr.]
[13][1Sa_23:19. The Heb. has not the Art., but the connection seems to involve it.—Wellhausen thinks the minute description of place here interpolated from 1Sa_26:1, because otherwise Saul’s minute directions in 1Sa_23:22-23, would be out of place; but the statement of the Ziphites is not so minute as to supersede the necessity of search for the fugitive, who might be in any one of a hundred places “in the wood on the hill.”—Tr.]
[14][1Sa_23:19. Some MSS. have (probably wrongly) Habilah and Havilah.—Tr.]
[15][1Sa_23:21. Instead of הָכִינוּ “set your mind),” some MSS. have הָבִינוּ“understand, learn.”—Tr.]
[16][1Sa_23:22. Thenius reads רַגְלוֹ הַמְּהֵרָה “where his quick or fleet foot is,” Sept. ἐν τάχει, an ingenious and smooth reading; yet the rugged Heb. text suits the hurry of the command better.—Tr.]
[17][1Sa_23:25. The suffix, omitted in the Heb., is added in the Sept.—Erdmann renders “went down the cliff.”—Tr.]
[18][1Sa_23:26. Sept. “Saul and his men.” a natural (and therefore suspicious) supplement.—Tr.]
[19][1Sa_23:28. On the meaning of this name see Erdmann in Exposition.—Tr.]
[20][Mr. Grove (in Smith’s Bib. Dict., Art. Keilah) referring to Tobler’s identification of Keilah with Kila says “thus another is added to the list of places which, though specified as in the ‘lowland’ are yet actually found in the mountains: a puzzling fact.” In connection with the signification “fortress” given to Keilah by Gesenius and others, Mr. Grove also points to the expression “marvellous kindness in a strong city” in Psa_31:21 and to 1Sa_23:8 and the general tenor of the Psalm.—Tr.]
[21][See on 1Sa_23:6.—Tr.]
[22][Bib. Com.: “Implying that Keilah was not in Judah.” Yet it may mean simply that the Philistines now had control of the region of Keilah.—Tr.]
[23][Read: “When Abiathar, etc. fled to David, the ephod was in his hand, and he came down to Keilah.”—Tr.]
[24] לָבוֹא eundo—comp. לֵאמֹר dicendo, “saying.” The Inf. with ל is often used to introduce a subordinate circumstance. Ew. § 280d. Comp. 1Ki_16:7; Psa_78:18; Psa_63:3; 1Ch_12:8; Pro_26:2; Joe_2:26.
[25][They act, perhaps, partly from attachment to Saul, partly from policy.—Tr.]
[26][It is suggested in Bib.-Com. that Jonathan had informed David of his father’s designs (1Sa_23:15), but this is nowhere intimated.—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 v2 David inquired of the Lord--most probably through Gad (Sa2…
David inquired of the Lord--most probably through Gad (Sa2 24:11; Ch1 21:9), who was present in David's camp (Sa1 22:5), probably by the recommendation of Samuel. To repel unprovoked assaults on unoffending people who were engaged in their harvest operations, was a humane and benevolent service. But it was doubtful how far it was David's duty to go against a public enemy without the royal commission; and on that account he asked, and obtained, the divine counsel. A demur on the part of his men led David to renew the consultation for their satisfaction; after which, being fully assured of his duty, he encountered the aggressors and, by a signal victory, delivered the people of Keilah from further molestation.
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 vv1–3 DAVID AT KEILAH, 1Sa_23:1-13.
DAVID AT KEILAH, 1Sa_23:1-13.
1. Keilah — The modern Kila, situated about four miles northwest of Hebron on a projecting cliff on the right bank of Wady el-Feranj. See on Jos_15:44. It was a fortified place defended by gates and bars. 1Sa_23:7.
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Threshing floors — See on Jdg_6:11, and Rth_3:2.
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 vv1–3 1Sa_23:1-6. The rescue of Keilah
1Sa_23:1-6. The rescue of Keilah
1. Then they told David] Simply, And they told. There is no mark of time. The appeal to David shews that he was growing to be regarded as the champion of Israel.
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Keilah] A fortified city (v, 7), named in Jos_15:44 as one of a group of cities in the Shephêlah or “Lowland,” which included the low limestone hills bordering on the Philistine plain. It was perched on a steep hill above the valley of Elah, about three miles south of Adullam, where the name Kila still survives to mark the site.
they rob the threshing floors] This indicates that the raid took place immediately after harvest, when the corn was stacked by the floors ready for threshing.
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 vv1–4 (1) Then they told David. . . .—For this…
(1) Then they told David. . . .—For this and like duties the prophet Gad (1Sa_22:5) had summoned David to return with his armed band to Judah. There was a great work ready to his hand in his own country at that juncture. Saul was becoming more and more neglectful of his higher duty—that of protecting his people; as time went on and his malady increased, his whole thoughts were concentrated on David’s imaginary crimes, and the history of the latter part of his reign is little more than a recital of his sad, bewildered efforts to compass the young hero’s destruction. The task of protecting the people from the constant marauding expeditions of the Philistines, and probably of the neighbouring nations, then was entrusted to David. To point this out to the son of Jesse was evidently the first great mission of Gad the seer. Samuel’s mind was, no doubt, busied in this matter. It is more than probable that Gad was first dispatched to join David at the instigation of the aged, but still mentally vigorous, prophet.
Keilah.—“This town lay in the lowlands of Judah, not far from the Philistine frontier, some miles south of Adullam, being perched on a steep hill overlooking the valley of Elah, not far from the thickets of Hareth” (Conder; Tent Life in Palestine).
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 DAVID RESCUES KEILAH, BUT HAS TO ESCAPE FROM THE…
DAVID RESCUES KEILAH, BUT HAS TO ESCAPE FROM THE TREACHERY OF ITS INHABITANTS (vers. 1-13).
They told David, etc. The return of David into his own land was quickly followed by exploits which not only increased his power, but turned the eyes of all the people towards him as their protector. His first success was the deliverance of the city of Keilah from a body of Philistines who were plundering it of the produce of its harvest. This place lay a few miles south of the stronghold of Adullam, and itself occupied a defensible position, being perched on a steep hill overlooking the valley of Elah, not far from the thickets of Hareth (Condor, "Tent Work," 2:88). Being thus at no great distance from the Philistine border, a band of men started thence on a foray for the purpose of robbing the threshing floors. As no rain falls in Palestine in the harvest season, (1Sa_12:17) the corn is threshed out in the open air by a heavy wooden sledge made of two boards, and curved up in front, with pieces of basalt inserted for teeth, drawn over it by horses, or it is trampled out by cattle. Conder ("Tent Work," 2:259) describes the threshing floor as "a broad flat space on open ground, generally high. Sometimes the floor is on a flat rocky hill top, and occasionally it is in an open valley, down which there is a current of air; but it is always situated where most wind can be found, because at the threshing season high winds never occur, and the grain is safely stored before the autumn storms commence." As the grain after winnowing is made into heaps until it can be carried home, there is always a period when the threshing floors have to be watched to guard them from depredation, and this was the time chosen by the Philistines for a foray in force. \ Vers. 1-5.
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Deference to the Divine will.
The facts are
1. David, being informed of the inroads of the Philistines against Keilah, seeks counsel of God.
2. Being directed to go against them, he finds his men in doubt of thesafety of the enterprise.
3. Hence, to satisfy them he makes further inquiry of the Lord, and is againdirected to go, with promise of victory. Acting on these instructions, he saves Keilah. The moral degeneracy of Saul seems to have been accompanied with some degree of inefficiency of government, by reason of which portions of the country were still exposed to incursions of the Philistines. The subsequent conduct of Keilah, bad enough as it was in itself (ver. 12), would lead us to infer that the people who sought David"s interposition were patriotic men not resident in the city. Possibly David"s reputation for energy and courage had been sustained of late by the manner in which he had developed his few resources in defence against the wiles and force of his personal foe, and hence it would be natural for oppressed neighbours to seek his aid on an emergency. The narrative relates how he met the demand on his intervention, and with what result. It brings out a fine truth bearing on both public and private life.
I THE HABIT OF DEFERENCE TO THE DIVINE WILL IS A NECESSARY AND VALUABLE ELEMENT IN LIFE. It is remarkable how, without choice of his own, David had been forced into a position of isolation and danger. There perhaps never was a life, except that of our Saviour, in which habitual submission to a supreme will was more conspicuous. The critical position in which he found himself when urged to make war on Philistine plunderers brought out into more public view a condition of mind habitual in private life. His unwillingness to take the step without being sure of the will of God was a revelation to those who sought his services of what was constant in his experience. The question was not, Can I gain wider reputation, or win Israel to my standard? Is it the will of God, was the first and last thought. David"s conception of life was that which becomes every Christian. Whether our lot be kingly or lowly, our calling public or private, it should be a primary thought with us that God has a will of his own as to what manner of persons we ought to be, and what line of conduct we should adopt in the most common affairs of our life; forevery action, and word, and spirit possesses in God"s sight a moral character derived from the motive in which it originates and the final result to which it is made subservient. Our great business is to form an estimate, by a study of God"s character and providence and of our own position and capabilities, of what he would regard as a pure and righteous course, and then strive, as demands are made on us, to translate that into our actual deeds and temper. There is abundant scope for this habitual deference to God"s will in the demands which come upon us from all quarters. By reason of the strong interaction of various tendencies within us: and the opposing claims of what seem to be benevolence and prudence, we may, like David, find ourselves in an ambiguous position, and it is at such junctures especially that the habitual deference will manifest its valuable presence. The difference between a really good man and one of formal godliness comes out in this, that the one always feels as though another and higher will was present and supreme over his own, while the other only thinks of that superior will on special occasions when painful events fill him with fear. This habitual deference is partly owing to the fact that a correct view is taken of life. David understood his vocation in the world. He had a part to perform in the great Messianic purpose. Although his vision of the future unfoldings of that purpose, varying in distinctness at different periods (Psalm 2; cf. Psalm 72), was not of details, yet he had faith enough in its reality and grandeur to induce the conviction that every step of his daily course was in some way associated with its realisation. And in like manner the humblest Christian is permitted to believe that he has a similar vocation in the world, as a member of Christ"s mystical body. Hence we, as members of Christ"s body, have no raison d"etre apart from habitual deference to the will of Christ. And as, by the varied experience of life, this deference deepens, so its effect on our general character is more conspicuous. It induces a sobriety of judgment, for haste and rashness are due to self-will; it creates a refined susceptibility of spirit by which moral perfections are quickened and the existence of evil is discerned from afar; and it gives zest and carefulness in use of means to ascertain, in cases of difficulty, what is the perfect will of God.
II THE MANIFEST APPROVAL OF GOD IN ANY CASE OF DIFFICULTY OR PERIL IS AN ALL-SUFFICIENT ENCOURAGEMENT TO A SINCERE MAN. David"s position was still one of embarrassment and danger. He was potentially king, but could not avow it. He was loyal to Saul, though strongly tempted by his persecutions to rise in open rebellion. He was assured by. the anointing and by Samuel"s sanction and encouragement that a great future was awaiting him, and yet, like many since his time, he had to bear all the pains and sorrows of the outcast. The agony of feeling expressed in the Psalms can be understood only as we remember his call to a holy work and the consciousness of innocence. The recent experience at Nob caused him to feel how incidentally others might be compromised in his procedure, even when undertaking useful service. But all fear, all sorrow, every feeling of uneasiness as to consequences, disappeared when God recognised him by an answer to the official inquiry of Gad or Abiathar. The fact of the inquiry on his behalf is very important. (Num_27:18-21; Jud 20:26-28) That one or both of these after the slaughter of Nob sought counsel for David was a declaration in most emphatic form that he was the coming king. God thus by his servants openly sanctioned him, and hence his soul was encouraged to brave any danger, to bear any consequences, so long as God approved. (Psa_56:11) It is the assured approval of God, obtained in diverse ways according to the nature of the case, that emboldens Christians in courses of extreme difficulty and peril. The apostles feared not Jewish or Roman power when they had, after the ascension of Christ, received the inward and outward testimony of the Holy Spirit of the Divine character of the cause they professed. The same spirit is created in others when called to go forth to heathen lands, or to wage war with fearful evils at home. Let the youth, the sire, the statesman, the parent, the merchant, and the pastor only hear the word "go," at once the soul may take courage and assert its strength.
III THE MEANS BY WHICH GOD AFFORDS GUIDANCE TO HIS PEOPLE VARY IN DIFFERENT AGES. David now is guided in his public capacity as the coming king by prophet or by priest using the ephod. As a private man he depended for the ordinary course of life on the more private and unexpressed guidance which God insures to all his faithful children. The means by which his public course was directed were unlike the more ancient and the more modern. From the beginning of human history we have to distinguish between the communications which God may have given to men for their personal comfort and use and that which was designed to reveal the fact of his purposes of mercy to the world and gradually unfold their scope, although in some instances, as in the case of Abraham, (Gen_15:1) the personal and general might coincide. The guidance granted to the patriarchs for the unfolding of the redemptive purposes was chiefly in form of visible or audible manifestations, a method well suited to a primitive life without religious literature, precedents, fixed regulations, and official teachers, and needing greatly, in the midst of visible surroundings and material tendencies, to be impressed with the reality of the unseen power. To Israel in the desert the guidance and spiritual impressment was given by the visible pillar of cloud and of fire, and by the stupendous signs on Mount Sinai which accompanied the communications to Moses for their benefit. The Urim and Thummim of the high priest were chiefly employed during the years subsequent to Moses, thus largely dispensing with the irregular visible display. In the prophets Samuel, Gad, and others after them a more spiritual method came into use, God making known his will to the people by some spiritual manifestation to or elevation of the prophet"s spirit. In Christian times the personal prophetic medium reached its culmination in Christ and his apostles, who, out of the fulness of the Spirit that dwelt in them, gave forth such teaching and guidance in action as the Church required. Thus in divers manners God has spoken for the guidance of the Church. We have to consult the "living oracles" (2Ti_3:16) for our guidance as a Church of Christ in reference to the general principles and the manifold details involved in establishing "the kingdom" (Isa_8:20; Joh_5:20; Act_17:11) As individual Christians, besides acting in unison as a Church for the common objects of the kingdom of Christ, we may seek guidance daily by private use of the same means as those enjoyed privately by David.
IV THE HIGHEST QUALITIES OF THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER may be associated with THE MORE ORDINARY AND PRACTICAL, and when so associated THEY GIVE VALUE AND COMPLETENESS to them. It is a too frequent belief in the world that a man absorbed in the pursuit of the highest religious vocation and distinguished by the loftiest spiritual aspirations, such as are revealed in the Psalms and in David"s life, becomes thereby one sided in development, and fails by neglect in the detailed and minor moralities of life. A saint is synonymous with a moody, unpractical man, too much occupied with spiritual realities to be careful of little things. David"s conduct in the affairs of Keilah is a refutation of this false conception. The narrative brings out his full orbed religion, and in this he may be considered as a fit representative of the well developed Christian.
1. The line of conduct pursued with reference to Keilah, taken in historic connection with his call to service, brings out a remarkable combination of high and ordinary qualities. With his consciousness of high mission was joined a patient endurance of bitter trials as a consequence of the very position to which Providence was calling him. Not a word of complaint and distrust escapes his lips during this weary hiding from his foe, although in his agony he was constrained to cry, "How long, O Lord!" Then there was that beautiful self reserve, lest by any impetuous act he should seem to forestall the ways of God and force on the final issue as seen in his unwillingness to annoy or embarrass Saul and press him to a conflict by an attack, without royal commission, on the Philistines. This following and not going before appears also in his using the official means of guidance only when Providence had placed them clearly in his way, and not by privately enticing Gad and Abiathar to join his company. But while intent on these high spiritual objects, there was a generous disinterestedness in relieving the troubles of others, even at a time when his own sorrows were multiplied, for he spared not himself when Keilah was oppressed. Nor did he feel for them alone, since the second inquiry of the Lord (ver. 4) was evidently dictated by a tender consideration for men whose faith was unequal to his own, And, finally, all this also associated with a wonderful tenderness for his personal enemy, based on a recognition of his kingly office, and more so on pity for a character once hopeful, but now fast on the way to ruin. Never, perhaps, were the precepts of the New Testament with respect to personal enemies (Mat_5:38-44) more truly exemplified in combination with so utter a detestation of the sins that tended to frustrate the spiritual ends for which Israel existed in the world.
2. Taking, then, the conduct of David and the special qualities indicatedtherein as a basis, we may summarise the qualities which seem to enter into a well developed religious character,
(1) Recognition of a high vocation in life, associated with God"s merciful purposes toward mankind. No man is great whose energies do not in their results aim at something beyond himself; nor is that a high style of character which is governed by aspirations terminating with the material and temporal wants of mankind. As David was conscious of a vocation in life which linked his whole existence with the advancement of the highest spiritual interests of the world, and with the highest material as naturally included in the spiritual, so every truly religious man believes and rejoices to know that his business in life lies outside his fleeting earthly occupation and possessions, and in fact coincides with that for which Christ came into the world. What tone and power the Church would have in the world if all her members duly realised for what end Christians exist! A lofty ideal always gives power and elevation to actual life; and no higher ideal can be set before us than that which is the normal vocation of every one of Christ"s disciples.
(2) Submission to God"s ways and times. The realisation of the ideal before David was by a process which seemed to run counter to the dictates of human wisdom. The great scope of a religious ideal, while it expands the intellect and fills the imagination with the glowing colours of future good, also makes a present demand on the more sober and less brilliant qualities of the soul. The course of nature and the progress of spiritual forces are determined by primary principles of government and a combination of incidental and final issues which in their entirety are comprehensible alone to God, as, indeed, they received their coordination from him. A mind that forms a just estimate of itself, and regards the outworking of the powers of the kingdom of God as the visible index of an infinite secret, will bow in loving submission to all the methods and seasons appointed by God in bringing on the setting of his King on the holy hill of Zion.
(3) Confidence in God in spite of adverse events. The key to David"s life when fleeing from cave to cave, and through all the lowly submission to years of waiting, was, as so often expressed in the Psalms, trust in the Lord. The trusting power of our nature is large, but unfortunately has been injured in its development by the suspicions created in our intercourse with untruthful, selfish men. There is a danger of importing this impaired confidence from the secular to the spiritual sphere, and practically treating God as though he were one of us. (Jer_15:18) There is a spiritual heroism in believing in God against hope. (Rom_4:17-21 Heb 11) The religious trust is not founded on knowledge of things, either as to their intrinsic nature or their correlation, but on the fact that God is over all and is true to his word. What some would call unreasoning fanaticism is the soul"s rational, loving homage to the wisdom that never errs, the goodness that ever blesses, and the power that works all things to its own ends. History justifies the faith of God"s people. "They are dead which sought the young child"s life". (Mat_2:20) "He shall live," and "upon himself shall his crown flourish," was predicted of the most despised and reviled (Psa_72:15 Psa_132:18; Isa_53:3) and, in a modified sense, it will hold true of all who endure and are faithful to the end. (Rev_3:21)
(4) Kindliness towards the weak and the oppressed. The kindly feeling which prompted an effort to save Keilah, although not personally interested, and which sought support for the weak faith of doubting men by a second inquiry of the Lord (vers. 2-4), is but an illustration of the humane spirit of true religion when properly developed. The virtues of submission and confidence, which find exercise toward God as their object, are supplemented by those which bear on the sorrows of men. The loftiest spiritual aspirations of the severest purity, of the widest range of vision, and of intensest gaze on the realisation of a spiritual salvation for man were combined in Christ with the tenderest and the most considerate regard for the weaknesses and woes of men, and did, directly or indirectly, during a brief sojourn on earth, more than anything else to alleviate temporal sufferings and finally break the bonds of social and political oppression. (Luk_4:18)
3 . The attainment of this well developed personal religion is within reachof all. The character of David was not supernatural, but the outgrowth of a mental and moral constitution, under the carefully cherished influences of such religious privileges as fell to his lot. The position of each one of us is in the main that of David: we have our natural temperament, which may determine the prominence of this over that virtue; we, as Christians, have received our solemn call by One greater than Samuel; we, in our private or public sphere, have, as the business of our life, the maintenance of a theocracy more blessed and wide in its influence than that for which David lived; the Divine truth for our instruction and admonition embraces more than he was wont to meditate on by day and night; and it is our privilege to wait on the Lord daily for both strength and wisdom. A nature less capactous than that of David"s, and called to a department of service for God less conspicuous to the public eye, may, by corresponding diligence in self-culture, attain to a symmetry of Christian excellence akin to that of David, and embracing all the qualities we have just sketched. Every man is a well developed Christian when such a nature as he happens to possess is brought, in all its tendencies and developments, entirely under the sway of the Christian spirit. A knowledge of our constitutional tendencies should be accompanied by special guarding of those forms of temperament which imperil symmetry of character. Occasional reviews of our vows and of the goodness and mercy of our God will prompt to a renewed and fuller consecration, which will not fail to develop patience in worse trials possibly than those of David, and confidence in God despite the most adverse of circumstances.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1-6. (HARETH, KEILAH.)
Public spirit.
David saved the inhabitants of Keilah" (ver. 5). Another step in advance was now made by David. Whilst Saul (in addition to alienating the prophets, and well nigh exterminating the priests) failed to afford adequate protection to his subjects, David was called to defend them against the incursions of the Philistines. This was doubtless the chief purpose for which he was recalled from Moab to Judah. And he fulfilled it, in obedience to the direction of God, which he sought and received through Abiathar, who had come down to him "with an ephod in his hand." "For his conscience and his assurance of faith, as well as for the certainty and success of the whole undertaking, he needed the Divine authorisation; if he had not the sanction of the theocratic king, he must have that of God himself, since the question was of a matter important for the people of God and for the affairs of God"s kingdom in Israel war against Israel"s hereditary foe" (Erdmann). His public spirit was
I INDICATIVE OF A NOBLE DISPOSITION. Some men are unduly concerned about their own convenience, safety, interest, and refuse to look beyond them. Others render public services from selfish motives. But the truly public spirited man, like David, possesses
1. An intense desire for the welfare of the people, to whom by Divine providence he is united by special ties, not contrary to, but closer and more immediately affecting him than those which unite him to all mankind.
2. Genuine sympathy with the distresses of the weak, the injured, and the imperilled (ver. 1). Their condition fills his heart with generous impulses, and makes him forget his own troubles.
3. Supreme concern for "God"s kingdom and righteousness, which inspires him with zeal against evil doers, and (along with his unselfish regard for his people) makes him willing to undergo labour, conflict, sacrifice, suffering, and death. "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people," etc.. (2Sa_10:12)
II DIRECTED BY THE DIVINE WORD (vers. 2, 4) in
1. General principles, such as are contained in the commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", (Lev_19:18) and others of a similar nature. (Gal_6:10; Php_2:4) In order that our love to the whole human race (included in the commandment in its widest sense) may be real and effectual, it must begin by the exercise of love toward those who are nearest to us and have the first claim upon us. (Psa_122:6-9 Psa_137:5, Psa_137:6; Luk_13:34 Luk_24:47; Rom_9:3)
1. Particular precepts pertaining to the varied relationships, capabilities, and needs of men, as rulers, subjects, etc.
2. Joined with numerous promises and encouragements to the performance of duty. If public spirit in the form of patriotism is not expressly enjoined in the New Testament, it is not without reason. "It was worthy of the wisdom of our great Legislator to decline the express inculcation of a principle so liable to degenerate into excess, and to content himself with prescribing the virtues which are sure to develop it, as far as is consistent with the dictates of universal benevolence" (R. Hall).
III OPPOSED BY PRUDENTIAL FEARS. "David"s men said unto him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah," etc. (ver. 3). They were not of the same mind as himself, had not a proper sense of their obligation, were unduly concerned about their own safety, and full of doubt and fear. But he was not disheartened nor deterred. And on a further revelation of the Divine will they were (as others often are)
1. Persuaded that their opposition was wrong.
2. Convinced that their fears were groundless.
3. Induced to accompany their leader in a brave and generous enterprise( ver. 5). One man imbued with strong faith and public spirit thus overcomes the opposition of many, and converts them into zealous helpers.
IV PRODUCTIVE OF IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES. The hand of God was with them, and
1. Injustice was punished, the public enemy defeated, and the prey takenfrom the mighty.
2. Those who were in the utmost peril were saved.
3. All the people were taught where to look for their deliverer. In seekingthe good of others David found his own honour, and received a Divine testimony to his royal destination. D.
HOMILIES BY D. FRASER Vers. 1-12. (HARETH, KEILAH.)
Answers to prayer.
Inquiry of the Lord by Urim and Thummim really meant prayer in which Divine direction was sought in a particular manner. (see 1Sa_14:19, 1Sa_14:36) It was made by David soon after the arrival of Abiathar, on three several occasions (vers. 2, 4, 10), on the last of them by two separate questions, and in each case a definite answer was received. "God shows great care for David, instructing him now by prophets, (1Sa_22:5) and now by Urim and Thummim" (Grotius). "That which in the olden Jewish times was the prerogative of a few becomes in Christian days the privilege of the many. Christ makes all his faithful followers "kings and priests unto God." And much of the sacred symbolism that gathered around the ancient priesthood now gathers in another form around the believer in Christ. Mere symbols have given place to true spiritual power. The Spirit of God which once underlay the symbols, and spake through them to the devout mind, now communicates directly with the heart, and needs no material intervention" ("Bible Educ.," 4:38). Those who seek guidance of God in a right spirit never fail to obtain it, especially in
I PERPLEXITY concerning the knowledge of duty. Asking, "Shall I go?" (ver. 9.) they receive, perchance, the definite answer, "Go;" not, indeed, by an audible voice, but by means of
1. The elevating, calming, and enlightening of their minds throughcommunion with God, and more particularly by the purifying of their moral nature from carnal and selfish affections by his indwelling Spirit, which enables them to see "what the will of the Lord is." "Our notions resemble the index and hand of the dial; our feelings are the hidden springs which impel the machine; with this difference, that notions and feelings react on each other reciprocally" (Coleridge). "The understanding resembles not a dry light, but admits a tincture of the will and the passions, which generate their own system of truth accordingly" (Bacon). And when the heart (which is the soul"s eye) is pure we see God. (Pro_28:5; Mat_5:8; Joh_7:17)
2. A clear understanding of the meaning of the written word, and of its application to the circumstances in which they are placed. As by that word thoughts, impressions, and purposes are tried, in order that it may be proved whether they are of God, so by the same word they are formed and directed. (Isa_8:20; Joh_16:13)
3. A correct judgment of what is right and most expedient, accompanied by an inward assurance of the Divine approbation. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God," etc.. (Jam_1:5; Psa_25:9)
II DIFFICULTY arising from hindrances to the performance of duty. "David inquired of the Lord yet again" (ver. 4). The obstacles placed in the way of duty, especially by friends, ought to lead to renewed consideration and prayer, and these are often followed by
1. Strong confirmation of the conviction previously entertained. "Arise, go down to Keilah.
2. Increased confidence of success. "I will give the Philistines into thine hand.
3. Entire removal of the difficulty. "David and his men went." It appears to have been chiefly for their satisfaction that the second inquiry was made. Whilst we should endeavour to persuade men to adopt a right course, we ought above all things to look to God to dispose them to walk therein.
III DANGER, which sometimes occurs on the fulfilment of duty (vers. 712). "In the deed of deliverance itself lies the seed of new suffering." Saul misinterprets events (ver. 7), like other men blinded by sin and "using the name of God when God is farthest off from them," confidently calculates on seizing David, levies war, and openly devotes himself to the execution of his wicked purpose. But David is warned; he has also, probably, reason to suspect the fidelity of the citizens of Keilah, and again inquires of the Lord. He does so with much fervour, calling him the "Lord God of Israel," and humbly acknowledging himself to be his servant; and the answers he obtains afford him
1. Foresight of the perilous events of the future. "He will come down.
2. Insight into the hidden purposes of men. "They will deliver thee up." We may often ascertain more of the secret thoughts of men by communion with God than by consultation with men themselves.
3. Guidance for the frustration of ungrateful and evil intentions, and escape from every danger. "David and his men, etc." (ver. 13). How perfect is the knowledge which God possesses of all things! How sure is the guidance which he affords to those who seek him! How safe are they who make him their Rock and their Fortress! In the midst of all his troubles David can sing of "his marvellous loving kindness in a fenced city;" as he does in Psalm 31.: "In thee, O Jehovah, have I found refuge.
See Judah"s promised king bereft of all; Driven out an exile from the face of Saul. To distant caves the lonely wanderer flies, To seek that peace a tyrant"s frown denies.
His soul exults; hope animates his lays; The sense of mercy kindles into praise; And wilds familiar with the lion"s roar Ring with ecstatic sounds unheard before (Cowper). D.
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 vv2, 4 Shall I go?
1Sa_23:2
Shall I go?
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The leadings of Providence
David lived under the Mosaic dispensation. Now, that dispensation, as it was remarkable for many extraordinary circumstances, was so more especially for the particular revelation which God was pleased to make in it of Himself to mankind upon special occasions. The will of the Lord appears to have been made known in five several ways:
(1) By voice, as when God conversed with Moses by an audible voice; and with Samuel, when he was yet a child.
(2) By dreams.
(3) By visions, in which a prophet in an ecstasy, without being asleep, saw some striking parabolic representation of what was about to take place.
(4) By special revelation, in which was communicated to a prophet, probably by some remarkable impression on his mind, which clearly discovered its Divine origin, the will of God, or the notification of some future event. And
(5) By Urim and Thummim. When the primitive Church had been some time established in the world, a practice prevailed amongst some of its members of consulting the Scriptures as a directory of conduct,--the Bible was opened at random, and the passage which first presented itself was considered as indicating the Divine will. By degrees this practice came to be generally disused, and men were contented to remain in ignorance concerning events before them, trusting only in the general superintendence of Providence. Another way by which many persons have in all ages endeavoured to discover the direction of God respecting their conduct, has been by observing what they have termed the landings of Providence; that is, by attentively considering those impressions on the mind, or those extraordinary circumstances, by which they suppose God may point out His will that they should act in this or that way. But it will be asked, Are not promises of direction and guidance given to us in Scripture? Are we not told that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and are we not bidden to acknowledge God in all our ways, and assured that He will then direct our paths?
For our guide in temporal things, God has given us our understanding.
1. Let our first rule be, that we are chiefly solicitous to discharge Duty.
2. Beware of mistaking your own inclinations for the suggestions of Provident.
3. It may be laid down as a maxim that Providence never sanctions the neglect of any duty to point out other courses of action. There is a beautiful uniformity in the conduct which God prescribes for us. No duties over clash with each other.
4. We ought to beware of seeking for other directions than those which Providence has been pleased to appoint. Do not expect revelations where God has not promised them.
5. Let me also caution you against a partial use of the means which Providence has afforded us for our direction. You pray, perhaps, very sincerely; but do you also listen to the suggestions of prudence; do you take the advice of wise and faithful friends? (John Venn.)
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 X.
DAVID AT KEILAH, ZIPH, AND MAON.
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1Sa_23:1-29.
THE period of David's life shortly sketched in this chapter, must have been full of trying and exciting events. If we knew all the details, they would probably be full of romantic interest; many a tale of privation, disease, discomfort, on the one hand, and of active conflicts and hair-breadth escapes on the other. The district which he frequented was a mountainous tract, bordering on the west coast of the Dead Sea, and lying exposed more or less to the invasions of the neighbouring nations. In the immediate neighbourhood of Ziph, Maon, and Carmel, the country - a fine upland plain - is remarkably rich and fertile; but between these places and the Dead Sea it changes to a barren wilderness; the rocky valleys that run down to the margin of the sea, parched by the heat and drought, produce only a dry stunted grass. Innumerable caves are everywhere to be seen, still affording shelter to outlaws and robbers. But at Engedi (now Ain-Jidy, "the fountain of the goat"), the last place mentioned in this chapter, the traveler finds a little plain on the shore of the Dead Sea, where the soil is remarkably rich; a delicious fountain fertilizes it; shut in between walls of rock, both its climate and its products are like those of the tropics; it only wants cultivation to render it a most prolific spot.
By what means did David obtain sustenance for himself and his large troop in these sequestered regions? Bayle, in the article in his famous Dictionary on "David," - an article which gave the cue to much that has been said and written against him since, - speaks of them as a troop of robbers, and compares them to the associates of Catiline, and even Dean Stanley calls them "freebooters." Both expressions are obviously unwarranted. The only class of persons whom David and his troop regarded as enemies were the open enemies of his country, - that is, either persons who lived by plunder, or the tribes on whom Saul, equally with himself, would have made war. That David regarded himself as entitled to attack and pillage the Hebrew settlers in his own tribe of Judah is utterly inconsistent with all that we know both of his character and of his history. If David had a weakness, it lay in his extraordinary partiality for his own people, contrasted with his hard and even harsh feelings towards the nations that so often annoyed them. Nothing was too good for a Hebrew, nothing too severe for an alien. In after life, we see how his heart was torn to its very centre by the judgment that fell upon his people after his offence in numbering the people (2Sa_24:17); while the record of his severity to the Ammonites cannot be read without a shudder (2Sa_12:31). Besides, in this very narrative, in the account of his collision with Nabal (1Sa_25:7), we find David putting in the very forefront of his message to the churl the fact that all the time he and his troop were in Carmel the shepherds of Nabal sustained no hurt, and his flocks no diminution. Instead of fleecing his own countrymen, he sent them presents when he was more successful than usual against their common foes (1Sa_30:26). Unquestionably therefore such terms as "robbers" and "freebooters" are quite undeserved.
One chief source of support would obviously be the chase - the wild animals that roamed among these mountains, the wild goat and the coney, the pigeon and the partridge, and other creatures whose flesh was clean. Possibly, patches of soil, like the oasis at Engedi, would be cultivated, and a scanty return obtained from the labour. A third employment would be that of guarding the flocks of the neighbouring shepherds both from bears, wolves, and lions, and from the attacks of plundering bands, for which service some acknowledgment was certainly due. At the best, it was obviously a most uncomfortable mode of life, making not a little rough work very necessary; an utter contrast to the peaceful early days of Bethlehem, and rendering it infinitely more difficult to sing, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Acting as guardian to the shepherds in the neighbourhood, and being the avowed foe of all the Arab tribes who were continually making forays from their desert haunts on the land of Judah, David was in the very midst of enemies. Hence probably the allusions in some of the psalms. "Consider mine enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred." "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for there be many that fight against me, O Thou Most High." "My soul is among lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword." Could we know all his trials and difficulties, we should be amazed at his tranquility. One morning, an outpost brings him word that Saul is marching against him. He hastily arranges a retreat, and he and his men clamber over the mountains, perhaps under a burning sun, and reach their halting-place at night, exhausted with thirst, hunger, and fatigue. Scarcely have they lain down, when an alarm is given that a body of Bedouins are plundering the neighbouring sheepfolds. Forgetful of their fatigues, they rush to their arms, pursue the invaders, and rescue the prey. Next morning, perhaps, the very men whose flock he had saved, refuse to make him any acknowledgment. Murmurs rise from his hungry followers, and a sort of mutiny is threatened if he will not allow them to help themselves. To crown all, he learns by-and-bye, that the people whom he has delivered have turned traitors and are about to give him up to Saul. Wonderful was the faith that could rise above such troubles, and say, ''Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net."
In illustration of these remarks let us note first what took place in connection with Keilah. This was a place of strength and importance not far from the land of the Philistines. A rumour reaches him that the Philistines are fighting against it and robbing the threshing-floors. The first thing he does, on hearing this rumour, is to inquire of God whether he should go and attack the Philistines. It is not a common case. The Philistines were a powerful enemy; probably their numbers were large, and it was a serious thing for David to provoke them when he had so many enemies besides. This was evidently the feeling of his followers. "Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?" But David is in an admirable frame of mind, and his only anxiety is about knowing precisely the will of God. He inquires again, and when he gets his answer he does not hesitate an instant. It was about this time that Abiathar the son of Ahimelech came to him, bringing an ephod from Nob, perhaps the only sacred thing that in the hurry and horror of his flight he was able to carry away. And now, in his time of need, David finds the value of these things; he knows the privilege of fearing God, and of having God at his right hand. The fears of his men appear now to be overcome; he goes to Keilah, attacks the Philistines, smites them with a very great slaughter, brings away their cattle and rescues the people. It is a great deliverance, and David, with peace and plenty around him, and the benedictions of the men of Keilah, breathes freely and praises God.
But his sense of ease and tranquility was of short duration. Saul hears of what has taken place, and hears that David has taken up his quarters within the town of Keilah. He chuckles over the news with fiendish satisfaction, for Keilah is a fortified town; he will be able to shut up David within its walls and lay siege to the place, and when he has taken it, David will be at his mercy. But Saul, as usual, reckons without his host. David has received information that leads him to suspect that Saul is meditating mischief against him, and it looks as if he had come to Keilah only to fall into a trap, - to fall into the hands of Saul. But though a new danger has arisen, the old refuge still remains. "Bring hither the ephod," he says to Abiathar. And communication being again established with Heaven, two questions are asked: Will Saul come down to Keilah, to destroy the city for David's sake? Yes, he will. Will the men of Keilah whom David has saved from the Philistines distinguish themselves for their gratitude or for their treachery? They will become traitors; they will deliver David up to Saul. So there is nothing for it but tor David to escape from Keilah. The worst of it is, he has no other place to go to. He goes forth from Keilah, as his father Abraham went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, not knowing whither. He and his followers went "whithersoever they could go." Treachery was a new foe, and when the treachery was on the part of those on whom he had just conferred a signal benefit, it was most discouraging; it seemed to indicate that he could never be safe.
Flying from Keilah, he takes refuge in a part of the wilderness near Ziph. Being very rocky and mountainous, it affords good opportunities for hiding; but in proportion as it is advantageous for that purpose, it is unfavourable for getting sufficient means of subsistence. A wood in the neighbourhood of Ziph afforded the chance of both. In this wood David enjoys the extra- ordinary privilege of a meeting with Jonathan. What a contrast to his treatment from the men of Keilah! If, on turning his back on them, he was disposed to say, "All men are liars," the blessed generosity of Jonathan modifies the sentiment. In such circumstances, the cheering words of his friend and the warmth of his embrace must have come on David with infinite satisfaction. They were to him what the loving words of the dying thief were to the Saviour, amid the babel and blasphemy of Calvary. Who, indeed, does not see in the David of this time, persevering in his work under such fearful discouragements, under the treachery of men with hearts like Judas Iscariot, experiencing the worst treatment from some whom he had benefited already, and from others whom he was to benefit still more - who can fail to see the type of Christ, patiently enduring the cross at the hands and in the stead of the very men whom by His sufferings He was to save and bless? For David, like our blessed Lord, though not with equal steadfastness, drinks the cup which the Father has given him; he holds to the work which has been given him to do.
The brief note of Jonathan's words to David in the wood is singularly beautiful and suggestive. ''Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him. Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee, and that also Saul my father knoweth." To begin with the last of Jonathan's words, what a lurid light they throw on the conduct of Saul! He was under no misapprehension as to the Divine destiny of David. He must have known therefore that in fighting against David, he was fighting against God. It looks unaccountable madness; yet what worse is it than a thousand other schemes in which, to carry out their ends, men have trampled on every moral precept, as if there were no God, no lawgiver, ruler, or judge above, no power in hell or heaven witnessing their actions to bring them all into judgment?
In his words to David the faith and piety of Jonathan were as apparent as his friendship. He strengthened his hand in God. Simple but beautiful words! He put David's hand as it were into God's hand, in token that they were one, in token that the Almighty was pledged to keep and bless him, and that when he and his God were together, no weapon formed against him would ever prosper. Surely no act of friendship is so true friendship as this. To remind our Christian friends in their day of trouble of their relation to God, to encourage them to think of His interest in them and His promises to them; to drop in their ear some of His assurances - "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" - is surely the best of all ways to encourage the downcast, and send them on their way rejoicing.
And what a hallowed word that was with which Jonathan began his exhortation - ''Fear not." The ''fear not's" of Scripture are a remarkable garland. All of them have their root in grace, not in nature. They all imply a firm exercise of faith. And Jonathan's "fear not" was no exception. If David had not been a man of faith, it would have sounded like hollow mockery. "The hand of Saul my father shall not find thee." Was not Saul with his well-equipped force, at that very moment, within a few miles of him, while he, with his half-starved followers was at his very wits' end, not knowing where to turn to next? "Thou shalt be king over Israel." Nay, friend, I should be well pleased, David might have said, if I were again feeding my father's flocks in Bethlehem, with all that has happened since then obliterated, reckoned as if it had never been. "And I shall be next unto thee." O Jonathan, how canst thou say that? Thou art the king's eldest son, the throne ought to be thine, there is none worthier of it; the very fact that thou canst say that to me shows what a kingly generosity is in thy bosom, and how well entitled thou art to reign over Israel! Yes, David, but does not the very fact of Jonathan using such words show that he is in closest fellowship with God? Only a man pervaded through and through by the Spirit of God could speak thus to the person who stands between him and what the world would call his reasonable ambition. In that spirit of Jonathan there is a goodness altogether Divine. Oh what a contrast to his father, to Saul! What a contrast to the ordinary spirit of jealousy, when someone is like to cut us out of a coveted prize! Someone at school is going to beat you at the competition. Someone in business is going to get the situation for which you are so eager. Someone is going to carry off the fair hand to which you so ardently aspire. Where, oh where, in such cases, is the spirit of Jonathan? Look at it, study it, admire it; and in its clear and serene light, see what a black and odious spirit jealousy is; and oh, seek that you, by the grace of God, may be, not a Saul, but a Jonathan!
It would appear that Saul had left the neighbourhood of Ziph in despair of finding David, and had returned to Gibeah. But the distance was small - probably not more than a long day's journey. And after a time. Saul is recalled to Ziph by a message from the Ziphites "Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand." The men of Keilah had not gone the length of treachery, for when they were thinking of it, David escaped; but even if they had, they would have had some- thing to say for themselves. Was it not better to give up David and let him suffer, than to keep him in their city, and let both him and them and their city share the fate, as they would have been sure to do, of Ahimelech and the city of Nob, - that is, be utterly destroyed? But the men of Ziph were in no such dilemma. Their treachery was simple meanness. They no doubt wished to ingratiate themselves with Saul. They had no faith either in David, or in God's promises regarding him. Disbelieving God, they acted inhumanly to man. They let Saul know his best opportunity, and when he came on the spot, apparently of a sudden, David and his troop were surrounded, and their escape seemed to be cut off. Here was a strange commentary on the strong assurance of Jonathan, "Saul my father shall not find thee." Has he not found me, only to too good purpose? But man's extremity is God's opportunity. When Saul seems ready to pounce on David, a messenger arrives, "Haste thee, and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land." The danger was imminent, and Saul could not afford to lose an hour. And thus, on the very eve of seizing the prey he had been hunting for years, he is compelled to let it go.
It is edifying to observe all the different ways in which the Divine protection toward David had been shown, all the time that he had been exposed to the hostility of Saul. First of all, when Saul spoke to his servants and to Jonathan that they should kill David, Jonathan was raised up to take his side, and by his friendly counsels, arrested for the time the murderous purpose of Saul. Next, when Saul hurled a javelin at David, a rapid movement saved his life. The third time, he was let down through a window by his wife, in time to escape. The fourth time, the messengers that were sent to apprehend him were filled with the Spirit of God, and even Saul, determined to make up for their lack of service, underwent the same transformation. The fifth time, when he was in Keilah, he was supernaturally warned of the unkind treachery of the men of Keilah; and thus escaped the snare. And now, a sixth escape is effected, in the very article of death, so to speak, by a Philistine invasion. Thus was illustrated that wonderful diversity of plan that characterizes the ways of God, that "variety in unity" which we may trace alike in the kingdom of nature, of providence, and of grace. A similar variety is seen in His deliverances of Israel. At one time the sea is divided, at another the sun stands still; Gideon delivers by lamps and pitchers, Shamgar by his ox-goad, Samson by the jawbone of an ass, Jephthah by his military talents, David by his sling and stone, Daniel by his skill in dreams, Esther by her beauty and power of fascination. To remember such things ought to give you confidence in times of perplexity and danger. If it be God's purpose to deliver you, He has thousands of unseen methods, to any one of which He may resort, when, to the eye of sense, there seems not the shadow of a hope. And one reason why He seems at times to doom His children to inevitable ruin, is that He may call their faith and their patience into higher exercise, and teach them more impressively the sublime lesson - "Stand still, and see the salvation of God."
The fifty-fourth Psalm bears an inscription that would refer it to this occasion. There are some expressions in the psalm that hardly agree with this reference; but the general situation is quite in keeping with it. "Save me, O God," the Psalmist cries, "by Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength." The danger from which he needs to be saved comes from strangers that are risen up against him, and opposers that seek after his soul; persons "that have not set God before them." To be saved by God's name is to be saved through attributes which are manifestly Divine; to be judged by God's strength, is to be vindicated, to be shown to be under God's favour and protection, by the manifest exercise of His power. The petitions are such as David might well have made after his conversation with Jonathan. The psalm is evidently the song of one whose hand had been "strengthened in God." Its great central truth is, "God is mine helper; the Lord is with them who (like Jonathan) uphold my soul." And there comes after that a happy exercise of the spirit of trust, enabling the Psalmist to say, "He hath delivered me out of all trouble." This result is wonderful and beautiful. How remarkable that m that wilderness of Judah, amid a life of hardship, exposure, and peril, with a powerful king thirsting for his blood, and using his every device to get hold of him, he should be able to say of God, ''He hath delivered me out of all trouble." It is the faith that removes mountains: it is the faith that worked so wonderfully when the lad with the sling and stones went out so bravely against the giant. What wonders cannot faith perform when it gets clear of all the entanglements of carnal feeling, and stands, firm and erect, on the promise of God! How infinitely would such a faith relieve and sustain us in the common troubles and anxieties of life, and in deeper perplexities connected with the cause of God! Take this short clause as marking out the true quality and highest attainment of simple faith, and resolve that you will not rest in your own endeavours till your mind reaches the state of tranquility which it describes so simply, - "He hath delivered me out of all trouble."
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 v1 CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—1Sa_22:1. “Keilah.” A city of Judah,…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES—1Sa_22:1. “Keilah.” A city of Judah, mentioned in Jos_15:44, and identified by Lieut. Van de Velde with a site containing ruins, and now called Kila, a few miles from Hebron. (See Smith’s Biblical Dictionary.)
1Sa_23:2. “Inquired of the Lord.” (See 1Sa_22:6.) “Save Keilah.” These words are a promise of victory.
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1Sa_23:3. “We be afraid,” etc. “As persecuted fugitives, we are always in danger from Saul, and now shall we march against the Philistine ranks?” (Erdmann.)
1Sa_23:6. “This verse is a supplementary historical explanation relative to the possibility of the inquiry of the Lord in 1Sa_22:2-3, which was not possible without the high-priestly cape or ephod, to which was attached the Urim and Thummim.” (Erdmann.) “The words are not to be understood as signifying that Abiathar did not come to David till he was in Keilah, but that, when he fled after David (1Sa_22:20), he met with him as he was already preparing for the march to Keilah, and immediately proceeded with him thither.” (Keil.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—1Sa_23:1-6
DAVID DELIVERS KEILAH
I. The indulgence of enmity towards one makes men neglect their duty to the many. It is very dangerous for the passengers in a vessel if those in command are at enmity with each other, or if the captain is filled with envy of those who divide with him the responsibility of directing the ship. When such is the case, he is likely to be laying plans to injure the man whom he hates when he ought to be concerning himself about the safety of those committed to his care, and a storm, which ought to have found him well prepared, descends upon him unexpectedly, and places all the lives on board in jeopardy. His lawless hatred to one individual makes him forget what he owes to many. The warrior king of Israel at this time was so possessed by his enmity to David that he permitted one of his frontier towns to be threatened and the lives of its inhabitants to be endangered without making an effort on their behalf. How is it that his conduct on this occasion differs so widely from his prompt and brave action on behalf of Ramoth Gilead (chap. 11) in the beginning of his reign, and why was the appeal for help at this time made to David and not to him? Was it not because the demon of envy had stifled his sense of duty and every generous and patriotic emotion? So long as he could satisfy his feelings of revenge against David he cared not if half his kingdom became a prey to the Philistines. His personal enmity to one man left no room for any concern about the welfare of the nation committed to his charge. This thing repeats itself from age to age. Men charged with heavy responsibilities in relation to their fellow-creatures allow a personal enmity to engross the energies which ought to be employed on their behalf, and myriads suffer on account of a quarrel between two individual men; or, as in the case before us, because one only is filled with a deadly hatred towards a supposed rival. And this devil of envy is not active merely among men who make no pretensions to godliness, or even to those who are mere pretenders. Envy at the promotion of a better man, and a desire, unconsciously indulged it may be, to lessen or extinguish his influence, has often led a shepherd of the flock of God to leave the sheep open to the attacks of their foes while he has been engaged in some private and personal quarrel.
II. In critical periods the want of faith on the part of the many gives an occasion for the display of faith on the part of one. The fearfulness and distrust of David’s followers at the time bring into fuller relief the courage and faith of David himself, and it often happens in critical periods of human history that this is the case. When an eclipse of the sun is witnessed by men who are quite unacquainted with the laws of nature by which it is caused, it often fills them with distrust and fear, but such a phenomenon gives rise to no terror or doubt in the mind of one who is acquainted with natural laws. His superior knowledge keeps his faith in them unshaken during the crisis; he feels quite sure that the sun is still shining in all its glory, although it is hidden from human sight at the present moment. And the ignorant terror of the many make the enlightened confidence of the one the more striking. Something like this often takes place in the region of God’s providential workings. A dark dispensation overshadows a community, and men who are ignorant of the character of God and of the unchangeable nature of His moral laws are filled with fear, while those who have made themselves acquainted with the method and reasons of His dealings stay themselves upon His faithfulness, and are certain that His wisdom and love are as active in the cloudy day of adversity as when all looks bright and prosperous. And their faith shines all the more brightly because of the ignorance and unbelief all around them. So did the faith of David at this time in contrast with the distrust of his men. A common sense of wrong had drawn them to throw in their lot with him, but although they probably admired his courage they did not share it because they lacked the faith in God which he possessed. They looked only at the difficulties and dangers which surrounded them, and he looked through these difficulties and dangers to the God whom he knew and whom he therefore trusted.
III. The faith and obedience of one good man in times of trial make him the refuge and the deliverer of many. When we are saddened and perplexed by looking at the misery which may come to many by the unfaithfulness of one man, we must remember also how much good also comes to many by the faithfulness of one. Although no man can transgress the laws of God without involving others in the consequences of his wrong-doing, no man can obey the Divine commands without being a blessing to many. If the people of Keilah were brought into danger by the sin of one man they owed their deliverance to the faith and obedience of one man, for no Israelitish army would have gone up against the Philistines at this time if the son of Jesse had not rallied his forces to the attack. This dependence of the destinies of the many upon the character of one has its bright, therefore, as well as its dark side.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
1Sa_23:2. Had David been governed by personal considerations, he would have suffered the Philistines to take their course. It was occupation enough to defend himself,—to preserve his own life from the relentless malice that pursued him. Besides, the defence of the kingdom did not properly devolve on him, but on Saul, whom it might be policy to embarrass as much as possible in order to draw off his attention from the object of his bitter persecution. The more the country was left exposed to such attacks the more odious would Saul be rendered in the eyes of the people, and the more popular might David become. But he was a stranger to all such unworthy views. He saw his country invaded, and he thought no more of his own wrongs: he saw it distressed, and he determined if possible to relieve it, although he was thus strengthening the hands of his most virulent enemy.—Lindsay.
1Sa_23:3. David’s difficulties were not over, though his personal anxieties were at an end when God’s will was made known to him. He was not acting alone—he had four hundred men with him, most of them probably animated by a very different spirit from his. A leader of other men often finds his greatest difficulty not in deciding what should be done, but in prevailing upon them to do it. Especially is this the case if he be a spiritual man, and they carnal men; he bent on following the will of God, they the inclinations of their hearts. It is sad when such a division exists in families … and we know of no course which the godly head of a house, opposed by an unwilling family, could take with more advantage than that now taken by David. Let all be made to understand that the will of God is the rule by which he is resolved to act. Let him solemnly appeal to them, whether they are prepared to set up another; let him use the best means for ascertaining God’s will, and then let him fearlessly go forward.—Blaikie.
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.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 David delivers Keilah and afterwards retires to the Wilderness…
David delivers Keilah and afterwards retires to the Wilderness of Ziph and maon
6. With an ephod in his hand] This is inserted to explain how it was that David was able to enquire of the Lord: see on 1Sa_14:18.
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9. Secretly practised] RV 'devised.' There was no secrecy about Saul's methods.
14. Ziph] identified with Tell Zif, a rounded hill, 4 m. SE. of Hebron.
15. In a wood] RM 'in Horesh.' But the true rendering is doubtful. If a proper name, it was more probably a mountain than a wood (cp. 1Sa_23:14, 1Sa_23:19), and the word may mean either.
17. That also] Saul knew that Jonathan was willing to rank second.
19. Jeshimon] RV 'the desert.' It is the dreary desert of southern Judah: see Num_21:20.
25. Maon] mentioned in Jos_15:55 in connexion with Carmel and Ziph. It is a lofty conical hill 7 m. S. of Hebron.
28. Selahammahlekoth] i.e. 'the rock of divisions.'
29. This v. should be joined to the next c.
Engedi] A well-watered spot on the E. edge of the desert of Judah. It still bears the name Ain Jidi. 'En' means 'well.'
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. The victory over the Philistines at Keilah (1Sa…
CHAPTER 23
1. The victory over the Philistines at Keilah (1Sa 23:1-13)
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2. In the wilderness of Ziph (1Sa 23:14-26)
3. Saul’s return (1Sa 23:27-29)
Keilah was about six miles southeast of Adullam. David heard of the invasion of the Philistines that they were fighting against this walled city. And he inquired of the Lord, through Abiathar, who had an ephod (verse 6). David’s inquiry of the Lord shows the man of faith in his submission to the Lord. He had his lapses, but at heart he owned the Lord and wanted to glorify Him. Twice he asked the Lord; the second time evidently to quiet the fears of the six hundred men who were now with him. The Lord gave him the victory. Then poor, blinded Saul thought David was now shut up in Keilah and could not escape. He knew not the Lord and His power to protect His own. While Saul plotted, David prayed and depended on the Lord, who told him that Saul would come to Keilah and that the men of Keilah would deal treacherously with him and his men. In the wilderness of Ziph Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hands. And David learned by experience what the name of Ziph means; it means “refining.” In the refining process of suffering and endurance the shepherd-king was fitted for his coming exaltation. In this he is not a type of our Lord, but we can read our own experience here. For the last time Jonathan and David met. He came to strengthen David’s hand in God. This is the true purpose of the fellowship of the Saints. What a noble character was Jonathan!
“It is difficult to form an adequate conception of the courage, the spiritual faith, and the moral grandeur of this act. Never did man more completely clear himself from all complicity in guilt than Jonathan from that of his father. And yet not an undutiful word escaped the lips of this brave man. And how truly human is his fond hope that in the days to come, when David would be king, he should stand next to his throne, his trusted adviser, as in the days of sorrow he had been the true and steadfast friend of the outlaw! As we think of what it must have cost Jonathan to speak thus, or again of the sad fate which was so soon to overtake him, there is a deep pathos about this brief interview, almost unequalled in Holy Scripture, to which the ambitious hopes of the sons of Zebedee form not a parallel but a contrast” (A. Edersheim).
The Ziphites after Jonathan’s visit discovered David’s hiding place to Saul but Saul could not reach him nor touch the Lord’s anointed. But David at that time cried mightily to God, “Save me, O God”--”Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth”; these were some of his utterances recorded in Psalm 54, which was written at that time.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 David’s Rescue of Keilah
David’s Rescue of Keilah
v. 1. Then they told David, he received information, saying, Behold, the Philistines, a strong band of their raiders, fight against Keilah, a city evidently in the lowland of Judah, near the Philistine frontier, and they rob the threshing-floors, where the grain was stacked ready for threshing.
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v. 2. Therefore David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? He seems to have had reasons for considering himself the champion of the oppressed. And the Lord said unto David, through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest,
v. 6. Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. The command, "Rescue Keilah," included the promise that success would crown his efforts.
v. 3. And David’s men, who at that time did not share his simple trust in Jehovah, said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah, they were apprehensive of the persecution of Saul; how much more, then, if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines, where they would have enemies before and behind?
v. 4. Then David inquired of the Lord yet again, in the same manner. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. This definite promise was intended to allay the fears of David’s men.
v. 5. So David and his men. went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. The Philistines, instead of gaining booty, were themselves spoiled, losing their flocks and herds and suffering a very severe defeat. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
v. 6. And it came to pass, as is here noted in explanation, when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, fled to David to Keilah, joining him just when the campaign to rescue the city was planned, that he came down with an ephod, the shoulder-dress of the high priest with the Urim and Thummim, in his hand. This was in David’s favor, for he could now at any time ask the will of the Lord.
v. 7. And it was told Saul, who had his spies watching all the movements of David, that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand, for he tried to deceive himself into believing that David, and not himself, had been rejected by God; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. Saul thought that David had prepared a trap for himself by making a fortified city his headquarters, since escape would there be more difficult, once the city was surrounded.
v. 8. And Saul called all the people together to war, formally summoned all the soldiers of his army, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men, and thus to get him into his power.
v. 9. And David, who also had his spies in the field, knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him, he found out about this plan to destroy him; and he said to Abiathar, the priest, Bring hither the ephod, for the purpose of getting information from the Lord.
v. 10. Then said David, in a prayer showing his trust in Jehovah, O Lord God of Israel, Thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
v. 11. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech Thee, tell Thy servant. The questions are not given in the wrong order, due to David’s excitement, as has been said, but David feared that the men of Keilah would deliver him into Saul’s hands as soon as they found out that the king had planned to come. And the Lord said, answering the last question first, He will come down.
v. 12. Then said David, repeating his first question, Will the men, the citizens, of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Instead of taking the part of the man who had rescued them from their enemies, the men of Keilah would have been guided by policy.
v. 13. Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, since new men were being added to his band constantly, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go, without a definite plan, as chance and circumstance led them. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth, he abandoned his campaign. In this story also David is a type of the Son of God. For He also, while engaged in rescuing His people from the hand of their most terrible enemies, was betrayed into the hands of the unjust. Moreover, such is the lot of all those who openly take the part of the Lord.
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, 5 fighting against Keilah
fighting against Keilah
"Keilah" is the name of a town. Here "Keilah" represents the people who live there. AT: "fighting against the people of Keilah" (See: How to Translate Names and Metonymy)
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threshing
separating the grain or seeds, generally from a cereal plant or wheat by some mechanical means
translationWords
David
Philistines
thresh
pray
Yahweh
save
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, 4 23:1-29 Thanks to informants (23:7, 13), Saul was able…
23:1-29 Thanks to informants (23:7, 13), Saul was able to stay on David’s trail. David also had informants, allowing him to keep one step ahead of Saul (23:1, 9, 15, 25). David’s chief advantage was access to divine guidance and resources (23:2, 4, 12), which Saul lacked.
23:1 Keilah was near Adullam (22:1) at the western edge of Judah, not far from the Philistine border (see Josh 15:44; Neh 3:17-18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.