7 And it is declared to Saul that David hath come in to Keilah, and Saul saith, `God hath made him known for my hand, for he hath been shut in, to enter into a city of doors and bar.'
And the men of David say unto him, `Lo, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Lo, I am giving thine enemy into thy hand, and thou hast done to him as it is good in thine eyes;' and David riseth and cutteth off the skirt of the upper robe which `is' on Saul -- gently. And it cometh to pass afterwards that the heart of David smiteth him, because that he hath cut off the skirt which `is' on Saul, and he saith to his men, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah; I do not do this thing to my lord -- to the anointed of Jehovah -- to put forth my hand against him, for the anointed of Jehovah he `is'.'
and Pharaoh hath said of the sons of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut upon them;
`it is told' to the Gazathites, saying, `Samson hath come in hither;' and they go round and lay wait for him all the night at the gate of the city, and keep themselves silent all the night, saying, `Till the light of the morning -- then we have slain him.' And Samson lieth down till the middle of the night, and riseth in the middle of the night, and layeth hold on the doors of the gate of the city, and on the two side posts, and removeth them with the bar, and putteth on his shoulders, and taketh them up unto the top of the hill, which `is' on the front of Hebron.
And David abideth in the wilderness, in fortresses, and abideth in the hill-country, in the wilderness of Ziph; and Saul seeketh him all the days, and God hath not given him into his hand.
And Abishai saith unto David, `God hath shut up to-day thine enemy into thy hand; and, now, let me smite him, I pray thee, with a spear, even into the earth at once -- and I do repeat `it' to him.' And David saith unto Abishai, `Destroy him not; for who hath put forth his hand against the anointed of Jehovah, and been acquitted?'
That the singing of the wicked `is' short, And the joy of the profane for a moment,
For mine enemies have spoken against me, And those watching my soul have taken counsel together, Saying, `God hath forsaken him, Pursue and catch him, for there is no deliverer.'
`Because days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast around thee a rampart, and compass thee round, and press thee on every side, and lay thee low, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone, because thou didst not know the time of thy inspection.'
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Commentary on 1 Samuel 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
1Sa 23:1-6. David Rescues Keilah.
1. Then they told David—rather, "now they had told"; for this information had reached him previous to his hearing (1Sa 23:6) of the Nob tragedy.
Keilah—a city in the west of Judah (Jos 15:44), not far from the forest of Hareth.
and they rob the threshing-floors—These were commonly situated on the fields and were open to the wind (Jud 6:11; Ru 3:2).
2-5. David inquired of the Lord—most probably through Gad (2Sa 24:11; 1Ch 21:9), who was present in David's camp (1Sa 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.
6. an ephod—in which was the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30). It had, probably, been committed to his care, while Ahimelech and the other priests repaired to Gibeah, in obedience to the summons of Saul.
1Sa 23:7-13. Saul's Coming, and Treachery of the Keilites.
7. it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah—Saul imagined himself now certain of his victim, who would be hemmed within a fortified town. The wish was father to the thought. How wonderfully slow and unwilling to be convinced by all his experience, that the special protection of Providence shielded David from all his snares!
8. Saul called all the people together to war—not the united tribes of Israel, but the inhabitants of the adjoining districts. This force was raised, probably, on the ostensible pretext of opposing the Philistines, while, in reality, it was secretly to arouse mischief against David.
9. he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod—The consultation was made, and the prayer uttered, by means of the priest. The alternative conditions here described have often been referred to as illustrating the doctrine of God's foreknowledge and preordination of events.
1Sa 23:14-18. David Escapes to Ziph.
14, 15. David abode in the wilderness … of Ziph—A mountainous and sequestered region was generally called a wilderness, and took its name from some large town in the district. Two miles southeast of Hebron, and in the midst of a level plain, is Tell-ziph, an isolated and conical hillock, about a hundred feet high, probably the acropolis [Van De Velde], or the ruins [Robinson] of the ancient city of Ziph, from which the surrounding wilderness was called. It seems, anciently, to have been covered by an extensive woods. The country has for centuries lost its woods and forests, owing to the devastations caused by man.
16, 17. Jonathan went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God—by the recollection of their mutual covenant. What a victory over natural feelings and lower considerations must the faith of Jonathan have won, before he could seek such an interview and give utterance to such sentiments! To talk with calm and assured confidence of himself and family being superseded by the man who was his friend by the bonds of a holy and solemn covenant, could only have been done by one who, superior to all views of worldly policy, looked at the course of things in the spirit and through the principles of that theocracy which acknowledged God as the only and supreme Sovereign of Israel. Neither history nor fiction depicts the movements of a friendship purer, nobler, and more self-denying than Jonathan's!
1Sa 23:19-29. Saul Pursues Him.
19-23. Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us?—From the tell of Ziph a panorama of the whole surrounding district is to be seen. No wonder, then, that the Ziphites saw David and his men passing to and fro in the mountains of the wilderness. Spying him at a distance when he ventured to show himself on the hill of Hachilah, "on the right hand of the wilderness," that is, the south side of Ziph, they sent in haste to Saul, to tell him of the lurking place of his enemy [Van De Velde].
25. David … came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon—Tell Main, the hillock on which was situated the ancient Maon (Jos 15:55), and from which the adjoining wilderness took its name, is one mile north, ten east from Carmel. The mountain plateau seems here to end. It is true the summit ridge of the southern hills runs out a long way further towards the southwest; but towards the southeast the ground sinks more and more down to a tableland of a lower level, which is called "the plain to the right hand [that is, to the south] of the wilderness" [Van De Velde].
29. David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi—that is, "the spring of the wild goats or gazelles"—a name given to it from the vast number of ibexes or Syrian chamois which inhabit these cliffs on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Jos 15:62). It is now called Ain Jiddy. On all sides the country is full of caverns, which might then serve as lurking places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day [Robinson].