1 Samuel 27
New English Translation
David Aligns Himself with the Philistines
27 David thought to himself,[a] “One of these days I’m going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand.”
2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his 600 men. 3 David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families.[b] David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. 4 When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.
5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) 7 The length of time[c] that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year[d] and four months.
8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach[e] to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 9 When David would attack a district,[f] he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. 10 When Achish would ask, “Where[g] did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” 11 Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, “This way they can’t tell on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” Such was his practice the entire time[h] that he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself,[i] “He is really hated[j] among his own people in[k] Israel! From now on[l] he will be my servant.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 27:1 tn Heb “said to his heart.”
- 1 Samuel 27:3 tn Heb “a man and his house.”
- 1 Samuel 27:7 tn Heb “the number of the days.”
- 1 Samuel 27:7 tn Heb “days.” The plural of the word “day” is sometimes used idiomatically to refer specifically to a year. In addition to this occurrence in v. 7 see also 1 Sam 1:3, 21; 2:19; 20:6; Lev 25:29; Judg 17:10.
- 1 Samuel 27:8 tn Heb “from where you come.”
- 1 Samuel 27:9 tn Heb “the land.”
- 1 Samuel 27:10 tc The translation follows the LXX (ἐπι τίνα, epi tina) and Vulgate (in quem) which assume אֶל מִי (ʾel mi, “to whom”) rather than the MT אַל (ʾal, “not”). The MT makes no sense here. Another possibility is that the text originally had אַן (ʾan, “where”), which has been distorted in the MT to אַל. Cf. the Syriac Peshitta and the Targum, which have “where.”
- 1 Samuel 27:11 tn Heb “all the days.”
- 1 Samuel 27:12 tn Heb “saying.”
- 1 Samuel 27:12 tn Heb “he really stinks.” The expression is used figuratively here to describe the rejection and ostracism that David had experienced as a result of Saul’s hatred of him.
- 1 Samuel 27:12 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss lack the preposition “in.”
- 1 Samuel 27:12 tn Heb “permanently.”
1 Samuel 27
Christian Standard Bible
David Flees to Ziklag
27 David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines.(A) Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.” 2 So David set out with his six hundred men(B) and went over to Achish son of Maoch,(C) the king of Gath. 3 David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him,(D) and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel,(E) Nabal’s widow. 4 When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6 That day Achish gave Ziklag(F) to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today. 7 The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.(G)
8 David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites,(H) the Girzites,[a] and the Amalekites.(I) From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur(J) as far as the land of Egypt. 9 Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing.(K) Then he came back to Achish, 10 who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” [b](L)
David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,”(M) or “The south country of the Kenites.”(N)
11 David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory. 12 So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
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