1 Samuel 23:19-29
New English Translation
19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 20 Now at your own discretion,[a] O king, come down. Delivering him into the king’s hand will be our responsibility.”
21 Saul replied, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go and make further arrangements. Determine precisely[b] where he is[c] and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning. 23 Locate precisely all the places where he hides and return to me with dependable information.[d] Then I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will find him[e] among all the thousands of Judah.”
24 So they left and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the rift valley[f] to the south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men went to look for him.[g] But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, but Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to capture them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”
28 So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth.[h] 29 (24:1)[i] Then David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En Gedi.
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- 1 Samuel 23:20 tn Heb “to all the desire of your soul to come down.”
- 1 Samuel 23:22 tn Heb “know and see.” The expression is a hendiadys. See also v. 23.
- 1 Samuel 23:22 tn Heb “his place where his foot is.”
- 1 Samuel 23:23 tn Heb “established.”
- 1 Samuel 23:23 tn Heb “I will search him out.”
- 1 Samuel 23:24 sn This section of the rift valley is along the western part of the Dead Sea.
- 1 Samuel 23:25 tn Heb “to search.”
- 1 Samuel 23:28 sn The name הַמַּחְלְקוֹת סֶלַע (selaʿ hammakhleqot) probably means “Rock of Divisions” in Hebrew, in the sense that Saul and David parted company there (cf. NAB “Gorge of Divisions”; TEV “Separation Hill”). This etymology assumes that the word derives from the Hebrew root II חָלַק (khalaq, “to divide”; HALOT 322 s.v. II חלק). However, there is another root I חלק, which means “to be smooth or slippery” (HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק). If the word is taken from this root, the expression would mean “Slippery Rock.”
- 1 Samuel 23:29 sn Beginning with 23:29, the verse numbers through 24:22 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 23:29 ET = 24:1 HT, 24:1 ET = 24:2 HT, 24:2 ET = 24:3 HT, etc., through 24:22 ET = 24:23 HT. With 25:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
1 Samuel 23:19-29
World English Bible
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.”
21 Saul said, “You are blessed by Yahweh; for you have had compassion on me. 22 Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
24 They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert. 25 Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard that, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David hurried to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men surrounded David and his men to take them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come; for the Philistines have made a raid on the land!” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines. Therefore they called that place Sela Hammahlekoth.[a]
29 David went up from there, and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.
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- 23:28 “Sela Hammahlekoth” means “rock of parting”.
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