1 Samuel 23:6-15
New American Standard Bible
6 Now it came about, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech (A)fled to David at Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. 7 When it was reported to Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has handed him over to me, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.” 8 So Saul summoned all the people for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 But David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him; so he said to (B)Abiathar the priest, “(C)Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah hand me over to him? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, please, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the citizens of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” And the Lord said, “(D)They will hand you over.” 13 Then David and his men, (E)about six hundred, rose up and departed from Keilah, and they went (F)wherever they could go. When it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up [a]the pursuit. 14 David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of (G)Ziph. And Saul searched for him every day, but (H)God did not hand him over to him.
Saul Pursues David
15 Now David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life while David was in the wilderness of Ziph, at Horesh.
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- 1 Samuel 23:13 Lit going out
1 Samuel 23:6-15
New English Translation
David Eludes Saul Again
6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod.[a] 7 When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered[b] him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.”[c] 8 So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men.[d]
9 When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him,[e] he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning[f] to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. 11 Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, please inform your servant.”
Then the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand?” The Lord said, “They will deliver you over.”
13 So David and his men, who numbered about 600, set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another.[g] When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition. 14 David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time,[h] but God did not deliver David[i] into his hands. 15 David realized[j] that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the wilderness of Ziph.
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- 1 Samuel 23:6 tn Heb “an ephod went down in his hand.”
- 1 Samuel 23:7 tn The MT reading (“God has alienated him into my hand”) in v. 7 is a difficult and uncommon idiom. The use of this verb in Jer 19:4 is somewhat parallel, but not entirely so. Many scholars have therefore suspected a textual problem here, emending the word נִכַּר (nikkar, “alienated”) to סִכַּר (sikkar, “he has shut up [i.e., delivered]”). This is the idea reflected in the translations of the Syriac Peshitta and Vulgate, although it is not entirely clear whether they are reading something different from the MT or are simply paraphrasing what for them too may have been a difficult text. The LXX has “God has sold him into my hands,” apparently reading מָכַר (makar, “sold”) for MT’s נִכַּר. The present translation is a rather free interpretation.
- 1 Samuel 23:7 tn Heb “with two gates and a bar.” Since in English “bar” could be understood as a saloon, it has been translated as an attributive: “two barred gates.”
- 1 Samuel 23:8 tn Heb “So Saul mustered all his army for battle to go down to Keilah to besiege against David and his men.”
- 1 Samuel 23:9 tn Heb “Saul was planning the evil against him.”
- 1 Samuel 23:10 tn Heb “seeking.”
- 1 Samuel 23:13 tn Heb “they went where they went.”
- 1 Samuel 23:14 tn Heb “all the days.”
- 1 Samuel 23:14 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Samuel 23:15 tn Heb “saw.”
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