1 Samuel 27:1-28:2
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.”
The Witch of Endor
28 In those days the Philistines gathered their troops[m] for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.”[n] 2 David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard[o] from now on.”[p]
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 28:1 tn Heb “their camps.”
- 1 Samuel 28:1 tc The translation follows the LXX (εἰς πόλεμον, eis polemon) and a Qumran ms למלחמה (lammilkhamah, “for battle”) rather than the MT’s בַמַּחֲנֶה (bammakhaneh, “in the camp”; cf. NASB). While the MT reading is not impossible here, and although admittedly it is the harder reading, the variant fits the context better. The MT can be explained as a scribal error caused in part by the earlier occurrence of “camp” in this verse.
- 1 Samuel 28:2 tn Heb “the guardian for my head.”
- 1 Samuel 28:2 tn Heb “all the days.”
1 Samuel 27:1-28:2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
David Serves King Achish of Gath
27 David said in his heart, “I shall certainly perish one day 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 seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 So David set out and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath.(A) 3 David stayed with Achish at Gath, he and his troops, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.(B) 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the country towns so that I may live there, for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.(C) 7 The length of time that David lived in the country of the Philistines was one year and four months.(D)
8 Now David and his men went up and made raids on the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the landed settlements from Telam[a] on the way to Shur and on to the land of Egypt.(E) 9 David struck the land, leaving neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing and came back to Achish.(F) 10 When Achish asked, “Against whom[b] have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”(G) 11 David left neither man nor woman alive to be brought back to Gath, thinking, “They might tell about us and say, ‘David has done so and so.’ ” Such was his practice all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself utterly abhorrent to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
28 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.”(H) 2 David said to Achish, “Very well, then you shall know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
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