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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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.”
1 Samuel 23:6-15
Expanded Bible
6 (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ·holy vest [ephod] ·with him [L in his hand] when he came to David at Keilah [C the ephod probably held the Urim and Thummim used to determine God’s will; Ex. 28:30].)
Saul Chases David
7 Someone told Saul that David was now at Keilah. Saul said, “God has ·handed David over to me [L made a stranger of him into my hand; C the Hebrew is obscure]! He has ·trapped [imprisoned] himself, because he has entered a town with gates and bars [C Saul could lay siege to such a town].” 8 Saul called all his army together for battle, and they prepared to go down to Keilah to ·attack [L besiege] David and his men.
9 David learned Saul was ·making evil plans [plotting evil] against him. So he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ·holy vest [ephod].” 10 David prayed, “Lord, God of Israel, ·I have [L your servant has] heard that Saul plans to come to Keilah to destroy the town because ·of me [I am here]. 11 Will the ·leaders [citizens; men] of Keilah ·hand me over [surrender/betray me] to Saul? Will Saul come down to Keilah, as I heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell me, your servant!”
The Lord answered, “Saul will come down.”
12 Again David asked, “Will the ·leaders [citizens; men] of Keilah ·hand [surrender; betray] me and my men over to Saul?”
The Lord answered, “They will [L surrender/betray you].”
13 So David and his six hundred men left Keilah and ·kept moving from place to place [L went/roamed wherever they could]. When Saul found out that David had escaped from Keilah, he ·did not go there [gave up pursuit/the campaign].
14 David stayed in the ·desert [wilderness] ·hideouts [strongholds] and in the hills of the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Ziph. Every day Saul looked for David, but the Lord did not ·surrender David to him [L give David into his hand].
15 While David was at Horesh in the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Ziph, he learned that Saul was coming to kill him.
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