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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.”

So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his 600 men. 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. When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.

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?” So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) The length of time[c] that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year[d] and four months.

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.) 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] 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. 1 Samuel 27:1 tn Heb “said to his heart.”
  2. 1 Samuel 27:3 tn Heb “a man and his house.”
  3. 1 Samuel 27:7 tn Heb “the number of the days.”
  4. 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.
  5. 1 Samuel 27:8 tn Heb “from where you come.”
  6. 1 Samuel 27:9 tn Heb “the land.”
  7. 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.”
  8. 1 Samuel 27:11 tn Heb “all the days.”
  9. 1 Samuel 27:12 tn Heb “saying.”
  10. 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.
  11. 1 Samuel 27:12 tc Many medieval Hebrew mss lack the preposition “in.”
  12. 1 Samuel 27:12 tn Heb “permanently.”
  13. 1 Samuel 28:1 tn Heb “their camps.”
  14. 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.
  15. 1 Samuel 28:2 tn Heb “the guardian for my head.”
  16. 1 Samuel 28:2 tn Heb “all the days.”

David Among the Philistines

27 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

So David and the six hundred men(A) with him left and went(B) over to Achish(C) son of Maok king of Gath. David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives:(D) Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag,(E) and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. David lived(F) in Philistine territory a year and four months.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites,(G) the Girzites and the Amalekites.(H) (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur(I) and Egypt.) Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive,(J) but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel(K)” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.(L) 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious(M) to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.(N)

28 In those days the Philistines gathered(O) their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”

David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.”

Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard(P) for life.”