Chapter Twenty-Three
God has David Save the People of Keilah from the Philistines
23:1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
David gets word that the city of Keilah (an inherited city in Judah’s territory not far from Adullam, see Joshua 15:44) was under attack by the Philistines who were stealing their harvest grain from the threshing floors. He inquires from YHWH if he should go and attack the Philistines, and YHWH responded affirmatively.
23:3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
David’s men are afraid to go to Keilah, as they already feel vulnerable being in Judah, that going to save the people in Keilah would put them at a greater risk of being caught by Saul. Previously these men were described as being in distress, in debt, or bitter in soul (see 1 Samuel 22:2), and perhaps not the bravest, but they do have a valid concern.
23:4 Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
David again inquires from YHWH what to do, He tells them that they are to go to Keilah and He will give them victory over the Philistines. So David and his men went and fought the Philistines and took their livestock, saving the people of Keilah.
23:6 When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
This verse may be the key to how David inquired of YHWH, if Abiathar was able to escape the carnage of Nob with the high priest’s ephod, perhaps he also had in possession of the breastplate and the Urim and Thummim (used to inquire from God, see Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8, click here to read the commentary for 1 Samuel 14:3).
David Continues to Elude Saul
23:7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
Saul heard that David and his men came to the aid of the people of Keilha and was convinced that God had now given David into his hand, as the city had gates and bars that could trap them inside. Saul and his men went to Keilah to capture them.
23:9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”
David knew that Saul would take every advantage to harm or kill him, so he has Abiathar, the priest, bring the ephod to him to inquire from God if Saul would come to Keilah and destroy the city to get his hands on David. And if so, would the people of the city surrender him to Saul? YHWH confirms that Saul is coming.
23:12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.”
David asks again, will they surrender him and his men, and YHWH said, yes, they will surrender him. It is interesting that the Septuagint does not contain this verse.
23:13 Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.
David and his men, who now number around six hundred (possible recruits from Keilah) left the city. When Saul heard that David had left Keilah he ended his pursuit. David then remained in the strongholds (Hebrew meṣā·ḏôṯ’, difficult to access places of refuge) in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph (named after a nearby city between Hebron and the Dead Sea). Saul continued to pursue David every day, but God never gave him into Saul’s hand.
23:15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.” 18 And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
We are told that David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life, some translations state that David was afraid due to the same Hebrew word potentially employing different vowels in the manuscripts, which changes the meaning from “David was afraid,” to “David saw,” or even “David knew.” David still in the wilderness of Ziph, is now at Horesh (Hebrew ḥō’·rešā(h), referring to a woodlands or forested area). Jonathan, unlike his father, is able to find David at Horesh (likely with the help of God).
Jonathan came to encourage David and “strengthened his hand in God” by recalling God’s promises to him (see also 1 Samuel 30:6-8). Jonathan calls his attention to four points: 1) Not to fear Saul, as he will not find him; 2) that he (David) will indeed be king; 3) that he (Jonathan) will be next to him, standing with him; and 4) Saul knows all of this to be true. Jonathan reassures David that he understands and accepts the fact that God has called him (David) to be the next king of Israel and that he will be at his side. Sadly, Jonathan will die before David becomes king. The two men make a third covenant before YWHW (see 1 Samuel 18:3-4; 20:14-16) at this time, no details of the covenant are revealed. Jonathan then went home (not to Saul to fight with his father, either by choice or was banned by his father to participate).
23:19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24a And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.
The people of Ziph go to Saul in Gibeah and tell him that David was hiding among the people in the strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah (an unknown location), south of Jeshumon (Hebrew yešî·môn’, meaning a desert or wasteland, could be a reference to an area or a location with that name, also unknown). The Ziphites invite Saul to go there with them and they will do their part handling David over to him. Saul is grateful that they had compassion on him, but wants them to go back and make sure David is there (calling him very cunning). Once they have confirmed his location, where he ‘lurks’, and where he hides out, to come back and he will go with them, so they left and returned to Ziph.
23:24b Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon.
David and his men moved to the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah (the long “Great Rift Valley” that extends from the Sea of Galilee in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, which includes the Jordan River Valley and the Dead Sea) south of Jeshimon. The wilderness of Maon is named after the city of Maon believed to be five to eight miles south of Ziph.
23:25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
David went to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon, Saul and his men pursued David there and came very close to David, with Saul on one side of a mountain and David and his men on the other side. Just before they were able to catch up, Saul receives word that the Philistines had begun to raid Israel. Saul stopped his pursuit of David to go fight the Philistines. The rock was then called the “Rock of Escape” as David escaped being captured that day. David and his men then went to the stronghold of Engedi (near the western coast of the Dead Sea).
Considerations
No such word as “coincidence!”
The popular phrase is more than a saying to many rabbis, theologians, and many others. The belief that everything happens for a reason negates the idea that things happen randomly. We see that God throughout the Bible can use insignificant events, or the smallest object (visible or invisible) for His purposes. God ‘tracks’ everything including sparrows (see Matthew 10:29). God was not going to allow David to be caught by Saul, period, sending the Philistines at the right time to invade Israel was not a coincidence. Jonathan may have said that his father knew that David was going to be the next king, but his actions certainly did not match his thoughts! Mankind is powerless to change an outcome that God says how it will turn out.