1 Samuel 23:29

23:19-29 In the midst of his wickedness, Saul affected to speak the language of piety. Such expressions, without suitable effects, can only amuse or deceive those who hear, and those who use them. This mountain was an emblem of the Divine Providence coming between David and the destroyer. Let us not be dismayed at the prospect of future difficulties, but stay ourselves upon Him who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Sooner than his promise shall fail, he will commission Philistines to effect our escape, at the very moment when our case appears most desperate. God requires entire dependence on him, If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established, Isa 7:9.

And David went up from thence,.... From the wilderness of Maon, having had a narrow escape for his life: and dwelt in strong holds in Engedi; another place in the tribe of Judah, and which lay in the wilderness of Judah, and from whence that is called the wilderness of Engedi; and here Dr. Lightfoot (w) thinks he penned the sixty third psalm, Psalm 63:1, the wilderness about Engedi being the most desert of all other places, that being upon the borders of the dead sea; of this place; see Gill on Joshua 15:62. (w) Works, vol. 1. p. 58.

29 . at En-gedi ] En-gedi (= fountain of the kid ), now Ain-Jidy , is situated about half way along the western shore of the Dead Sea. The precipitous cliffs recede from the water’s edge, and enclose a sloping plain watered by the stream which gushes copiously from the limestone rock. Here in the days of Abraham stood the Amorite city of Hazazon-tamar (= pruning of the palm ). See Genesis 14:7 ; 2 Chronicles 20:2 . It is still an oasis in the limestone desert, and though palm-trees and vineyards ( Song of Solomon 1:14 ) have vanished, the petrified leaves of the one and the terraces cut on the hills for the other attest its ancient fertility. On all sides the country is full of caverns which might serve as lurking places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day. See Robinson, Bibl. Res . 1. 508 ff.; Tristram, Land of Israel , p. 277 ff.; Stanley, Sin. and Pal . p. 295 ff., for descriptions of this remarkable spot. 29–24:8. David spares Saul’s life in the cave at En-gedi This narrative and that in ch. 26 are regarded by some commentators as different accounts of the same event. See Note VII. p. 243, and the notes on ch. 26. Psalms 57, 142 are referred by their titles to the time when David fled from Saul in the cave; but whether this occasion or his sojourn in the cave of Adullam is meant, must remain uncertain. 1 Samuel 23:29

En-gedi (the fountain of the kid), anciently called Hazezon-Tamar Genesis 14:7 from the palm-trees which used to grow there, still preserves its name in Ain-Djedy. It is about 200 yards from the Dead Sea, about the center of its western shore. It is marked by great luxuriance of vegetation, though the approach to it is through most dangerous and precipitous passes. The country is full of caverns, which serve as lurking places for outlaws at the present day. One of these, a spacious one called Bir-el-Mauquouchieh, with a well in it suitable for watering sheep, close to the Wady Hasasa, may have been the identical cavern in which David cut off Saul's skirt.

29. David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi—that is, "the spring of the wild goats or gazelles"—a name given to it from the vast number of ibexes or Syrian chamois which inhabit these cliffs on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Jos 15:62). It is now called Ain Jiddy. On all sides the country is full of caverns, which might then serve as lurking places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day [Robinson].

CHAPTER 23 1Sa 23:1-6. David Rescues Keilah. 1. Then they told David—rather, "now they had told"; for this information had reached him previous to his hearing (1Sa 23:6) of the Nob tragedy. Keilah—a city in the west of Judah (Jos 15:44), not far from the forest of Hareth. and they rob the threshing-floors—These were commonly situated on the fields and were open to the wind (Jud 6:11; Ru 3:2).David, inquiring of the Lord by Abiathar, rescueth Keilah, and goeth into it, 1 Samuel 23:1-6. God showing him the coming of Saul, and treachery of the Kennites, 1 Samuel 23:7-12, he flieth thence to the wilderness of Ziph, with his six hundred men, 1 Samuel 23:13-15. Here Jonathan cometh to him, and reneweth the covenant of friendship with him, 1 Samuel 23:16-18. The Ziphites discover him to Saul, 1 Samuel 23:19-23; who pursueth him into the wilderness of Maon, 1 Samuel 23:24-26. He is called away by a message that the Philistines had invaded the land, 1 Samuel 23:27,28. David dwelleth at En-gedi, 1 Samuel 23:29. Then they told David; or, Now they had told David, to wit, before he heard of the slaughter of the priests. Keilah; a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:44, not far from the forest of Hareth, where David now was, 1 Samuel 22:5. The threshing-floors usually were without the cities, in places open to the wind. See Judges 6:11 Ruth 3:2, &c.

From this occurrence the place received the name of Sela-hammahlekoth, "rock of smoothnesses," i.e., of slipping away or escaping, from חלק, in the sense of being smooth. This explanation is at any rate better supported than "rock of divisions, i.e., the rock at which Saul and David were separated" (Clericus), since חלק does not mean to separate.

The Ziphites endeavor to betray David to Saul, but he and his men escape to Maon, 1 Samuel 23:19-22. Saul comes to Maon; and having surrounded the mountain on which David and his men were, they must inevitably have fallen into his hands, had not a messenger come to call Saul to the succor of Judah, then invaded by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 23:25-27. Saul leaves the pursuit of David, and goes to succor the land; and David escapes to En-gedi, 1 Samuel 23:28, 1 Samuel 23:29. Verse 1 The Philistines fight against Keilah - Keilah was a fortified town in the tribe of Judah near to Eleutheropolis, on the road to Hebron. Rob the threshing-floors - This was an ancient custom of the Philistines, Midianites, and others. See Judges 6:4. When the corn was ripe and fit to be threshed, and they had collected it at the threshingfloors, which were always in the open field, then their enemies came upon them and spoiled them of the fruits of their harvest. 1SAMUEL 23: 2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” The LORD said to David, “Go strike the Philistines, and save Keilah.” Verse 2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord - In what way David made this inquiry we are not told, but it was probably by means of Abiathar; and therefore I think, with Houbigant that the sixth verse should be read immediately after the first. The adventure mentioned here was truly noble.

2–4. Introductory invocation of Jehovah 2 . The Lord is my rock ] The opening address to God, found in Psalms 18, “Fervently do I love thee O Jehovah my strength,” is wanting here. 2, 3 . The imagery, by which David describes so emphatically all that Jehovah had been to him as a Deliverer from his enemies, is derived from the experiences of his warlike life, and particularly of his flight from Saul. The cliff ( 1 Samuel 23:25 ; 1 Samuel 23:28 ) where he had escaped from Saul, the strong-hold in the wilderness of Judah or the fastnesses of Engedi ( 1 Samuel 23:14 ; 1 Samuel 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 23:29 ), “the rocks of the wild goats” ( 1 Samuel 24:2 ), were all emblems of Him who had been throughout his true Refuge and Deliverer.

This should strictly be quoted either as "Gibeah belonging to Benjamin," or "Geba ( גֶּבַע ) of Benjamin" (see also 1 Samuel 13, 14 ; 2 Samuel 23:29 ; 1 Chronicles 11:31 ; Hosea 5:8 ; Hosea 9:9 ; Hosea 10:9 ). 5. Gibeah of Saul ( 1 Samuel 10:26 ; 1 Samuel 15:34 ; 2 Samuel 21:6 ). Josephus ('Bell, Jud.,' 5:2. § 1) states what helps to the identifying of the place as the modern Tuleil-el-ful , about thirty stadia from Jerusalem (see also Isaiah 10:28-32 ). The Gibeah of 1 Samuel 22:6 ; 1 Samuel 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 26:1 , is this Gibeah of Saul. 6. Gibeah in the field ( Judges 20:31 ). Lastly, our Authorized Version gives us seven other Gibeahs, only translating this word, e g. " The hill of the foreskins" ( Joshua 5:3 ); "The hill of Phinehas" ( Joshua 24:33 ); " The hill of Moreh" ( Judges 7:1 ); " The hill of God" ( 1 Samuel 10:5 ); " The hill of Haehilah" ( 1 Samuel 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 26:1 ); " The hill of Ammah" ( 2 Samuel 2:24 ); " The hill Gareb" ( Jeremiah 31:39 ). 2 Chronicles 13:2