Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 23:19-24
The Ziphites Inform Saul Of David's Whereabouts (1 Samuel 23:19).
Because we favour David we can tend to be harsh with anyone who supported Saul, but in fact we do have to remember that Saul was the rightful king in Israel's eyes, and that many therefore felt that they owed their duty to him. The people who lived in this area would be a remote, probably tight knit, people, suspicious of strangers, and to such people loyalty to the king (who was too far off for them to know what he was really like) was often paramount.
Furthermore in the case of the Ziphites who sought to survive in that lonely wilderness there was also probably more to it than that, for the presence of David's men would not only make them feel uneasy (however disciplined his men were) but would also be taking up valuable provisions of water and food in an area where such were in short supply. They may well have found themselves suffering because of it and they would therefore have seen it as being to their advantage to get rid of David and his men as soon as possible. Thus they approached Saul and informed him of David's whereabouts. Let him come and rid them of this unwelcome intrusion.
Analysis.
a Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Does not David hide himself with us in the strong points in the brushwood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the Waste?” (1 Samuel 23:19).
b Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down, and our part will be to deliver him up into the king's hand” (1 Samuel 23:20).
c And Saul said, “Blessed be you of YHWH, for you have had compassion on me. Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he deals very subtly (is very cunning)” (1 Samuel 23:21)
b “Watch therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come you again to me of a certainty (i.e. with sure knowledge), and I will go with you, and it will come about that, if he be in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands (small family clans) of Judah” (1 Samuel 23:23).
a And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul, but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the Waste (1 Samuel 23:24).
Note that in ‘a' Saul learns that David is in the Hill of Hachilah which is on the south of the Waste (Jeshimon), and in the parallel he is in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the Waste. In ‘b' the Ziphites call on Saul come down to where they are so that they might deliver David into Saul's hands, and in the parallel Saul declares that he will go with them once they have brought more certain news, and will ensure that he finds him. Centrally in ‘c' he blesses them before YHWH for their love for their king.
‘ Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Does not David hide himself with us in the strong points in the brushwood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the Waste?”
As we have seen above the Ziphites had good reason for wanting to be rid of David and his men. They were intruding on their quiet tribal life, in an area which they saw as their own, and where therefore intruders were not welcome, and on top of that they were using up scarce supplies of food and water which they themselves needed for their livelihood.
So they despatched messengers to Saul in Gibeah informing him that David and his men were hiding themselves in strong positions in the brushwood on the Hill of Hachilah, to the south of the Waste (Jeshimon). It probably caused quite a sensation when these wild desert dwellers from the wastelands arrived at Saul's court, and even more so when they explained their reason for coming.
“ Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of your soul to come down, and our part will be to deliver him up into the king's hand.”
They called on their king to ‘come down' to them (they would see Gibeah as the capital city) if that was what he desired, and they promised that they on their part would deliver David into Saul's hands.
‘ And Saul said, “Blessed be you of YHWH, for you have had compassion on me.” '
That these wild desert dwellers were more loyal (in his eyes) than most of the country stirred Saul's heart. It seemed that they were the only ones who cared for him. And he blessed them in the Name of YHWH for their loyal attitude.
“ Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he deals very subtly (behaves very cunningly).”
But he had sought David many times, only to discover that he had disappeared, and he did not therefore want to enter the wastelands on the mountains near the Dead Sea without being sure of his prey. He knew how inhospitable the conditions were. So he told them to go and make absolutely sure of where he was, and identify his exact haunt, and who had seen it in order to be able so to identify it, because he had learned from the hard experience of his spies how elusive and cunning David was.
“ Watch therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come you again to me of a certainty (i.e. with sure knowledge), and I will go with you, and it will come about that, if he be in the land, I will search him out among all the ‘thousands' (small family clans) of Judah.”
So he wanted them to watch David's movements, learn where all his hide-outs were, and then come again to him when they were sure of the facts. Then he would go with them to rid them of this scourge, and once he was there they could be sure that he would root out all David's followers from among all the small family clans. They would not be able to hide from him. (It would not have been a very comfortable experience for the small family clans of Judah as they were interrogated and possibly tortured, but that would not worry the heartless Saul). But Saul knew that he would be bringing with him a large army of men, and so he would not want them to have to spend too much time hanging around or searching that desolate place.
‘ And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul, but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.'
So the Ziphite messenger returned home ahead of Saul, only to discover when they got back to Ziph that the elusive David had moved on, and was now in the wilderness of Maon, going as far as the Arabah (the Arabah is the continuation south of the Dead Sea of the rift between two mountain ranges through which further northward the Jordan flowed into the Dead Sea), even further south of the Waste.
In view of the fact that they do not think that the Arabah itself could have been the destination many would translate arabah here as ‘plain' or ‘steppe'. The exact geographical details are not too certain, although they would have been at the time of writing.