Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
1 Samuel 23:6-13
Saul Learns That David And His Men Are Gathered In Keilah And Summons The Tribes So As To Capture Him (1 Samuel 23:6).
When news reached Saul that David and his men had delivered Keilah from the hands of the Philistines his first thought was not of rejoicing at the deliverance of Keilah (which should have been his responsibility), but of the fact that it might give him an opportunity to capture David. However, his fear of David was so great that he determined that he must do so with a large force, so that there was no danger of David escaping. Thus he put out the summons to all the tribes (‘all the people') in accordance with their treaty obligations. Had he moved with his standing army he might well have been in time to encounter David before he left Keilah, but he might well also have recognised that with David's skills in warfare the result might be far from certain. He dared not take the risk of attacking David and then being defeated. And he knew only too well what a skilful general David was.
At first reading it may appear as if the inhabitants of Keilah were blameworthy. However, we must not be too hard on them. It should be noted that their leaders (‘lords') did not actually determine to hand over David. It was only that David learned that that was what they finally would have done, had they been put to the test. And we should recognise that they were in an impossible position. If Saul arrived with all the armies of Israel and besieged the city, demanding for David and his men to be handed over, they would have been in the parlous position of either having to do so, thus betraying David but saving their city from the fate of Nob, or of fighting their own countrymen and being branded as traitors, or even, if Judah sided with them and David (compare the Benjaminites in Judges 20), of being responsible for the commencement of a civil war. Thus they really would have faced a hard choice (assuming of course that David and his men allowed them that choice). Fortunately for them they were saved from having to make that choice by David removing himself and his men from their midst. In fact David remaining there would have been good for no one, least of all for him.
So we should recognise that no one in fact decided to hand David over. It was simply that YHWH knew what they would feel forced to do if the crunch came. We must face the fact that if everyone was blamed for what they would do if the temptation came none of us would stand.
Analysis.
a And it came about that when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with the ephod in his hand (1 Samuel 23:6).
b And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars” (1 Samuel 23:7).
c And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men (1 Samuel 23:8).
d And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here”. (1 Samuel 23:9).
c Then David said, “O YHWH, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O YHWH, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant.” And YHWH said, “He will come down” (1 Samuel 23:10).
b Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And YHWH said, “They will deliver you up” (1 Samuel 23:12).
a Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah, and he forbore going forth (1 Samuel 23:13).
Note that in ‘a' Abiathar came down to David to Keilah, and in the parallel David and his men leave Keilah. In ‘b' Saul hears that David is in Keilah and thinks that God has delivered him into his hands while in the parallel David knows this and wants to know if the people of Keilah will deliver him into his hands (and receives the answer ‘yes'). In ‘c' Saul calls out the tribes in order to go against David, and in the parallel David wants to know if Saul will come down, and learns that the answer is ‘yes'. Central in ‘d' is David's appeal to YHWH.
‘ And it came about that when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with the ephod in his hand.'
This note is put in with a view to explaining how David was now able to enquire of YHWH. It was because when Abiathar came, escaping the massacre of the priests, he brought with him the ephod, the special vestment of the High Priest which contained the Urim and Thummim in the breast pouch. These latter probably worked by their being tossed down, with the decision being dependent on how they fell.
The direction ‘to Keilah' suggests that David and his men had at the time when Abiathar arrived, been hiding and operating in the local area. This would explain both why they received the news about the attack on the city of Keilah so quickly and why they were able to tackle the problem with such alacrity.
Alternately the brevity of ‘to David to Keilah' can be seen as indicating that Abiathar came to David and then they both went to Keilah.
‘ And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.” '
When Saul learned that David had entered the city of Keilah, and had remained there, he was delighted. The news may have reached him through his spies, or it may have been because what most saw as glad tidings was being passed around without any thought of harming David. But to the blinkered Saul it indicated only one thing. With any luck he could have David trapped within the gates of Keilah. Of course he expressed it very piously. Literally “God has rejected him (treated him as profane) into my hand, for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.” He felt that YHWH had at last by this means rejected David. There was no need now to look for him in places where he could fade away, or even cause endless trouble by guerilla fighting. All he could hope was that he would stay there long enough for Saul to gather sufficient men to be able to surround the town and capture him.
‘ And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.'
But that was the problem, the number of men he would need. The summoning of ‘all the people' suggests a general levy of the tribes. So Saul was taking no risks, because he knew what he was up against. It is doubtful whether in making the levy he genuinely explained why he was doing it. Many probably thought that the Philistines were attacking again. But Saul's purpose was simply to go and besiege Keilah and trap David. And he was prepared to call the levy, seemingly at the time of harvest, in order to do it. Such was the penalty to Israel of having a king.
Of course the one problem with the general levy was that word inevitably got around, and the gathering of the army would take some days. But as far as Saul was concerned there was no alternative, for there was no way in which he was going to risk meeting a David, trapped with four to six hundred desperate fighting men at his call, unless he had overwhelming force. They had after all proved their calibre against the Philistines.
‘ And David knew that Saul was devising mischief against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” '
Inevitably the news reached Keilah about Saul's plans so that David was alerted to them and realised that Saul was planning mischief. So he immediately called on Abiathar to bring the ephod to him. In fact had he actually thought about it he would have realised that there was nothing to be gained by staying, but both he and his men were probably enjoying their current popularity. It was a change from hiding in the forest, and sleeping in caves. It may indeed have been with the purpose of persuading his men that it was time that they were on the move that he again consulted the ephod. But it may equally well have been because he could not really believe that Saul was going to this great trouble just to capture him. Right up to the end David never really understood what Saul's problem with him was. He did not realise the light in which Saul saw him.
‘ Then David said, “O YHWH, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O YHWH, the God of Israel, I beseech you, tell your servant.” And YHWH said, “He will come down.” '
So David did what was so typical of him. Far from being ‘treated as profane' by YHWH he got down to genuine praying, and in doing so he was bursting with questions, which poured out from him. But the ephod was not designed for dealing with multiple questions which is why only one was answered at a time. Firstly David wanted to know what the leaders of Keilah do if Saul came and besieged the city. Would they hand them over to Saul? But even before that. Was Saul coming at all? As the last was the most urgent question it was answered first. Yes, Saul was coming.
We can understand why David was a little perplexed at the thought that Saul would destroy Keilah just to capture him. After all Keilah was an Israelite city (of the tribe of Judah) for which Saul had responsibility. But the news that had reached him would have included the fact that Saul had called up the levy. So that raised the question of what Saul's aims really were. Would he really have called up the levy just in order to take David? And the answer was ‘yes'.
‘ Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And YHWH said, “They will deliver you up.” '
The question then was as to whether the ‘leading men' (the baalim - lords) of Keilah would hand them over to Saul. And the reply was, ‘yes, they would deliver them up'. We have only to think about it to realise that they would have had little alternative. They were in an impossible position. They were certainly grateful to David, but not to have handed him over would have been treason, and with the host of Israel surrounding them they would have had no hope of holding out for long, with the certainty of death and destruction following. Better to be in the hands of the Philistines than in the hands of a vengeful Saul. Nor would they have wanted to fight their fellow-countrymen. And besides, they would not want to start a civil war between Israel and Judah, and that was what might have been involved. It is doubtful if Judah would have just sat by and watch one of their own towns being besieged by Saul. It would have been a question of tribal loyalty. So the position was impossible. (We should, however, note that they never had to make this decision. Nor in the event did they even have to think about what they would do if Saul came. It was YHWH Who knew what they would in the end do out of concern for their town, and once David was aware of that he saved the leading men from having to face up to an impossible situation. The emphasis is thus on David's concern for them, not on their duplicity.
On the other hand the fact that the question about Keilah handing him over is asked twice in the narrative points to an indication of the horror that the thought would raise in the minds of readers and hearers as the story was read out at the feasts. We should remember that what are regularly called ‘duplications' by some are often simply a way of ensuring that the audience gets the message. They are equally found in the writings of other nations. As the audience heard the words, and then heard them repeated, their hearts would say ‘surely not', but their heads would say ‘yes'. It raised the whole question of tribal honour, and each would ask himself what he would have done. However, the aim behind it was probably in order to emphasise the straightness of all David's dealings in that first he saved them from having to make that decision, and secondly in that all would know what David would have done in such a circumstance (or at least they would all think that they knew).
But as we think more deeply about this whole situation we are also made aware of how despotic Saul had become. How otherwise would he have dared to call the levy, and have risked war between Israel and Judah, simply over a personal grievance and because of his own ambitions? The truth was that David and his small band of outlaws who caused no trouble to anyone (except the Philistines) did not really warrant it. It is thus being made quite clear that his mind had become unhinged as a result of his intense hatred of David. Israel really were learning what ‘having a king like the nations' really meant.
‘ Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah, and he forbore going forth.'
The result was that David and his men reluctantly left Keilah with all its love and friendliness overflowing towards them and went back to hiding in the forests, wherever they could find safety. And once Saul learned that David had left Keilah and had ‘disappeared', no one knew where, he simply stayed where he was. There was now no point in going to Keilah. (How he explained having made the levy we do not know). But we note one further point of significance. David's private army was growing. It now had six effective units. It was becoming a formidable fighting force.