1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 27:1 David and his men finally gain some stability by serving the Philistine king Achish of Gath. David pretends to be loyal to Achish by attacking various non-Israelite peoples in the area while giving the impression that he is attacking Israel itself (1 Samuel 27:8). When... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 27:5 LET A PLACE BE GIVEN ME IN ONE OF THE COUNTRY TOWNS. David probably wanted to get away from Gath so he could act freely, without interference. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 27:6 ZIKLAG may have been some distance from Gath, but the cities nearer to Gath probably belonged to other foreigners serving Achish, a fact that David must have been well aware of when he made his request. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 27:8 The GESHURITES are those living near the Philistines (Joshua 13:2), not the Geshurites living near Bashan (Joshua 13:11). The GIRZITES are not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. The AMALEKITES mentioned in these chapters lived in the south, toward the Egyptian border.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 1 SAMUEL 27:10 The NEGEB was the area east and west of Beersheba and north of Kadesh-barnea. David would tell Achish that he attacked Judahite, Jerahmeelite, or Kenite settlements in the area. This would leave the impression that he was attacking the outposts of Israel itself and th... [ Continue Reading ]