1 Samuel 27

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Fearing he would eventually be killed by Saul, David decided to escape to the land of the Philistines with his six hundred men and their families. They settled in Gath with King Achish, which caused Saul to stop searching for him. Later, David asked Achish for a place to live in an outlying town, and the king assigned him Ziklag, where David and his men lived for a year and four months. During this period, David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, killing everyone and taking their livestock and belongings. When returning to Achish, David falsely claimed he had raided the Negev of Judah, the Negev of Jerahmeel, or the Negev of the Kenites, leaving no survivors to report his actions. As a result, Achish trusted David and believed he had become permanently alienated from Israel.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” ²So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath. ³David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. ⁴And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. ⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” ⁶That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah. ⁷And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months. ⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) ⁹Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish, ¹⁰who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” ¹¹David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory. ¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.