1 SAMUEL 22 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

David at Adullam and Mizpah1 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.

BARNES, "To the cave Adullam - Or rather “of Adullam.” Adullam was the name of a town of Judah in the “Shephelah,” not far from Bethlehem, and below it. Innumerable caverns, one nearly 100 feet long, are excavated in the soft limestone hills in the neighborhood of Beit-Jibrin. (The cave is placed by Ganneau and Conder on the hill (500 feet high) over ‘Aid el Ma or Miyeh.) David’s brethren and kinsmen joined him partly from sympathy with him, and partly because their own lives were in jeopardy front Saul’s furious enmity.

CLARKE, "The cave Adullam - This was in the tribe of Judah, and, according to Eusebius and Jerome, ten miles eastward of what they call Eleutheropolis.GILL, "David therefore departed from thence,.... From Gath, being driven by Achish from his court, and let go by his servants, and glad he was of the deliverance: and escaped to the cave Adullam; which was no doubt near to a city of the same name in the tribe of Judah, of which See Gill on Jos_15:35; this being a strong place, and in his own tribe, he might hope to be in greater safety; here he penned his hundred forty second psalm, see Psa_142:1, and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it; that he was come thither: they went down thither to him; to visit and comfort him, counsel and assist

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him all they could; and chiefly to secure themselves from the rage and malice of Saul, who they might fear would fall upon them, and avenge himself on them for David's sake.GUZIK, "DAVID AT ADULLAM CAVE, SAUL MURDERS THE PRIESTS

A. David at Adullam cave.1. (1Sa_22:1 a) David’s distress at Adullam.David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.

a. David therefore departed from there: David has been through a lot. He had the high of immediate fame, a recent marriage, dangers from the Philistines, repeated attempts on his life, and a heartbreaking farewell from everyday life to live as a fugitive for who knows how long. Then, David had a brief but intense period of backsliding, a dramatic turn to the LORD and deliverance from a life-threatening situation. i. As David left Gath, he praised God with the exaltation we read in Psa_34:1-22. David was pumped! But after that exhilaration wore off, he had a serious problem to consider: what do I do now?

b. Escaped to the cave of Adullam: This was David’s place of refuge. He couldn’t go to his house, he couldn’t go to the palace, he couldn’t go to Samuel, he couldn’t go to Jonathan, he couldn’t go to the house of the LORD, and he couldn’t go to the ungodly. But he could go to a humble cave and find refuge.i. The name Adullam means refuge, but the cave wasn’t to be David’s refuge. The LORD wanted to be David’s refuge in this time of discouragement.ii. Most archaeologists believe that the Cave of Adullam was not too far from the place where David defeated Goliath, in the hills of Judah. David couldn’t help but think, “Boy, I’ve come a long way from the Valley of Elah! From a great victory to running around like a criminal, hiding in a cave.”

c. The title of Psa_142:1-7 reads A Contemplation of David. A prayer when he was in the cave. So, Psa_142:1-7 describes David’s discouraged heart: I cry out to the LORD with my voice; with my voice to the LORD I make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk they have secretly set a snare for me. Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me; no one cares for my soul. (Psa_142:1-4)d. The title of Psa_57:1-11 reads A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. Psa_57:1-11 describes David as the LORD strengthened him in the cave and prepared him for what was next.

i. Psa_57:1-11 shows David with a humble heart: Be merciful to me, 2

O God, be merciful to me! (Psa_57:1) ii. Psa_57:1-11 shows David with a prayerful heart: I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. (Psa_57:2)iii. Psa_57:1-11 shows David with a realistic heart: My soul is among lions . . . they have prepared a net for my steps. (Psa_57:4; Psa_57:6)iv. Psa_57:1-11 shows a heart of trusting praise to the LORD: I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations . . . Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth. (Psa_57:9; Psa_57:5; Psa_57:11)

e. The LORD brought David into this place while He was still in Adullam cave. Many times we think we have to get out of the cave until we can have the heart David had in Psa_57:1-11. But we can have it now, no matter what our circumstances.2. (1Sa_22:1-2) Others come to David at Adullam cave.And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

a. First, David’s family came to him. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. This is a precious gift from God, because previously all David had was trouble and persecution from his father and his brothers. Now, they join him at Adullam cave.i. In 1Sa_16:11, David’s father thought so little of him that he was not even invited to the family dinner with the prophet Samuel. In 1Sa_17:28, David’s brother unjustly accused and criticized David. So David’s family had seemed to mostly be against them, but now they are for him. What a blessing to David!

b. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him: What a group! God called an unlikely and unique group to David in Adullam cave. These were not the men that David would have chosen for himself, but they were the ones called to him.i. These men were in distress. Their own lives weren’t easy or together. They had problems of their own, yet God called them to David at Adullam cave.ii. These men were in debt. They hadn’t seen a lot of success in the past, and smarted from their past failures. They had problems of their own, yet God called them to David at Adullam cave.iii. These men were discontented. The Hebrew for discontented is bitter of soul. They knew the bitterness of life, and they were not

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satisfied with their lives or with King Saul. They wanted something different, and something better, and God called them to David at Adullam cave.iv. It was only those who were sick of the reign of Saul who came to David. Those who prospered under the wicked king were comfortable with him. These men had to make conscious choice: who will lead me? Will I be a man of Saul or a man of David? Who will be my king? These 400 men sensed that David was the rightful king, and that Saul was just a pretender to the throne.v. These all came to David when he was down and out, hunted and despised. Once David came to the throne, there were a lot of people who wanted to be around him. But the glory of these 400 is that they came to David in the cave.vi. “Herein David became a type of Christ, the Captain of our salvation, who cried, ‘Come unto me, all ye that are weary.’“ (Trapp)

c. So he became captain over them: This was not a mob. This was a team that needed a leader, and David became captain over them. God doesn’t work through mobs. He works through called men and women, but He also calls others to stand with and support those men and women.i. These men came to David in distress, in debt, and discontented, but they didn’t stay that way. “It is very possible that these several disaffected and exceptionable characters might at first have supposed that David, unjustly persecuted, would be glad to avail himself of their assistance that he might revenge himself upon Saul, and so they in the mean time might profit by plunder, [and so forth]. But if this were their design they were greatly disappointed, for David never made any improper use of them.” (Clarke)ii. David made them into the kind of men described in 1Ch_12:8: Mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.

d. And there were about four hundred men with him: When David was down and discouraged in Adullam Cave, God brought people around him to strengthen him in the work. David was the one anointed by God to be the next king over Israel, and Israel’s greatest earthly king; but just as much as God called David, God called these four hundred to come beside David.i. Each principle is important. The principle that God leads through a called and anointed man is important. When an ark had to be built, God didn’t call 400 men. When Israel needed deliverance from Egypt, God didn’t call a committee. Over and over again in the Scriptures, God’s work is led by a called and

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anointed man.ii. At the same time, the principle that God rarely calls that man to work alone is important. David needed these 400 men, even if he never thought he did before. They are just as called and anointed as David is, but they are called and anointed to follow and support David, and he is called and anointed to lead them.iii. Four hundred men, and desperate men at that. This was a solid beginning to a rebel army, if David wanted it to be that. An unprincipled leader might make these 400 men into a gang of rebels or cutthroats, but David would never allow this to become a rebel army against King Saul.

e. David had his followers, and so does the Son of David, Jesus Christ.i. “Do you see the truth of which this Old Testament story is so graphic a picture? Just as in David’s day, there is a King in exile who is gathering around Him a company of people who are in distress, in debt, and discontented. He is training and preparing them for the day when He shall come to reign.” (Redpath)ii. “These are the kind of men who came to David: distressed, bankrupt, dissatisfied. These are the kind of people who come to Christ, and they are the only people who come to Him, for they have recognized their distress, their debt, and bankruptcy, and are conscious that they are utterly discontented. The sheer pressures of these frustrations drives them to the refuge of the blood of Christ that was shed for them.” (Redpath)

HENRY, "Here, I. David shelters himself in the cave of Adullam, 1Sa_22:1. Whether it was a natural or artificial fastness does not appear; it is probable that the access to it was so difficult that David thought himself able, with Goliath's sword, to keep it against all the forces of Saul, and therefore buried himself alive in it, while he was waiting to see (and he says here, 1Sa_22:3) what God would do with him. The promise of the kingdom implied a promise of preservation to it, and yet David used proper means for his own safety, otherwise he would have tempted God. He did not do any thing that aimed to destroy Saul, but only to secure himself. He that might have done great service to his country as a judge or general is here shut up in a cave, and thrown by as a vessel in which there was no pleasure. We must not think it strange if sometimes shining lights be thus eclipsed and hidden under a bushel. Perhaps the apostle refers to this instance of David, among others, when he speaks of some of the Old Testament worthies that wandered in deserts, in dens and caves of the earth, Heb_11:38. It was at this time that David penned Psa_142:1-7, which is entitled, A prayer when David was in the cave; and there he complains that no man would know him and that refuge failed him, but hopes that shortly the righteous would compass him about.

JAMISON, "1Sa_22:1-8. David’s kindred and others resort to him at 5

Adullam.David ... escaped to the cave Adullam — supposed to be that now called Deir-Dubban, a number of pits or underground vaults, some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, in the soft limestone or chalky rocks. They are on the borders of the Philistine plain at the base of the Judea mountains, six miles southwest from Beth-lehem, and well adapted for concealing a number of refugees.his brethren and all his father’s house ... went down — to escape the effects of Saul’s rage, which seems to have extended to all David’s family. From Beth-lehem to Deir-Dubban it is, indeed, a descent all the way.K&D, "Having been driven away by Achish, the Philistian king at Gath, David took refuge in the cave Adullam, where his family joined him. The cave Adullam is not to be sought for in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, as some have inferred from 2Sa_23:13-14, but near the town Adullam, which is classed in Jos_15:35 among the towns in the lowlands of Judah, and at the foot of the mountains; though it has not yet been traced with any certainty, as the caves of Deir Dubban, of which Van de Velde speaks, are not the only large caves on the western slope of the mountains of Judah. When his brethren and his father's house, i.e., the rest of his family, heard of his being there, they came down to him, evidently because they no longer felt themselves safe in Bethlehem from Saul's revenge. The cave Adullam cannot have been more than three hours from Bethlehem, as Socoh and Jarmuth, which were near to Adullam, were only three hours and a half from Jerusalem (see at Jos_12:15).

BENSON. "1 Samuel 22:1. To the cave of Adullam — Which was a strong hold in the tribe of Judah, 1 Chronicles 11:15; Joshua 15:35. This place, fortified by nature, is so fitted for the security of persons in distress, according to Dr. Delaney, that it hath frequently given a refuge from the Turks to the Christians, who fled thither with their families, flocks, and herds. As it was in the tribe of Judah, and David belonged to that tribe, he might, perhaps, flee to it in hopes of finding some friends in those parts. And his brethren, &c., went down thither to him — Either to comfort him, or to secure themselves from the fury of Saul, who, they thought, might probably wreak upon them his hatred to David.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:1The cave Adullam. According to Josephus this was situated near a city of the same name (’Ant.,’ 1Sa_6:12, 1Sa_6:3), which formed one of a group of fifteen in the Shephelah (see on 1Sa_17:1), and its site has now been recovered by Mr. Conder (see ’Tent Work,’ 2:156-160). "The great valley," he says, "of Elah, which forms the highway from Philistia to Hebron, runs down northwards past Keilah and Hareth, dividing the low hills of the Shephelah from the rocky mountains of Judah. Eight miles from the valley head stands Shochoh,… and two and a half miles south of this is a very large and ancient terebinth." This stands on "the west side of the vale, just where

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a small tributary ravine joins the main valley; and on the south of this ravine is a high rounded hill, almost isolated by valleys, and covered with ruins, a natural fortress," the site of the city Adullam. David’s cave, he considers, would not be one of the larger caverns, as these are seldom used for habitations; but "the sides of the tributary valley are lined with rows of caves, and these we found inhabited, and full of flocks and herds; but still more interesting was the discovery of a separate cave on the hill itself, a low, smoke-blackened burrow, which was the home of a single family. We could not but suppose, as we entered this gloomy abode, that our feet were standing in the very footprints of the shepherd king, who here, encamped between the Philistines and the Jews, covered the line of advance on the cornfields of Keilah, and was but three miles distant from the thickets of Hareth." After describing the fine view from this hill, which is about 500 feet high, he adds, "There is ample room to have accommodated David’s 400 men in the caves, and they are, as we have seen, still inhabited." Thus then David’s cave was one of many in the Terebinth valley and the ravine opening into it, and was not far from Gath, though over the border. Here his brethren and all his father’s house joined him through fear of Saul. Among these would be Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, his cousins; and we learn how great was the love and enthusiasm which David was able to inspire among them from the feat of the three heroes, of whom Abishai was one, who, while he was in the cave of Adullam, and a garrison of the Philistines at Bethlehem, broke through them to bring David water from the well there (2Sa_23:13-17). As Bethlehem was thus held by the Philistines, there was double reason for the flight of Jesse’s family; and it is a proof how thoroughly Saul’s government had broken down that, while Samuel could maintain a son at Beersheba as judge (1Sa_8:1-22:24 Saul was unable to defend places so much more distant from the Philistine border.SBC, "Notice:—I. David’s escape to the cave of Adullam. Sudden preferment is often followed by unexpected reverses. (1) It was a place of safety. (2) It was a place of comparative seclusion. (3) It was a place of earnest supplication. In that cave David sought forgiveness, protection, deliverance. There is a cave of Adullam in every life. Doubt, persecution, sickness, bereavement, any of these may be our cave.II. David’s associates in the cave of Adullam. (1) It was an affectionate association. (2) It was a mixed association. (3) It was a faithful association.III. David’s thoughtfulness in the cave of Adullam. He proved his ardent attachment to his parents. (1) By his dangerous journey to promote their comfort. "David went thence to Moab." (2) By his earnest intercession to obtain protection for his parents. "Let my father and mother, I pray thee, come forth to be with you." (3) By his special endeavour to secure respect for his parents, "He brought them before the king."IV. David’s departure from the cave of Adullam. (1) Good men receive timely direction from God. "Abide not in the hold." (2) Good men receive minute direction from God. "Get thee into the land of Judah." (3) Good men promptly obey the direction of God. "Then David departed." We dare not

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resist the leadings of Divine Providence. There is a time coming when we must all depart. We must depart from our work, and wealth, and friends, and home, and life.Parker, The City Temple, vol. i., p. 341.

BI, "David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam.David at the cave of AdullamDavid had strangled a lion, slain a giant, and overcome two hundred Philistines; but he is himself overcome by his needless fear. The fear that terrified David arose as much from his own sin as from Saul’s fury. Had David been truthful to the priest at Nob he would not have had to dissemble before the king of Gath, and hide like a traitor in the cave of Adullam. One misstep leads to another. The troubles of life frequently spring from our own folly.I. David’s escape to the cave of Adullam.

1. It was a place of perfect safety.2. It was a place of comparative seclusion. David needed rest and quiet. The tremendous excitement through which he had passed had exhausted both body and mind.3. It was a place of earnest supplication. If David sinned at Nob, he sincerely repented at Adullam. David sought for forgiveness for his sin. David sought protection from his enemies. David sought deliverance from his prison. There is a cave of Adullam in every life. Doubt may be such a cave. Persecution may be such a cave. Sickness may be such a cave. Bereavement may be such a cave. There is no cave deep and dark enough to shut out God.

II. David’s associates in the cave of Adullam. Notice three things respecting David’s followers:1. It was an affectionate association. In time of trouble God will raise up friends to comfort His believing children.2. It was a mixed association.3. It was a faithful association. These men proved both their courage and constancy. When David longed for water from Bethlehem they imperilled their lives to gratify his desire. David’s experience agrees in some points with Christ’s. David was concealed in a cave, Christ was laid in a manger. David was an outlaw, Christ was despised and rejected of men. David was sustained by men in distress, Christ selected for His disciples men who were poor and unknown. David was made a captain over four hundred, Christ is the Captain and Saviour of all who are in distress. If any man is weary of Satan’s service, he may become a soldier of the cross.

III. David’s thoughtfulness in the cave of Adullam. David was therefore deeply concerned for their safety, and his ardent attachment manifested 8

itself in three ways:1. By his dangerous journey to promote the comfort of his parents. “David went thence to Moab.” This was not a long journey, but it was difficult, to accomplish.2. By his earnest intercession to obtain protection for his parents.3. By his special endeavour to secure respect for his parents. “He brought them before the king:” This was a prudent introduction. “And they dwelt with him”: This was gracious reception. “All the while that David was in the hold:” This was generous hospitality. We cannot too highly commend David’s devotion to his parents. He was willing to sacrifice his life and liberty for their safety.

IV. David’s departure from the cave of Adullam. We may learn three things from David’s departure from the cave of Adullam.1. Good men receive timely direction from God. “Abide not in the hold.” God will not disappoint those who wait for his guidance. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.2. Good men receive minute direction from God. “Get thee into the land of Judah.” All the agencies of life—seen and unseen—known and unknown—are regulated by God.3. Good men promptly obey the direction of God. “Then David departed.” Whether God call us to serve or suffer, we must cheerfully obey. We dare not resist, the leadings of Divine providence. There is a time coming when we must all depart. (J. T. Woodhouse.)

ELLICOTT, " XXII.

(1 Samuel 22:1-23) David’s Life when Bearing Arms against the King at Adullam and Hareth—Saul is informed by Doeg of the Visit of David to the High Priest at Nob—Massacre of all the Priests, and Destruction of the Sanctuary of Nob by Saul—Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, escapes to David.

EXCURSUS I: ON THE SO-CALLED OUTLAW LIFE OF DAVID (chap 22).

From the scattered notices we possess in this book, in 2 Sam., and in 1 Chron., it is clear that the career of David during the period of his life when he was declared by the reigning sovereign, Saul, to be a public enemy, was not the career of a vulgar freebooter, to whom he has been often wrongly likened. To his standard, as we shall see, quickly gathered a number of illustrious men, among whom were found many of high lineage, as well as men famous for their military achievements; distinguished representatives, too, of the priestly and prophetic orders 9

were also to be found at this wandering Court of the future illustrious king. Among the principal reasons which induced so many and such distinguished persons to associate themselves with David may be enumerated growing discontent with Saul’s rule; his frequent inability, owing to the recurring paroxysms of his distressing mental malady, to conduct the affairs of the kingdom; his growing distrust of his friends, especially of his gallant son; the unfortunate favouritism he displayed towards the tribe of Benjamin—his own tribe; his relentless and, at the same time, groundless animosity against his bravest and most successful captain, David. There were not wanting evidently in the border warfare—a warfare which greatly contributed to his popularity among the people, which David almost ceaselessly carried on with Philistia during this period—romantic incidents which show us the character of David’s soldiers, and which well illustrate the spirit of devotion to his person with which this great man was able to inspire his followers. On one occasion, for instance, in the course of a border foray, the son of Jesse, exhausted and wearied, was heard to express a longing for a drink of water from his own home spring at Bethlehem, then occupied by a Philistine garrison. Three of his generous and devoted followers, determined to gratify the longing of their loved chief, with a reckless bravery broke through the enemy’s line, and fetched the coveted water. But David, we read, touched to the heart by such reckless gallantry and love, refused to drink it, but poured it out—that water, won at such risk—as an offering to the Lord. (See 1 Chronicles 11:16-19.)

In this little army of heroes eleven men of great renown are in one passage positively mentioned by name, so distinguished were they—men of great military experience, from the distant tribe of Gad—in the graphic words of the writer of the Chronicles, “warriors equipped with shield and spear, like lions in aspect, and yet speeding over the mountains with the swift foot of the gazelle.” Four hundred men-at-arms—of course this does not include the younger armour-bearers and the like accompanying these veteran soldiers—are mentioned as joining the armed camp of David. These four hundred seem soon to have increased to six hundred. Extraordinary weight and dignity were added to his counsels by the presence of men like Gad, the prophet of the Lord, trained in the school of Samuel, and endowed with the rare gifts of a seer of the living God; and Abiathar, the son and successor by direct descent of the murdered high priest Ahimelech, who brought with him to the exile’s camp the precious Urim and Thummim, the greatest treasures of the sacred Tabernacle, by means of which the “outlaw” David was placed in direct communication with Jehovah, the covenant God of Israel.

In this school of fighting men were trained those generals and wise strategists who in the golden days of David’s rule commanded his armies, and raised Israel from the obscurity of an “Arab” tribe, who with difficulty held their own among the ancient Canaanites, to the position of 10

one of the great nations of the old Eastern world.

I cannot forbear transcribing from the Talmud a curious note on “the four hundred warriors of David.” This ancient tradition evidently bestows on these “fighting men-at-arms” who rallied round David in his days of exile and poverty, the splendour which perhaps subsequently surrounded the great king’s body-guard when he reigned as a mighty prince in Jerusalem over Canaan and the surrounding nations. “David had four hundred young men, handsome in appearance, and with their hair cut close upon their foreheads, but with long flowing curls behind, who used to ride in chariots of gold at the head of the army. These were men of power, the mighty men of the house of David, who went about to strike terror into the world.”—Babylonian Talmud, Treatise Kiddushin, fol. 76, Colossians 2.

It is most probable that a corps of êlite, in memory of the original “four hundred” of the days of the king’s wanderings, was established when David possessed a powerful standing army.

Verse 1

(1) The cave Adullam.—The great valley of Elah forms the highway from Philistia to Hebron. In one especially of the tributary vales or ravines of the Elah valley are many natural caves, some of great extent, roomy and dry, which are still used by the shepherds as dwelling-places, and as refuges for their flocks and herds. David chose one of these natural fastnesses as the temporary home for himself and his followers. The traveller sees that there was ample room for the 400 refugees who gathered under David’s skilled leadership. Stanley even speaks of this Adullam Cavern as “a subterranean palace, with vast columnar halls and arched chambers.”

The name Adullam was probably given to the largest of these great caverns from its proximity to the old royal Canaanitish city of Adullam (Joshua 15:35), ruins of which on a rounded hill to the south of the cave are still visible.

His brethren and all his father’s house.—They of course soon felt the weight of Saul’s anger against the prominent hero of their race, and dreading the fate which often overwhelms whole families for the faults of one of the more distinguished members, fled from their homes, and joined David and his armed force of outlaws.

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PETER PETT, "Introduction

SECTION 4. The Years of Preparation In The Wilderness (21:1-26:25).

A). David Becomes An Outlaw And Forms A Private Army (21:1-22:23).

In this subsection David, having become a refugee and not daring to return home for provisions or weapons, obtains both provisions and weapons from Ahimelech the Priest on false pretences, followed by resulting humiliation in Gath. Eventually he takes shelter in the Cave of Adullam, where his brothers, together with many discontented men, gather to join him with the result that he is able to establish the private army which will be the basis of his future success. Unfortunately Ahimelech is meanwhile falsely accused before Saul and as a result, (such is Saul’s state of mind), he and his fellow-priests are put to death.

Subsection Analysis.

a The Refugee David Visits Ahimelech The Priest And Obtains Provisions (1 Samuel 21:1-7).

b David Obtains The Sword Of Goliath And Goes To Gath, Only To Have To Feign Madness And Return To Judah (1 Samuel 21:8-15).

c David Goes To The Cave Of Adullam And Gathers A Private Army (1 Samuel 22:1-2).

b David Goes To Moab And Seeks Refuge For His Parents, Remaining In A ‘Stronghold’ There Until He Is Told To Return To Judah (1 Samuel 22:3-4).

a Ahimelech Is Called To Account For Provisioning David And As A Result He And The Priests Of Nob Are Slaughtered (1 Samuel 22:5-19).

Note that in ‘a’ David seeks help from Ahimelech which is gladly given and in the parallel Ahimelech is executed for his pains. In ‘b’ David goes to a foreign country, but soon returns, and in the parallel does the same. In both cases he immediately returns to Israel. Centrally he goes to the Cave of Adullam where he gathers the basis of the private army which

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will stand him in such good stead in the future.

Verse 1-2

The Glory of God Is Revealed In The Cave of Adullam: David Establishes The Beginnings of His Private Army And Re-establishes The Future (1 Samuel 22:1-2).

Having barely escaped from Gath with his life David returned to Israel and made for the cave of Adullam. Adullam was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, twelve miles east of Gath and in the Judean foothills near the valley of Elah (Joshua 15:35). Nearby were a series of large caves. And it was to one of these caves that David made his way. It must have seemed like the end of the road. He had been rejected by Saul, had perjured his soul to Ahimelech, and had played the madman in Gath. Now he was to become a trogladyte. Though he did not realise it he was being faced up with the fact of the truth about himself, and was learning that the way to Up is Down.

Imagine now the scene as the Reject of Saul, the Liar of Nob and the Goon of Gath makes his tired way towards the cave of Adullam. His exultation at escaping from Gath (Psalms 34) must now have been replaced by a sense of despair. For as he entered its gloomy portal, and was no doubt met by a motley and suspicious group of ragged and dirty refugees, he must have asked, ‘has it all come to this?’ Little did he realise at that moment that in that cave he was about to experience the Grace of God. It did not come immediately, nor did it come in any moment of high exaltation but it came in dribs and drabs, as God drew to that cave the beginnings of a unique fighting force..

From that cave he appears first to have got a message through to his family, who were possibly not yet aware of the disaster that might face them. For the one who would slaughter the innocent priests of Nob would have had no qualms about the destruction of the family of the traitor David. And the result was that he was soon joined by his brothers and parents, and their household. But it was not only they who gathered to David. When news got around in whispers that David, the hero of Israel, was sheltering in the caves of Adullam, (and presumably venturing out on raiding trips, for they would need to survive somehow), many who had grievances or were in debt gathered to him, until at length he had about four hundred men at his command, a considerable force in those days (compare Esau in Genesis 32:6 and Abraham in Genesis 14:14), especially when they were well trained.

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Indeed one thing that will stand out in the future narratives is the fact that David had ‘his men’. It was they who would be the foundation of his future greatness, and it was here that they had their beginnings. We have already noted the military successes of David. He was a brilliant campaigner, and a popular hero. But shaping the motley group that he would now gather into an effective and powerful fighting force was undoubtedly one of his greatest achievements. They came together as a group of malcontents, and we are left to imagine his tight control over them, the requirement for worship and the daily training that gradually honed them into a powerful instrument of war. But we can be sure that all were prominent features of life in the cave.

Analysis.

a David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1 a).

b And when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him (1 Samuel 22:1 b).

c And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered themselves to him (1 Samuel 22:2 a).

b And he became commander over them (1 Samuel 22:2 b).

a And there were with him about four hundred men (1 Samuel 22:2 c).

Note that in ‘a’ David goes to the large cave at Adullam and in the parallel he soon has four hundred men living with him there. In ‘b’ his family come to join him, and in the parallel he has command over them. Central in ‘c’ are the threefold types who join up with him. It was an army of the needy and the discontented

1 Samuel 22:1 a

‘David therefore departed from there, and escaped to the cave of Adullam.’

There were a number of caves at Adullam, and this was presumably the 14

largest of them. Adullam itself was an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, twelve miles east of Gath (midway between Jerusalem and Lachish) and in the Judean foothills near the valley of Elah (Joshua 15:35). It would not have been very welcoming, but it was all he had.

1 Samuel 22:1 b

‘And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.’

It would appear that David contacted his family at this time and warned them of what Saul might do to them, with the result that they joined him in the Cave of Adullam. For as his behaviour towards the priests of Nob would demonstrate Saul was both bloodthirsty and unreliable, and David’s family were no doubt near the top of his list. There can be little doubt that David urged them to join him there.

1 Samuel 22:2

‘And every one who was in distress, and every one who was in debt, and every one who was discontented, gathered themselves to him, and he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.’

But not only his family came. For as news spread around Israel about how David had escaped from Saul, his name became a magnet that drew men to the cave at Adullam. All who were distressed or in debt, and all who were not content to have Saul as king, gathered to David at Adullam. And they all looked to him as their natural leader with the result that he became commander over them. The consequence was that soon he had four hundred trained and disciplined men under his command, to say nothing of their wives and children. And we can be sure that David ensured that they were well trained. He would know that their future depended on it.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 1-2

David"s flight to Adullam

The town of Adullam (lit. refuge) stood a mile or two south of the Elah Valley, where David had slain Goliath, and about10 miles east-southeast 15

of Gath. There are many huge caves in the limestone hills in that area, several of which can accommodate over400 people. Evidently David"s family was no longer safe from Saul in Bethlehem, which was10 miles east-northeast of Adullam.

"If Saul would attack his own family ( 1 Samuel 20:33), there was no telling what he might do to David"s." [Note: Gordon, I & II Samuel . . ., p172.]

David now became the leader of a group of people who, for various reasons, had become discontented with Saul"s government. One cannot read 1 Samuel 22:2 without reflecting on how needy people later sought and now seek refuge in David"s greatest Song of Solomon , Jesus Christ. This growing movement of support behind David led eventually to his crowning as king of all Israel.

WHEDON, "Verse 1

1. Departed thence, and escaped — Whether he was thrust out of the land or escaped by stealth we are not here told, but from the title of Psalms 34 we infer that he was driven away. Having thus effected his escape, his joyful heart gives vent to its feelings in that inimitable psalm.

The cave Adullam — A city Adullam was situate in or near the plain of Philistia, (Joshua 15:35;) but there is no passage of Scripture that necessarily connects the cave of Adullam with the city of that name. There appears, therefore, no sufficient reason to disturb the tradition of seven hundred years, which fixes this cave about six miles southeast of Bethlehem, in the side of the wild gorge el-Kureitun. It has been visited by many travellers, who all describe it as an immense natural cavern in the side of the cliff, and very difficult of access. Dr. J.P. Newman, who explored it in 1861, thus writes: “Entering the cave through a passage way six feet high, four wide, and thirty long, but which soon contracted to such dimensions as to compel us first to stoop and then to creep, we at length found ourselves in the hiding place of David. Owing to the curve in the entrance, no sunlight ever penetrates this dismal abode. Lighting our candles, we began to explore.

We found the interior divided into chambers, halls, galleries, and dungeons, connected by intricate passageways. The chief hall is one hundred and twenty feet long, and fifty wide; the ceiling is high and arched, ornamented with pendants resembling stalactites; and from the walls extend sharp projections, on which the ancient warriors hung their arms. The effect was grand as our tapers revealed each irregular arch, 16

graceful pendant, and sharp projection, giving the whole the appearance of a grand Gothic hall. Lateral passages radiate in every direction from this chamber, but ultimately converge in a central room. The darkness and silence were oppressive, and the seclusion and intricacies of the cave would have baffled any attempt of Saul to capture the object of his pursuit. From the side of the first chamber we reached a pit ten feet deep, and from it a low, narrow alley, two hundred and ten feet long, leads to another hall, the inner sanctum, where David held his secret counsels.” David probably became familiar with this cave in his childhood, when he kept his father’s flocks near Beth-lehem.

His brethren and all his father’s house… went down thither — Because, on account of Saul’s rage, their lives were no longer safe at Bethlehem.

HAWKER, "Verses 6-23

Saul"s slaughter of the priests

The writer"s attention focused next on Saul"s activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters1-3with Samuel and Eli"s sons to contrast Samuel"s goodness with the wickedness of Hophni and Phinehas. The same purpose is in view in chapters21-31with David and Saul.

Saul was aware that some in his army, apparently even some of his tribal kinsmen from Benjamin, had deserted to David ( 1 Samuel 22:7). He showed signs of paranoia when he claimed that Jonathan had encouraged David to ambush him ( 1 Samuel 22:8; 1 Samuel 22:13). There is no indication that Jonathan had done this. Doeg was obviously loyal to Saul ( 1 Samuel 22:9-10), but he proved disloyal to Yahweh ( 1 Samuel 22:18-19).

Ahimelech appealed to Saul on David"s behalf much as Jonathan had done earlier ( 1 Samuel 22:14-15; cf. 1 Samuel 17:4-5). Nevertheless this time Saul did not respond to reasonable persuasion ( 1 Samuel 22:16). Saul"s disregard for Yahweh"s will is obvious in his command to kill the priests-whom God had appointed to serve Him. This punishment was entirely too severe, since the crime Saul charged them with was simply failing to tell Saul where David was.

Saul"s soldiers had too much respect for the priesthood to slay the anointed servants of the Lord ( 1 Samuel 22:17). Moreover they probably 17

realized that Saul"s order was irrational. Doeg was an Edomite, a foreigner who had less respect for the Mosaic Law (cf. 1 Samuel 21:7). He not only obeyed the king but went beyond Saul"s command and slaughtered all the men, women, children, and animals in Nob ( 1 Samuel 22:19). Nonetheless Saul was also responsible ( 1 Samuel 22:21). Earlier Saul had failed to slay all the Amalekites at the Lord"s command ( 1 Samuel 15:9). Now he was slaying all the Nobites without divine authorization.

"Through the hand of a foreigner, Saul perpetrates upon Israelites, priests of the Lord, what he himself did not perpetrate upon foreigners, the Amalekites." [Note: Miscall, p136.]

God preserved one of Eli"s descendants even though85 other priests died. This man fled to David, so from then on the priesthood was with David rather than Saul. David acknowledged that his deception of Ahimelech was responsible for the slaughter of the priests ( 1 Samuel 22:22; cf. 1 Samuel 21:2). David became the protector of the priesthood. The king-elect and the priest-elect now became fellow fugitives from Saul. Psalm 52provides insight into how David felt during this incident.

When people refuse to submit to God"s authority over them, they begin to die: spiritually, socially, psychologically, and physically ( Romans 6:23). Eli and Saul had both refused to submit to God"s authority. Eli, the priest, put his family before God. Consequently God cut off his family. Even though David was the cause of85 priests" deaths, this was one way God partially fulfilled the prophecy concerning Eli"s descendants ( 1 Samuel 2:27-36). God used David"s folly to accomplish His will. So even in this David became a blessing. This in no way justifies David"s lie ( 1 Samuel 21:2), but it does show how even in his sinning, David was used by God for blessing (cf. Psalm 76:10; Romans 6:1-2). Saul, the king, put himself before God. Therefore God cut off his life. Saul became increasingly paranoid, isolated from others, hateful toward his supporters as well as his enemies, and guilty of shedding innocent blood.

Conversely, when people submit to God"s authority over them, they really begin to live ( John 10:10). David submitted to God"s authority over him. His sins, including deceiving Ahimelech, bore bad consequences for himself and others. Nevertheless God continued to bless and use David. He blessed him personally: David continued to rise to the throne. God also blessed him by using him to accomplish God"s will, here the pruning of Eli"s descendants.

Therefore we conclude that the most important issue is one of long-term 18

authority, not incidental acts. Acts are important, but who is in control-God or self-is even more important. For a believer the most important issue is authority. Believers can determine who is in control of our lives fairly easily by asking ourselves two test questions. Do I ask God for guidance, or do I ignore Him and make my own plans and decisions without praying? And, do I submit to His word, or do I disobey it, having ignored it or disregarded it?

COFFMAN, "Verse 1

SAUL ALIENATES GOD'S PEOPLE THROUGHOUT ISRAEL BY HIS RUTHLESS MURDER OF THE PRIESTS

God's providence was working inexorably toward the removal of Saul and the elevation of David to the throne. Key events in this chapter moved relentlessly toward that achievement. By Saul's savage murder of the priests of Nob, "He alienated the entire religious community; and conversely David gained the friendship of many."[1] After Saul's heartless butchering of the priests and his execution of the "ban" ([~cherem]) against a village within his own tribe, there could hardly have been left in all Israel a single God-fearing person who, in his heart, honored the mad, incompetent king.

DAVID ESCAPES FROM GATH TO THE CAVE OF ADULLAM

"David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men."

"The cave of Adullam" (1 Samuel 22:1). This place was near the border between Philistia and Judah where the Shephelah meets the rugged mountainous terrain of Judah, an area where there are literally hundreds of caves. "Adullam is in the valley Elah on the way down to Philistia from Hebron."[2] Some scholars dispute this; but if this location is correct, "It was about twelve and one half miles south southwest of Bethlehem."[3]

"Everyone ... in distress ... in debt ... discontented" (1 Samuel 22:2). Along with members of his family, David's supporters at this time were, in a word, every outlaw in the kingdom. And yet, it was during this 19

period that some of his Mighty Men adhered to his cause. "These were brave and reckless persons who ripened into heroic men under the command of David during the long years of his struggle."[4]

Although there were only four hundred of these men at first, the number soon increased to six hundred (1 Samuel 23:13). A list of the names of some of David's men is given in 1 Chronicles 12.

THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. I Samuel xxii. 2.

FOR fear of Saul, fled David to Achish, king of Gath ; and for fear of Achish he hied him to the cave of Adullam. In the cave he found a refuge, and to the cave there came other refugees, — a mixed multitude, more imposing in numbers than credit. For, '' every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented [or bitter of soul], gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them : and there were with him about four hundred men." The character of the confederates would scarcely seem to have ranked much above that of the adventurers who, in like manner, once associated themselves to Jephthah, when that mighty man of valour, the outcast Gileadite, fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob ; and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

Once accepted as authentic history was the record of Romulus issuing a proclamation with a view to the peopling of his new city, — declaring it to be an " asylum," a sanctuary and place of safety, for such as were banished from the other cities of Italy ; a device which brought to him many who had quitted their respective towns, whether for debt, or on account of crimes by them committed.* And Chesterfield, in one of his

* Spartacus in revolt was presently joined by slaves and outlaws of all 20

descriptions : he has the credit, however, of having enforced strict discipline, and so long as he was able, obliged his lawless followers to abstain from acts of violence and rapine. But discipline failed anon ; and as incidental evidence of the extent of the ravages committed in central and southern Italy by the rude bands under his command, historians refer to the well-known line of Horace, in which the poet promised his friend a jar of wine made during the Social War, if he could find one that had '' escaped the clutches of roaming Spartacus."

On Caesar's side, against Pompey, were ranged '• all the criminal and obnoxious," as the most elaborate and old-fashioned of our biographers of Cicero words it, following the wording of Cicero himself ; '" all who had

French letters, pauses to moralize on the surprising fact that the " wisest and most virtuous nation the world ever saw " should deduce its origin from cet amas de vauriens ei de coquins — this seething mass of rascality and scoundrelism.

Gulliver was asked by his master the Houyhnhmm, how he could persuade strangers out of different countries to venture with him, after the losses he had sustained and the hazards he had run ? And Captain Lemuel replied, in regard of his fifty Yahoos, that they were " fellows of desperate fortunes, forced to fly from the places of their birth on account of their poverty or their crimes." Some were undone by lawsuits ; others spent all they had in debauchery and gaming; others fled for treason; many for homicide, theft, perjury, forgery, coining false money, or for flying from their colours and deserting to the enemy : most of them had broken prison ; and none of them durst

suffered punishment, or deserved it ; the greatest part of the youth, and the city mob ; some of the popular tribunes, and all who were oppressed

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with debts." Caesar in Gaul was thus a loadstone to Mark Antony when he left Egypt, but was too deeply in debt to show himself in Rome ; for Caesar's camp was the " sure refuge of all the needy, the desperate, and the auda-cious." In his letters to Atticus, Cicero inveighs against that "needy, pro-fligate, audacious crew, prepared for everything that was desperate. " Then again, after his personal interview with Cassar : '' Good gods ! what a crew he has with him ! What a hellish band, as you call them — what a troop of desperadoes ! " Catiline, in Ben Jonson, bids Cethegus

" draw to you any aids

That you think fit, of men of all conditions.

Of any fortunes, that may help a war."

The commander of the opposing host describes the Catiline crew as com" prising ' ' all sorts of furies,

" Adulterers, dicers, fencers, outlaws, thieves. The murderers of their parents, all the sink And plague of Italy met in one torrent." During Caligula's time the history of the Babylonian Jews makes pro-minent mention of the brothers Asinai and Anilai, around whom gathered a number of indigent and discontented youths, and who thus became the captains of a formidable band of robbers. They built a strong fortress, secured by the marshes around, and levied tribute on the shepherds, whom, however, they defended from all other assailants — on something of the black-mail system of the Scottish Highlands. Artabanus, king of Parthia, was sufficiently impressed by their valour in the field to send an embassy offering terms of accommodation.

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return to their native countries, for fear of being hanged or of starving in a jail : hence their recourse to a service such as his.

The classical advocates for that ambassadorial right of asylum in Rome which Innocent XL determined to do away Avith, and the abuse of which in favour of malefactors and mauvais siijets all and sundry had become contagious, took good care to quote the example of Romulus. But the Pope was not pagan enough, though full of pride, to accept the precedent. The Sanctuary of Whitefriars is best known to us in the Alsatia of Scott, as a place abounding with desperadoes of every description, — bankrupt citizens, ruined gamesters, irreclaimable prodigals, des-perate duellists, bravoes, homicides, and debauched profligates of every degree, all leagued together to maintain the immunities of their asylum, — so that it was both difficult and unsafe for the officers of the law to execute warrants, emanating even from the highest authority, amongst men whose safety was inconsistent with warrants or authority of any kind.

While in a critical position as to his relation with the Liegers and with Charles of Burgundy, it suited the policy of Lewis the Eleventh to become a seemingly warm friend of the city of Paris : great as it was, he desired to have it greater still, fuller of populous life and popular spirit ; and he had procla-mation made, accordingly, by sound of trumpet, that men of all nations, who might have fled for theft or for murder, would find shelter here. Michelet assures us of Warwick the King-maker, that the city of London was what he most loved and honoured in this world ; and of Warwick he tells us how safe were all who were under the ban of the law whilst that great earl was lord of the marches of Calais and Scotland ; and how, if there were a " tall man " on the border, who resorted in

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trouble to Warwick, he was at once set down to dinner, instead of being strapped up to the next tree. Geraint, in the Idylls of the King, sets forth before his liege lord the very practical grievance that his princedom lay

'* Close on the borders of a territory "Wherein were bandit earls, and caitiff knights, Assassins, and all flyers from the hand Of Justice, and whatever loathes a law."

The peopling of New Orleans is likened by Yankee vivacity to the place itself, as built on a bar in the harbour, made of snags, driftwood, and chokes, heaped up by the river, and then filled and covered with the sediment brought down by the freshets. " The froth and scum are washed up and settle at New Orleans. It's filled with all sorts of people, . . . mottled with black and all its shades. It is a great caravansary filled with strangers, dissolute enough to make your hair stand on end, drinking all day, gambUng all night, and fighting all the time." But it is the same graphic humorist who, not less proudly than pungently, compares his country to the Thames as it was when sewers and drains, and dye-stuffs and factory-wash, and unmentionables without stint (not without stink), were poured into it. " Our great country is like that are Thames water, — it does receive the outpourins of the world, — homicides and regicides, — ^jail-birds and galley-birds, poorhouse chaps and workhouse chaps, — rebels, infidels, and forgers, — rogues of all sorts, sizes, and degrees, — but it farments, you see, and works clear." History traces the Cossack nation to a mixed multi-tude composed of those who took refuge beyond the islands of the Dnieper, from the first general invasion of the Tartars, and of those again who fled thither during the Lithuanian wars, whose number was afterwards swelled by adventurers and

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outcasts, lovers of a free life, and fugitives from the law of arrest, deserters from various armies, and serfs who had broken their bonds and renounced the yoke. Here too the fermenting process has, in its way, worked clear. A cave of Adullam may be the cradle of a compact, imposing, and influential race.

From various parts of Shakspeare we might gather lines more or less applicable to the Adullamite adventurers. The adversaries too contemptuously described by Richard of Gloster, for instance, as

' ' A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways, Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth To desperate ventures and assured destruction. . . . [Mere] famish'd beggars, weary of their lives ; Who but for dreaming on this foul exploit, For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd themselves."

Or again those scouted by Chatillon, in King yohn, as embody-ing "all the unsettled humours of the land." Or those so bitterly invoked by dying Bolingbroke, in prospect of a reign of license under his presumably still dissolute son :

'• Now, neighbour confines, purge you of your scum :

Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance.

Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit

The oldest sins the newest kind of ways ?

Be happy, he will trouble you no more . . .

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For the fifth Harry from curb'd license plucks

The muzzle of restraint, and the wild dog

Shall flesh his tooth in every innocent.

O my poor kingdom ! . . .

Oh, thou wilt be a wilderness again, "—

or a cave of Adullam, without a David in it. jacox, francis

2 All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.

BARNES, "Discontented - See the margin. (Compare 1Sa_30:6; 2Sa_17:8.) The phrase here denotes those who were exasperated by Saul’s tyranny.

CLARKE, "And every one that was in distress - debt - discontented - It is very possible that these several disaffected and exceptionable characters might at first have supposed that David, unjustly persecuted, would be glad to avail himself of their assistance that he might revenge himself upon Saul, and so they in the mean time might profit by plunder, etc. But if this were their design they were greatly disappointed, for David never made any improper use of them. They are never found plundering or murdering; on the contrary, they always appear under good discipline, and are only employed in services of a beneficent nature, and in defense

26

of their country. Whatever they were before they came to David, we find that he succeeded in civilizing them, and making profitable to the state those who were before unprofitable. It is not necessary to strain the words of the original in order to prove that these were oppressed people, and not exceptionable characters, as some have done,GILL, "And everyone that was in distress,.... In straitened circumstances, through the oppression of men, through poverty, and afflictive providences in their families: and everyone that was in debt; and not able to pay their debts, and whose creditors were pressing upon them: and everyone that was discontented; with Saul's government and conduct: or "bitter in soul" (x); distressed and uneasy in their minds, being pinched with want, or pressed with sore afflictions, which made them very disconsolate: these gathered themselves unto him; to help him, or rather to be helped by him; hoping in time things would take a favourable turn with him, and he should be advanced to the throne, and so their circumstances would be mended thereby: and he became a captain over them; they enlisted themselves in his service, and he took the command of them; he might not know the circumstances of those in debt, nor of any of them thoroughly, nor their views in joining him; however he meant not to shelter them from paying their just debts if able, nor to encourage them in disloyalty to their king, only to make use of them for his own preservation for the present. In this he was a type of Christ, who receives sinners distressed with a sense of sin, discontented in their present state, and in debt, and, unable to pay their debts; see Mat_11:28, and there were with him about four hundred men; among whom some think were the three mighty men spoken of in 2Sa_23:13.

HENRY, "Here he began to raise forces in his own defence, 1Sa_22:2. He found by the late experiments he had made that he could not save himself by flight, and therefore was necessitated to do it by force, wherein he never acted offensively, never offered any violence to his prince nor gave any disturbance to the peace of the kingdom, but only used his forces as a guard to his own person. But, whatever defence his soldiers were to him, they did him no great credit, for the regiment he had was made up not of great men, nor rich men, nor stout men, no, nor good men, but men in distress, in debt, and discontented, men of broken fortunes and restless spirits, that were put to their shifts, and knew not well what to do with themselves. When David had fixed his headquarters in the cave of Adullam, they came and enlisted themselves under him to the number of about 400. See what weak instruments God sometimes makes use of, by which to bring about his own purposes. The Son of David is ready to receive distressed souls, that will appoint

27

him their captain and be commanded by him.

K&D, "1Sa_22:2There a large number of malcontents gathered together round David, viz., all who

were in distress, and all who had creditors, and all who were embittered in spirit (bitter of soul), i.e., people who were dissatisfied with the general state of affairs or with the government of Saul, - about four hundred men, whose leader he became. David must in all probability have stayed there a considerable time. The number of those who went over to him soon amounted to six hundred men (1Sa_23:13), who were for the most part brave and reckless, and who ripened into heroic men under the command of David during his long flight. A list of the bravest of them is given in 1 Chron 12, with which compare 2Sa_23:13. and 1Ch_11:15.ELLICOTT, " (2) Every one that was in distress.—Ewald writes on this statement:—“The situation of the country, which was becoming more and more melancholy under Saul, . . . drove men to seek a leader from whom they might hope for better things for the future . . . David did not send away these refugees, many of them distinguished and prominent Israelites, but organised them into a military force. He foresaw that while commanding such a company as this, he might, without injuring his king and former benefactor, be of the very greatest use to the people, and protect the southern frontiers of the kingdom—sadly exposed in these later years of King Saul—from the plundering incursions of the neighbouring nomadic tribes. This state of things, with a few interruptions, really came to pass, and David won great repute and popularity among the protected districts during these years when he was a wanderer and an outlaw—a popularity which in after years stood him in good stead.”These persons “in distress” were especially those who were persecuted by Saul and his men for their attachment to David. The several statements of the refugees who took shelter in David’s armed camp, of course go over a considerable time. They did not all flock to his standard at once. Some went to him in the first days of his exile, others after the massacre at the sanctuary at Nob, others later, and thus gradually 400 gathered round him. Soon after, these numbers were swelled to 600, and these probably only were the chosen men-at-arms of the little force, which, no doubt, was numerically far greater.And every one that was in debt.—Throughout the whole long story of Israel this unhappy love of greed and gain has been a characteristic feature of the chosen race, ever a prominent and ugly sin. In the Mosaic Law, most stringent regulations were laid down to correct and mitigate this ruling passion of avarice among the Jews. (See such passages as Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36; Deuteronomy 23:19.) The poor, improvident, or perhaps unfortunate, debtor was protected by wise laws against the greedy avaricious spirit of his merciless creditor. These beneficent regulations of the great lawgiver had, under the capricious, faulty rule of King Saul,

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of course fallen into abeyance, and a terrible amount of misery, no doubt, was the consequence. In the Divine record sad scenes (see 2 Kings 4:1-7), exemplifying this pitiless spirit, are casually related, but they are so woven into the mosaic of the history, as to show us they were, alas! no uncommon occurrence in the daily life of the people. In Proverbs, for instance, we have some conspicuous instances. The chronicles of the Middle Ages in all countries teem with similar stories about the chosen people. Our own great dramatist, some three centuries ago, evidently without attempt at exaggeration, selects the avaricious, grasping Jew as the central figure of one of his most famous dramas. In our own time the same spirit, as is too well known, is still abroad, and constitutes the bitterest reproach which the many enemies of the strange, deathless race can promulgate against a people evidently walled in by a Divine protection and a changeless eternal love.And he became a captain over them.—It was evidently no undisciplined band, these outlaws of Adullam and the hold of Moab, of Hareth and Keilah, of Ziph and Engedi. David quickly organised the refugees, among whom, by degrees, many a man of mark and approved valour and ability were numbered.To complete the picture of this First Book of Samuel, we must unite in one the scattered notices of this same period which occur in the Second Book of Samuel and in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. (See Excursus I. at the end of this Book.)BENSON "1 Samuel 22:2. Every one that was in distress — איׁש מצוק, ish matsok, the man straitened or oppressed. And every one that was in debt — אׁשר לו נׁשא asher lo noshee, the man that had a creditor. Probably poor debtors, whom their creditors were obliged to spare, Exodus 22:25. And others, whose lands and goods their creditors might seize when their persons were with David. It must be observed that the Jews frequently used their debtors with great severity, (see Nehemiah 5:5,) taking forcible possession of their lands and vineyards, and bringing their children into bondage. Every one that was discontented — Hebrew, מר נפׁש mar nephesh, the man bitter of soul, aggrieved in his mind, made uneasy and discontented, “probably,” says Dr. Dodd, “with Saul’s tyrannical government, and his implacable persecution of David, who, by this time, must have been well known to have been the intended successor of Saul.” It does not appear, from this description, that these were men of abandoned characters and profligate principles, as some have thought, who joined themselves to David purposely to cheat their creditors, and for the sake of the plunder they were in hopes of getting under him. Indeed, had this been the case, David would not have been able to have kept them under that strict order and discipline under which we find he did keep them, but we should have read of their plundering, and murdering, and committing other outrages. Nor would they have continued with him so long, and abode with him in dreary forests, destitute of most of the conveniences and comforts of life; or have followed him whithersoever he was disposed to lead them. This is not the temper or behaviour of men of profligate principles. And, therefore, there is reason to conclude, that they were persons who

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were brought into distress and poverty by other causes, such as, in the course of divine providence, are frequently permitted to afflict the best of men, for their trial, humiliation, or correction. But if they were not virtuous when they resorted to David, that they became so by his discipline, influence, and example, is sufficiently evident from their subsequent behaviour. And he became a captain over them — Being forced to take this course in his own defence, that he might not be suddenly surprised. But David did not take these men into his service, till by information from Jonathan, and by many other certain proofs, it evidently appeared that his life was in imminent danger. And then he neither assaulted any place with them, nor sought for an occasion to fight, but avoided it by seeking for secret and secure places of retreat, sometimes in the deserts, sometimes, in foreign nations, always taking care not to hurt his countrymen, and never allowing his men to make incursions upon any but the enemies of Israel.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:2Everyone that was in distress,… in debt, or discontented (Hebrew, bitter of soul), gathered themselves unto him. Had Saul’s government been just and upright David would have had no followers; but he never rose above the level of a soldier, had developed all that arbitrariness which military command fosters in self-willed minds, and seems entirely unaware of its being his duty to attend to the righteous administration of the law. The Israelites had in him the very king they had desired, but they found that a brave general might at home be a ruthless tyrant. Debt was one of the worst evils of ancient times. The rate of usury was so exorbitant that a loan was sure to end in utter ruin, and not only the debtor, but his children might be made slaves to repay the debt (2Ki_4:1). It was one of the first duties of an upright governor to enforce the Mosaic law against usury (Le 1Sa_25:36); but all such cares Saul despised, and there were probably many in the land impoverished by Saul’s own exactions and favouritism (1Sa_22:7), and made bitter of soul by his cruelty and injustice. All such were glad to join in what seemed to them the banner of revolt. Afterwards at Ziklag David was joined by nobler followers (see on 1Sa_27:6). With David we may compare Jephthah’s case in the old days of anarchy (Jdg_11:3-6), and note that bad government leads to lawlessness just as surely as no government.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:2. And every one that was in distress, &c.— See 1 Chronicles 12:8. This has been represented as a gang of ruffians, a parcel of banditti, who united themselves to David with the worst designs. But the original words by no means convey any such meaning as this. The מצוק איׁש ish matzok, is the man straitened or oppressed; the נׁשא לו אׁשר איׁש ish asher lo noshe, is the man that hath a creditor, an exacting, cruel creditor; the Jews frequently using their debtors with great severity, Nehemiah 5:5 taking away their lands and vineyards, and bringing into bondage their sons and daughters: and finally, the נפׁש מר איׁש ish mar nepesh, is the man bitter of soul, one aggrieved in his mind, or uneasy and discontented;

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probably, with Saul's tyrannical government, and his implacable persecution of David, who, by this time, must have been well known to have been the intended successor of Saul. Thus all David's people were men of bitter spirit, extremely distressed and grieved for the loss of their wives and children, chap. 1 Samuel 30:6.; and their conduct shews them to have been of a very contrary character from desperadoes and banditti: for we read nothing of their plundering and murdering; on the contrary, we find them always kept in good discipline and order, frequently employed in services of a very beneficent nature, ready to do every friendly office, and often employed in defence of their country against the enemies of it. The judgment that Grotius passes upon David, when the company gathered to him at Adullam, deserves to be regarded. David (says he), who was very observant of the law, had about him at first four hundred armed persons, and afterwards a somewhat greater number. For what? To repel any force that might be offered him. But then this is to be remarked, that David did not do this till he found out by Jonathan's information, and many other most certain proofs, that Saul determined to have his life. Besides, he invaded no cities, nor took any opportunities for fighting, but went into lurking holes, and inaccessible places, and to foreign nations, religiously abstaining from injuring his countrymen, and, let me add, from doing any hurt to Saul, or disturbing his government. See de Jure B. & P. lib. 1: cap. 4sect. 7 parag. 4.

3 From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?”

BARNES, "Mizpeh of Moab - A good conjecture connects it with “Zophim” (a word of the same root as Mizpeh) on the top of Pisgah Num_23:14. It is probable that David’s descent from Ruth the Moabitess may have had something to do with his seeking an asylum for Jesse, Ruth’s grandson, in the land of her birth. It would be very easy to get to the Jordan from the neighborhood of Bethlehem, and cross over near its embouchure into the Dead Sea.

Come forth, and be with you - The construction of the Hebrew is very strange. The Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic seem to have read “dwell” instead of “come forth."

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CLARKE, "He said unto the king of Moab - David could not trust his parents within the reach of Saul, and he found it very inconvenient to them to be obliged to go through all the fatigues of a military life, and therefore begs the king of Moab to give them shelter. The king of Moab, being one of Saul’s enemies, would be the more ready to oblige a person from whom he might at least expect friendship, if not considerable services.GILL, "And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab,.... So called to distinguish it from a place of the same name in the land of Israel; which Junius says is the same with Malle, and signifies a fortified place, and refers to the Apocrypha:"And how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are strong and great:'' (1 Maccabees 5:26)here he might think himself safer, though in an enemy's country, than in the land of Israel: and he said unto the king of Moab, let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth; out of the land of Israel, or out of the cave of Adullam, whither they were come to him: and be with you; if not with the king of Moab at his court, yet in some part or other of his country, where they might be safe from the rage of Saul: till I know what God will do for me; on whose power and providence he wholly relied, and not upon the men that flocked to him, nor upon his own power and policy, courage and wisdom; he knew the promise of God to him, and he put his trust in him for the performance of it; but knew not the time, nor way, and manner, in which it would be performed; and expected in the meanwhile to be obliged to remove from place to place; and considering that his aged parents were not fit for such quick and sudden motions, and long flights, he provided as well as he could for their settlement; which was an instance of his filial affection for them, and piety towards them. His father's name is well known, Jesse, Rth_4:22, &c. but his mother's name is nowhere mentioned; the Jews say her name was Natzbet, the daughter of Adal (y).

GUZIK 3-4, " (1Sa_22:3-4) David cares for his parents.Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me.” So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

a. He said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother come here with you.” David took his parents to Moab because his great-grandmother Ruth was a Moabite (Rth_4:18-22; Rth_1:4). He wanted his parents to be safe in whatever battles he may face in the future.

i. This shows wonderful love and obedience on the part of David. First, it shows a wonderful love. He cared for his parents when he had plenty of

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problems of his own. We sometimes think that when we are going through trials, we have a license to be unloving and selfish, but David shows that we can and must care about others instead of becoming self-focused in times of trial. Secondly, it shows a wonderful obedience. Even though David did not have a problem-free home life, he knew he was still obligated to obey the fifth commandment: Honor your father and your mother (Exo_20:12).

b. Till I know what God will do for me: David doesn’t know the whole story. He knew he was called and anointed to be the next king of Israel. But he had no idea how God would get him there. David had to trust and obey when he didn’t know what God will do for me, and here he is doing it.

HENRY 3-4, " He took care to settle his parents in a place of safety. No such place could he find in all the land of Israel while Saul was so bitterly enraged against him and all that belonged to him for his sake; he therefore goes with them to the king of Moab, and puts them under his protection, 1Sa_22:3, 1Sa_22:4. Observe here, 1. With what a tender concern he provided for his aged parents. It was not fit they should be exposed either to the frights or to the fatigues which he must expect during his struggle with Saul (their age would by no means bear such exposure); therefore the first thing he does is to find them a quiet habitation, whatever became of himself. Let children learn from this to show pity at home and requite their parents(1Ti_5:4), in every thing consulting their ease and satisfaction. Though ever so highly preferred, and ever so much employed, let them not forget their aged parents. 2. With what a humble faith he expects the issue of his present distresses: Till I know what God will do for me. He expresses his hopes very modestly, as one that had entirely cast himself upon God and committed his way to him, expecting a good issue, not from his own arts, or arms, or merits, but from what the wisdom, power, and goodness of God would do for him. Now David's father and mother forsook him, but God did not, Psa_27:10.

JAMISON, "David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab — “Mizpeh” signifies a watchtower, and it is evident that it must be taken in this sense here, for it is called “the hold” or fort (1Sa_22:4). The king of Moab was an enemy of Saul (1Sa_14:47), and the great-grandson of Ruth, of course, was related to the family of Jesse. David, therefore, had less anxiety in seeking an asylum within the dominions of this prince than those of Achish, because the Moabites had no grounds for entertaining vindictive feelings against him, and their enmity, to Saul rendered them the more willing to receive so illustrious a refugee from his court.COFFMAN, "Verse 3DAVID ARRANGES FOR THE SAFETY OF HIS PARENTS

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"And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab. "Pray let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me." And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not remain in the stronghold; depart and go into the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.""Mizpeh of Moab" (1 Samuel 22:3). The location of this is uncertain; but apparently Moab, at that time, controlled much of the territory just east of the Jordan; and the best guess places Mizpeh somewhere in the vicinity of Mount Pisgah. There seems to be two reasons why David sought refuge for his parents with the king of Moab and received it. Jesse, David's father, was a grandson of Ruth the Moabitess; and, since Saul had recently fought the Moabites, the king of that country was probably very glad to help anyone who would keep Saul busy at home."The prophet Gad" (1 Samuel 22:5). This is the first mention of this prophet in the Bible; and the chronology of his joining David's company is not known. It is supposed that Samuel may have commanded him to attach to the company of David. In fact, the whole prophetic community of Israel automatically became allies of David following the tragic slaughter of the priests by Saul. "He became the king's seer after David was king (2 Samuel 24:11); he rebuked David for the sin of numbering Israel; and after David's death, he wrote a history of that monarch's reign (1 Chronicles 29:29). He also seems to have been concerned with arranging the temple services (2 Chronicles 29:25)."[5]"All the time that David was in the stronghold" (1 Samuel 22:5). "This indicates that David sojourned for some considerable time in Moab."[6]

K&D, "1Sa_22:3-5David proceeded thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and placed his parents in safety with

the king of the Moabites. His ancestress Ruth was a Moabitess. Mizpeh: literally a watch-tower or mountain height commanding a very extensive prospect. Here it is probably a proper name, belonging to a mountain fastness on the high land, which bounded the Arboth Moab on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, most likely on the mountains of Abarim or Pisgah (Deu_34:1), and which could easily be reached from the country round Bethlehem, by crossing the Jordan near the point where it entered the Dead Sea. As David came to the king of Moab, the Moabites had probably taken possession of the most southerly portion of the eastern lands of the Israelites; we may also infer this from the fact that, according to 1Sa_14:47, Saul had also made war upon Moab, for Mizpeh Moab is hardly to be sought for in the actual land of the Moabites, on the south side of the Arnon (Mojeb). ִאְּתֶכם ,ֵיֵצא־ָנא ...“May my father and my mother go out with you.” The construction of ָיָצא with ֵאת is a

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pregnant one: to go out of their home and stay with you (Moabites). “Till I know what God will do to me.” Being well assured of the justice of his cause, as contrasted with the insane persecutions of Saul, David confidently hoped that God would bring his flight to an end. His parents remained with the king of Moab as long as David was ַּבְּמצּוָדה, i.e., upon the mount height, or citadel. This can only refer to the place of refuge which David had found at Mizpeh Moab. For it is perfectly clear from 1Sa_22:5, where the prophet Gad calls upon David not to remain any longer ַּבְּמצּוָדה, but to return to the land of Judah, that the expression cannot refer either to the cave Adullam, or to any other place of refuge in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem. The prophet Gad had probably come to David from Samuel's school of prophets; but whether he remained with David from that time forward to assist him with his counsel in his several undertakings, cannot be determined, on account of our want of information. In 1Ch_21:9 he is called David's seer. In the last year of David's reign he announced to him the punishment which would fall upon him from God on account of his sin in numbering the people (2Sa_24:11.); and according to 1Ch_29:29 he also wrote the acts of David. In consequence of this admonition, David returned to Judah, and went into the wood Hareth, a woody region on the mountains of Judah, which is never mentioned again, and the situation of which is unknown. According to the counsels of God, David was not to seek for refuge outside the land; not only that he might not be estranged from his fatherland and the people of Israel, which would have been opposed to his calling to be the king of Israel, but also that he might learn to trust entirely in the Lord as his only refuge and fortress.ELLICOTT, " (3) Mizpeh.—This particular Mizpeh is mentioned nowhere else. The word means a watch tower; it was probably some mountain fortress in Moab. It has been suggested that it was the same as Zophim, a word of the same root as Mizpeh (see Numbers 23:14). David evidently sought hospitality among his kin in Moab. Jesse, his father, was the grandson of Ruth the Moabitess. The distance from the south of Judah Where the fugitives were wandering was not great.Till I know what God will do for me.—This memory of David’s words to the King of Moab shows that the old trust and love, which in his first moments of care and sorrow had failed him, had come back again to the son of Jesse. It is interesting to note that David when addressing the Moabite sovereign speaks of “God” “Elohim,” not of Jehovah. This was probably out of deep reverence; an idolator had nothing to do with the awful name by which the Eternal was known to His covenant people—a Name which, as originally uttered, has now passed away from the earth. We read the mystic four letters, but no man, Jew or Gentile, can pronounce the Name of Names. The “Name,” however, was not unknown in Moab, for the mystic letters which compose it occur in the inscription of Mesha, dating about 150 years from the days of David’s exile.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:3, 1Sa_22:4

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David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab. The position of this place is unknown, but as the word means a watch tower, it was no doubt some beacon hill in the highlands of Moab on the east of the Dead Sea, and probably in the mountains of Abarim or Pisgah. Here David placed his father and mother under the care of the king of Moab. They had fled from Bethlehem under the combined fear of Saul and the Philistines, but were too old to bear the fatigues of David’s life. He therefore asks for a refuge for them with the king of Moab, probably on the ground that Jesse’s grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabitess. But as Saul had waged war on Moab (1Sa_14:47), the king was probably glad to help one who would keep Saul employed at home. The language of David is remarkable, and is literally, "Let, I pray, my father and my mother come forth with you" (pl.); but no better interpretation has been suggested than that in the A.V.: "Let them come forth, i.e. from the hold in Mizpeh, to be or dwell with you." While David was in the hold. Not merely that in the land of Moab, but up to the time when David was settled in Hebron. During all this period David was wandering from one natural fortress to another. Till I know what God will do for (or to) me. These words show that David had recovered his composure, and was willing calmly to leave everything to the wise disposal of God.DEFFINBAUGH, "One thing that is quite apparent in this passage of Scripture is the truth of the words written by the apostle James in the New Testament:

17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months (James 5:17).

Many like to think of David as a real man. I believe our text portrays him as a real man. He does not always think or do the spiritual thing. He has a heart for God, but he also has feet of clay. David seeks refuge from Ahimelech, yet admits that he knows better. He admits that he is to blame for the deaths of the priests and their families (22:22). He flees to Philistia, looking to his enemies for sanctuary, rather than to God. He then flees to Moab, where a prophet must tell him to go home. David does not do everything right. He is a real man, not a caricature, and not a mythical creation of some author’s mind. It is often because of David’s failures that we are encouraged and given hope, for he was a man “with a nature like ours.” God deals graciously with us as He did with David.

One could quite easily pass over the events of our text without taking a second look. To the untrained eye, it looks like David has very good luck, at least twice in our text. First, David manages to escape to Nob where there is no bread except that reserved for the priests. Ahimelech makes an exception and gives David some of this bread. Second, David “escapes” to the land of the Philistines, bearing Goliath’s sword, and finding himself at this giant’s hometown. He seems marked for death,

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but his feigned insanity gets him an escort out of town. How lucky can a guy get?David’s Deliverance and David’s Psalms

Other texts of Scripture make it very clear that this is not “good luck,” nor is David’s deliverance the result of his cunning. This is a divine deliverance. In fact, we shall soon see (chapter 22) that while David escapes from Nob to Gath, the priests and their families are not so fortunate. The veil is lifted for us in the Psalms. The historical backdrop of Psalm 52 is Doeg’s report to Saul that he has seen David at Nob. Psalms 34 and 56 are written during David’s time at Gath. Psalms 57 and 142 are written while David hides out in the cave. These psalms are David’s reflections and considered conclusions about what really happened in our text. Let us pause to briefly reflect on some of the lessons the Psalms point out to us.

(1) Deliverance is Divine. God is the One who saves. Consequently, He is the One to whom we must cry for deliverance (34:4-7; 57:1-3; 142). He is also the One whom we must praise for delivering us. It may not always look as though God is the one doing the delivering, but all deliverance is from Him. On the surface, one would not see God as David’s Deliverer when He spares him at Gath, but Psalm 34 makes it very clear that David’s deliverance is from the Lord.

(2) God is our Deliverer from those who seek our destruction (56:1-7; 57:4-6). David sees his destruction as purposed by wicked men and God as the One who delivers men from the hands of the wicked.

(3) Divine deliverance is given to those who love and trust God, and who call upon Him for salvation (56:3-4, 9-11; 57:1-3; 142:1-2). God cares for, and thus protects, His loved ones, those who seek refuge in Him. He delivers those who fear Him and who call upon Him for salvation.

(4) God’s deliverance is undeserved; it is a gift of His grace (57:1). Divine deliverance is not granted because men merit it, but because God is gracious and merciful. He is moved with compassion by our afflictions (34:17-18; 56:8). His deliverance often comes from the consequences of our own foolishness and sin.

(5) God delivers men in order to bring about thanksgiving, praise, and glory to Himself (Psalm 56:12; 57:5, 8, 9, 11; 142:7). When God delivers men from their afflictions, they are expected to publicly thank and praise Him for His goodness,

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and thus to publicly glorify Him. In this way, our divinely-wrought deliverance is not just for our good, but for God’s glory.

(6) God also delivers men so they may learn more of Him, and then instruct others from what they have learned (34:8-14). I believe David writes about the fear of the Lord in Psalm 34 because he has learned a great deal about fear. David is first afraid of men. This appears to be his reason for fleeing to Gath. He fears Saul. Then, he seems to fear the Philistines. David learns that God casts our fears aside, and in the process, we learn to fear God rather than men. This fear of God teaches us to “keep our tongue from evil, and our lips from speaking guile” (34:13). I believe David recognizes the importance of telling the truth, and when he comes to fear God more than men, he speaks the truth and urges others to do likewise. David’s deliverance enables him to instruct others from what he has learned.

(7) God delivers, even when it appears the deliverance is wrought by other means (34). Who would even think that David’s acting insane and his expulsion from Gath is from the hand of God? Is it not good luck, or skillful acting, on David’s part? Not in David’s mind! It is God who delivers David from Gath, even if the means He employs is David’s feigned insanity. (Was it not God who first planted the idea of feigning insanity in David’s mind?)

(8) God works though means that appear normal and, perhaps, even disgustingly human (34). Have you ever watched a movie that sought to portray some spiritual or religious theme? Even when I am away from the television, listening only to the sound, I can tell when a “spiritual” scene is taking place. There is almost always a background of “heavenly music.” I don’t know how to describe it, but it is music with an auditory halo. It is music we have come to associate as spiritual or heavenly (usually violins or harps are employed for the desired effect).

Do you remember seeing the sign placed along the highway before you come to a road repair or construction site? It reads, “Slow, Men Working.” I think this is the way many Christians expect God to act. When God is delivering someone in the Bible, we expect to see a sign which reads, in effect: “Slow, God Working.” We want to hear some form of “heavenly music” playing in the background, or something which tells us that God is present. But such trappings are not evident at the time that Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery. They are not evident, to Job at least, when Satan makes his life miserable. Neither are they evident when David is drooling and doodling in Gath. But God is at work, even when it is not apparent to our eyes. Later on in the Book of 2 Samuel, we will see that Solomon becomes the heir to his father’s (David’s) throne, even though he is born to Bathsheba, the

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woman who is Uriah’s wife. The temple will be built on ground that David purchased because he willfully numbered the people of Israel, knowing it was wrong. It was at the threshing floor of Arunah, the Jebusite, that David offered a sacrifice to God when the plague was halted by God (2 Samuel 24). God is at work where we would never expect to see His hand.

(9) God’s deliverance is often brought about in the midst of circumstances which make escape seem impossible (142:4). God delights to let us get into impossible situations, so that when He saves us, it is very clear that it was entirely of Him. In his psalms, David paints a very bleak picture of his condition, and then goes on to describe the way God rescues him.

(10) God delivers us in ways that are not flattering, but humbling. Occasionally film footage on the television news shows the rescue of someone in a most unflattering way. It may be a woman, whose hair is a mess, whose face is dirty, and whose clothing is deplorable. No one likes to be rescued in this way, or in this condition, but when given the choice of being rescued in a humbling way or not being rescued at all, the decision is rather obvious. God rescues David in a way that humbles him greatly. God is not out to bolster David’s ego; He is out to save David in a way that humbles him and causes him to turn to Him for deliverance. It is strange but true that God often has to humble us first, so that we will see how desperate our circumstances are, so that we will humbly cry out to Him for deliverance.

As I think through the Bible, I realize how often God “saves” or delivers His own from destruction, but in very humbling ways. I think of Abram, who fled to Egypt for “deliverance” during a time of famine. In doing so, he put not only his own life at risk, but the promise of God that he and Sarai would have a child, through whom blessings would come on Abram and the whole world (see Genesis 12:1-3 ff.). Abram lied about Sarai, representing her as his sister rather than his wife, and as a result, she was taken into Pharaoh’s harem. God delivered Abram and Sarai, but in a way that was humbling. Pharaoh ran them out of his land, giving them what appears to be an armed escort out of town (see Genesis 12:17-20).

One of the most humbling deliverances (other than David’s, in our text) is that of Naaman. You may remember that Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was also a leper. Through his Israelite slave girl, Naaman learns there is a prophet in Israel who can heal him. But when he arrives at the prophet’s door, the prophet does not greet him personally, but sends his servant who instructs Naaman to bathe himself seven times in the Jordan river. Naaman is furious, because he is not treated as a dignitary. Finally, after receiving wise counsel from his servant, the Syrian

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commander obeys and is delivered from his malady. God saves him, but in a way that humbles him (see 2 Kings 5).

(11) God’s deliverance is more than temporal, more than just physical; God’s deliverance includes His deliverance from eternal condemnation (34:21-22; 56:13). It is interesting that in the New Testament the word that is very often rendered “saved” is used more broadly than just of spiritual salvation. It is used of physical healing and other acts of deliverance. In our text, God saves David’s life, but in his psalms David informs the reader that this temporal salvation is a prototype of the eternal salvation which God also accomplishes. The God who saves us from our afflictions and from our enemies, is the same God who saves us from His eternal wrath.David’s Deliverance and Our Lord Jesus Christ

David’s deliverance has very direct ties to the New Testament, and particularly to our Lord Jesus Christ. Consider our Lord’s use of our text in Matthew 12:

1 At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath through the grainfields, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Behold, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he became hungry, he and his companions; 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent? 6 “But I say to you, that something greater than the temple is here. 7 “But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:1-8).

The Pharisees are especially distressed by what they consider violations of the Sabbath by our Lord and His disciples. When the disciples (not Jesus, you will note) pluck a few heads of grain and eat them on the Sabbath, the Pharisees see this as a flagrant violation of the law regarding the Sabbath. After all, this is work, they reason. And so they make a point of confronting Jesus with this example of His disregard for the Sabbath.

Jesus turns the tables on the Pharisees. In effect, they persist to ask Him, “Just who 40

do you think you are?” “How dare Jesus break the Sabbath by healing some and allowing His disciples to “harvest” grain on this sacred day!” Jesus responds to this Sabbath challenge several different ways. He shows His opponents to be hypocrites, because they do not keep the Sabbath as they require of Him (they will work to get one of their oxen out of the ditch). Neither is it wrong to do good on the Sabbath. They fail to grasp that the Sabbath was created for man’s benefit, not man for the Sabbath’s. Another answer is that Jesus works on the Sabbath to imitate His Father, who is also at work, saving men.

But here Jesus takes a very different approach. Jesus turns back to our text, reminding His opponents that David ate of the sacred bread, and yet he was not one of the priests. How is it they are not upset over this? The answer, Jesus suggests, is that who you are makes all the difference in the world. They do not protest David’s eating of the sacred bread because he is David. He is soon to become the King of Israel. This put the whole matter in an entirely different light. The same is true for the temple priests. They “work” on the Sabbath, but are not condemned for it, and rightly so, for they are priests.

One reason Jesus does not feel obliged to follow the Pharisees rules regarding the Sabbath is that He is the Son of God. He is God’s Messiah, the One whom God has appointed to rule over the entire earth as King. If David can eat the sacred bread because of who he is, and if the priests can break the Sabbath because of who they are, then surely our Lord should not be challenged in the manner in which the Pharisees are doing. Who you are makes all the difference in the world. This principle is illustrated in our text, as our Lord indicates.

Who you are does make all the difference in the world. Without Christ, we are aliens and strangers to the kingdom of God. We are God’s enemies. We are sinners, rightly condemned to death and eternal condemnation. In Christ, we are forgiven, cleansed, righteous, and destined to eternal life. David is delivered many times in his life. David’s deliverance in our text is most humbling indeed. It is not the way he would have preferred to be rescued, but he is delivered from death and from his enemies. It is a humbling deliverance, but it is divine. For this, David gives God the glory.

Like David, we are those condemned to death. Apart from divine grace, we are as good as dead. Our problem is our own sin, which makes us unacceptable in God’s sight. It brings us under divine condemnation and eternal damnation. God in His mercy and grace has provided a way of escape. God’s means of deliverance is not flattering to us, but it is ever so glorifying to Him. He sent His only Son, to come to

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the earth as a man (a perfect God-man), to live a perfect life, and to die an innocent death as the payment for our sins. The cross was not an ego-inflating event. It was an ugly death our Lord died on behalf of guilty sinners. But God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, glorifying Him and those who, by faith, are in Him. It is by faith in Jesus Christ that unworthy sinners are delivered from eternal death, to the glory of God. Have you received this forgiveness of sins, this gift of God’s righteousness in Jesus Christ? All you must do is to acknowledge your sin and trust in Jesus Christ as God’s only means for your deliverance. I urge you to do so today.

BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:3. David went from thence to Mizpeh — For the Moabites were at difference with Saul, 1 Samuel 14:47. Let my father and my mother be with you — David, perhaps, the rather hoped for this kindness to be shown to his aged parents, who were not able to travel up and down, as he was likely to be obliged to do, because he was descended from Ruth, a Moabitess. The filial tenderness of David here deserves our admiration, who makes it his first care to fix his parents in a place of safety and ease, not being able to bear their being exposed to the dangers and hardships which the necessity of his affairs obliged him to undergo. His address to the king manifests his great tenderness to his parents, and his entire submission to the will of God. Till I know what God will do for me — He expresses his hopes very modestly, as one that had entirely cast himself upon God, and committed his way to him, trusting not in his own arts or arms, but in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God.

WHEDON, " DAVID IN MIZPEH OF MOAB, 1 Samuel 22:3-4.

3. Mizpeh of Moab — The name of this place does not occur again, and we are left in uncertainty as to its situation. Some have supposed that the place was identical with Kir-Moab, the modern Kerak; but greater plausibility attaches to the supposition that this Mizpeh was some commanding eminence on the east of the Jordan, like Nebo or Pisgah, at that time in the possession of the Moabites. David had reason to expect a kind reception among the Moabites, on the ground that his great grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabitess.

Let my father and my mother… be with you — He regarded their age and feebleness as too great to endure the anxieties and hardships of his wild mode of life, and the cave of Adullam was for them too dark and cheerless an asylum.

Till I know what God will do for me — He knew that he was innocent, and the victim of a wicked persecution, but he cherished a strong hope that in the end his

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cause would be vindicated.

PETT, " David Ensures The Safety Of His Father And Mother (1 Samuel 22:3-4).

The cave was no place for his ageing father and mother, and so David went to Mizpeh of Moab and asked the king of Moab if he would watch over them for him. We do not know how he had become acquainted with the king of Moab, but we do know that he had Moabite blood in his veins from his great-grandmother 1sa (1 Samuel 4:17). It would seem therefore that there had been previous contact, either through his father, or when he had been commander of a military unit under Saul. Here we have here one of those details which are never explained but which remind us how little we know of the to-ings and fro-ings of life in those days, and a reminder that God prepares the way for His people.

One further thing that we learn here, and that is that while Saul lived his prophet-less life in Gibeah, the prophet of YHWH came to David in Mizpeh. David was still very much YHWH’s concern.

Analysis.

a And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab (1 Samuel 22:3 a).

b And he said to the king of Moab, “Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, until I know what God will do for me” (1 Samuel 22:3 b).

c And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. (1 Samuel 22:4).

b And the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not abide not in the stronghold. Depart, and get you into the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5 a).

a Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth (1 Samuel 22:5 b).

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Note that in ‘a’ went to Mizpeh of Moab, and in the parallel he left there and came back to Judah, to the Forest of Hereth. In ‘b’ David exhorted the king of Moab to watch over his parents, and in the parallel the prophet Gad exhorted David himself not to remain in Moab any longer. His place was in Judah. In ‘c’ the king of Moab fulfilled David’s request.

1 Samuel 22:3

‘And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, “Let my father and my mother, I pray you, come forth, and be with you, until I know what God will do for me.”

David’s concern for his parents was in line with YHWH’s commandment to ‘honour your father and mother’. The writer wants us to recognise that in the midst of all his problems David fulfilled all God’s commandments. Mizpeh means ‘watchtower’. There were many Mizpehs. This one was probably on the border of Moab looking down on the Jordan rift valley. We note that the king of Moab was the only king to help him in his time of need, possibly because of his Moabite ancestry.

Note also how David’s faith had blossomed, “until I know what God will do for me.” His sojourn in the cave of Adullam and his new small army had made all the difference to his thinking. He was now full of expectation.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 3-4David"s flight to MoabMoab was a reasonable place for David"s parents to seek protection since David"s great-grandmother, Ruth , was a Moabitess. The exact location of Mizpah (lit. watchtower) of Moab is unknown. David may have wanted to secure the support of the Moabites since he could use help from neighboring kingdoms if Saul"s antagonism led to full-scale war. "The stronghold" ( 1 Samuel 22:4) was probably another name for Mizpah or another place close to it in Moab.

David"s flight to the forest of Hereth

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Gad appears to have been a prophet who remained with David throughout his reign (cf. 2 Samuel 24:11). God provided another prophet through whom He communicated to the king-elect other than Samuel. The forest of Hereth was somewhere in Judah, but its exact location is unknown. [Note: On the alternate reading, "David . . . had departed," ( 1 Samuel 22:6), see D. Winton Thomas, "A Note on noda" in I Samuel XXII:6 ," Journal of Theological Studies21:2 (October1970):401-2.]

HAWKER, "(3) And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. (4) And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

I pass over the consideration of David's filial regard to his parents, sweet and profitable as the review of his affection to them would be, in the improvement it holds forth, in order to attend to a point in these verses infinitely more important; I mean, that patient waiting, and dependence upon God, until he knew what the Lord's will concerning him was; and how he should be disposed of. The highest marks of faith are those which eye God in everything, and cause the soul humbly to wait the Lord's pleasure. When we can pray over the dispensation, leave that dispensation with Him that ordereth all things in wisdom; and cheerfully abide by the result. This is faith in its best principles. Reader! may you and I thus love Christ, and then we shall truly glorify him. See another beautiful example of this kind in David's conduct on a similar occasion. 2 Samuel 15:25-26.

4 So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold.

BARNES, "He brought them before ... - The Septuagint renders it “he persuaded (the face of) the king.”

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In the hold - Where David was after he left the cave of Adullam, probably in the land of Moab.The phrase “all the while,” would indicate that David sojourned a considerable time in Moab.

GILL, "And he brought them before the king of Moab,.... Having leave from him for it, and left them with him; so the Targum,"caused them to remain before him:" and they dwelt with him all the whole time that David was in the hold; either in the cave of Adullam, as some think; or rather at Mizpeh in Moab, which might be a fortified place; or the sense may be, while he was in any hold in those parts, as he might go from one to another; what became of David's parents afterwards, we nowhere else read. The Jews (z) say the king of Moab slew his father and his mother, and his brethren, all but one, whom Nahash the Ammonite preserved; and is the kindness David speaks of, 2Sa_10:2; and if this was the case, now it was that his father and mother forsook him, and God took him up, Psa_27:10. BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:4. All the while David was in the hold — In holds; the singular number being put for the plural, as is frequent; that is, as long as David was forced to go from place to place, and from hold to hold, to secure himself; for it concerned David especially to secure his father, and he did doubtless secure him for all that time; and not only while he was in the hold of Mizpeh, or of Adullam, which was but a little while.

PETT, "1 Samuel 22:4‘And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the stronghold.’So David’s parents dwelt with the king of Moab all the time that David was ‘in the stronghold’. We know from 1 Samuel 22:5 that the stronghold was outside Judah. It was indeed probably Mizpeh. But his parents were not in Mizpeh. They were with the king enjoying his hospitality.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:4. They dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold— David could not bear that his aged parents should be confined to a cold cave, exposed to all the hardships of a siege, to dearth, to damps, and dangers of various kinds; and therefore he commends them to the care of the king of Moab, under whose protection they continued all the time that he was in the hold, or, as some would have it, all the time he continued in a strong hold; during the whole time of his exile, while he was constrained to fly from one strong place to another, to avoid

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the fury of Saul.

5 But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. Saul Kills the Priests of Nob

BARNES, "The prophet Gad - Mentioned here for the first time. One may conjecture that Samnel had sent him privately from Naioth to tell David not to abide in the hold. Whether he stayed with David or returned to the College of the prophets does not appear. For later notices of him see marginal references.

The forest of Hareth is unknown.

CLARKE, "Get thee into the land of Judah - Gad saw that in this place alone he could find safety.

GILL, "And the prophet Gad said unto David,.... Who either accompanied him in his exile, or was sent unto him on this account, being one of the company of the prophets, over whom Samuel was president, 1Sa_19:20, abide not in the hold, depart, and get thee into the land of Judah; this seems to confirm it that the hold David was in was not the cave of Adullam, because that was in the tribe of Judah; but rather some hold in the land of Moab, which he is directed by the prophet to leave, and go into the country of Judah, his own tribe, where Saul would not be so forward to pursue him, and where he would be among his friends, and in the way, upon Saul's death, to be anointed king over Judah; besides, appearing more openly would show the innocence of his cause, and his confidence in the Lord, more than to lurk about in a foreign land: then David departed; from "Mizpeh" in "Moab"; or, however, from the hold in

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which he was: and came into the forest of Hareth; where he would have places and opportunity enough to hide himself as he saw fit. Jerom (a) speaks of a village called Arath, where David abode, to the west of Jerusalem. Kimchi says this was a dry barren place, but for the sake of David it was made by the Lord a well watered and fruitful one.

HENRY, " He had the advice and assistance of the prophet Gad, who probably was one of the sons of the prophets that were brought up under Samuel, and was by him recommended to David for his chaplain or spiritual guide. Being a prophet, he would pray for him and instruct him in the mind of God; and David, though he was himself a prophet, was glad of his assistance. He advised him to go into the land of Judah (1Sa_22:5), as one that was confident of his own innocency, and was well assured of the divine protection, and was desirous, even in his present hard circumstances, to do some service to his tribe and country. Let him not be ashamed to own his own cause nor decline the succours that would be offered him. Animated by this word, there he determined to appear publicly. Thus are the steps of a good man ordered by the Lord.

JAMISON, "the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold — This sound advice, no doubt, came from a higher source than Gad’s own sagacity. It was right to appear publicly among the people of his own tribe, as one conscious of innocence and trusting in God; and it was expedient that, on the death of Saul, his friends might be encouraged to support his interest.

forest of Hareth — southwest of Jerusalem.BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:5. The Prophet Gad said unto David — We read nothing of this prophet before; and it is likely God raised him up at this time, on purpose for the support and direction of David. Abide not in the hold — That is, do not shut up thyself here; for he did not merely intend any particular strong place, where David might now be, but in general all those places where he kept himself concealed. Get thee into the land of Judah — As one that confides in God, and in the uprightness of his intentions. Go, show thyself to the people, that thou mayest publicly put in thy claim to the kingdom after Saul’s death; and that thy friends may be invited and encouraged to appear in thy behalf. Hereby also God would exercise David’s faith, wisdom, and courage, and so prepare him for the kingdom.ELLICOTT, " (5) The prophet Gad.—From this time onward throughout the life and reign of David, Gad the prophet occupied evidently a marked place. He is

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mentioned as the king’s seer in 2 Samuel 24:11; and in 1 Chronicles 29:29 he appears as the compiler of the acts of David, along with Samuel and Nathan. In 2 Chronicles 29:25 he is mentioned with his brother prophet Nathan again, as the man who had drawn up the plan of the great Temple services, which have been the model now for eighteen centuries of the countless Christian Liturgies in all the Churches.It was Gad also who, far on in the golden days of the exile’s rule, dared to reprove the mighty king for his deed of numbering the people, which act involved a great sin, or the design of a great sin, not recorded for us, and who brought as a message from the Highest the terrible choice of three evils (2 Samuel 24:11, and following verses). As he appears in the last years of the great king’s life, and apparently survived his master and friend, Gad must have been still young, or at all events in the prime of life, when he joined the fugitive and his outlawed band. He had, therefore, not improbably been a fellow student and friend of David’s in the Naioth of Samuel by Ramah. It seems hardly a baseless conjecture which sees in Gad a direct messenger from the old prophet Samuel to his loved pupil David, “the anointed,” Samuel well knew, “of the Lord.” As has been before observed, among the many who were educated and brought up in the Schools of the Prophets as historians, preachers, musicians, and teachers, but very few seem to have received the Divine influence (the Spirit’s “afflatus”) which was needed to constitute a prophet in the true high sense of the solemn word as we now understand it. Gad, however, appears to have been one of these rarely favoured few, and the presence of such an one in this outlaw camp of David must have been of great advantage to the captain.Abide not.—The wise advice of the prophet, suggested by a Divine influence, told David not to estrange himself from his own country and people by remaining in a foreign land, but to return with his followers to the wilder districts of Judah. There was work for him and his followers to do in that distracted, harassed land.The forest of Hareth.—The LXX. and Josephus here read “the city of Hareth.” Lieutenant Conder, whose late investigations have thrown so much light upon the geography of the Promised Land, can find no trace of forest on the edge of the mountain chain of Hebron, where Kharas now stands, and he therefore believes the LXX. text the true one. Dean Payne Smith, however, considers that “the thickets,” which still grow here abundantly, are what the Hebrew word yar, here translated “forest,” signifies.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:5The prophet Gad. This sudden appearance of the prophet suggests Stahelin’s question, How came he among such people? But, in the first place, David’s followers were not all of the sort described in 1Sa_22:2; and, next, this must be regarded as a declaration of the prophetic order in his favour. As we have a summary of David’s

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proceedings in 1Sa_22:4, extending over some time, during which the massacre of the priests at Nob took place, we may well suppose that Saul had alienated from him the minds of all religious people, and that Gad, probably by Samuel’s command, came to be David’s counsellor. The advice he gives is most important—Abide not in the hold. I.e. do not remain in the land of Moab. Had David done so he probably would never have become king. By remaining in Judah, and protecting the people from the Philistines, which Saul could no longer do, David grew in reputation and power, and from the list of those who joined him at Ziklag (1Ch_12:1-22) it is evident not only that such was the case, but that there was a strong enthusiasm for him throughout not merely Judah, but all Israel. In the happier times which followed Gad became David’s seer (2Sa_24:11), was God’s messenger to punish David for numbering the people (ibid. 1Sa_22:13), and finally wrote a history of his life (1Ch_29:29). As he thus survived David, he must have been a young man when he joined him, and possibly had been a companion of David in the prophetic schools at Naioth in Ramah. The forest of Hareth. Or, rather, Hereth. "This lay on the edge of the mountain chain (of Hebron), where Kharas now stands, surrounded by the thickets which properly represent the Hebrew yar, a word wrongly supposed to mean a woodland of timber trees" (Conder, ’Tent Work,’ 2:88). Yar is translated forest here. Hereth was about three miles from Adullam (see on 1Sa_22:1).

WHEDON, " DAVID’S RETURN TO THE LAND OF JUDAH, 1 Samuel 22:5.

5. The prophet Gad — With much plausibility supposed to have been a member of Samuel’s school of prophets. Having made David’s acquaintance at Ramah, (1 Samuel 19:18,) he now joins his company at Mizpeh of Moab, and advises him to return to his native land. Whether he remained with David during the period of his wanderings we know not; but at a later day we find him attached to the royal household, and spoken of as David’s seer. 1 Samuel 29:11. He was also the author of a book of the acts of David. 1 Chronicles 29:29.

Abide not in the hold — Dwell no longer in this fortress at Mizpeh.

Get thee into the land of Judah — A long sojourn away from his fatherland might have a tendency to alienate from him the affections of the people of Israel. These words show that when David received the message of Gad he was not in the land of Judah, and therefore the hold in which he was no longer to abide could not have been the cave of Adullam, as many have supposed, nor any other stronghold in the land of Judah. Hence our reason for regarding this hold as some fortified place in the land of Moab.

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The forest of Hareth — Some wooded part of the wilderness of Judah, whose exact locality is no longer known. Here it seems Abiathar joined him. 1 Samuel 22:20.

GUZIK, "(1Sa_22:5) David hears from the prophet Gad.Now the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

a. Now the prophet Gad said to David: David enjoyed support and aid from the prophets. Saul’s dealing with the prophets (such as Samuel) was almost always negative, because Saul resisted the word of God. David received God’s word.b. Go to the land of Judah: Gad counsels David to leave his own stronghold, and to go back to the very stronghold of Saul. This probably wasn’t what David really wanted to hear, but he obeyed anyway. David had to learn to trust God in the midst of the danger, not on the other side of the danger!

i. One reason why God wanted David in Judah was so that he could do some good. David may have thought he would just wait out the years until Saul died, isolated in the wilderness. But God wants us to be active. “God is a pure act, and he willeth that all his should be active, ‘and run with patience the race that is set before them.” (Trapp)ii. “Hereby also God would exercise David’s faith, and wisdom, and courage; and so prepare him for the kingdom, and uphold and increase his reputation among the people.” (Poole)

BI 5-23, "And the prophet Gad said unto David.A friend and a foeI. The visit of Gad the seer. David had been brought very low through his own mistakes. God proved him in the hold. Then He sent to him. Wherever you are, wait for a message from God before you move,II. Saul’s appeal to his servants. No one answered it but the alien Doeg. Notice, Herod was an Edomite. The race always conspicuous for hatred to Israel. What circumspection is necessary in God’s children! Always a Doeg looking on! (Exo_23:13; 1Pe_2:12; 1Pe_2:15-16.) False witness, often nearly true. “A lie that is half a truth is ever the worst of lies” (Mar_14:55-59; Mat_26:61). Built on supposition (Act_21:27-29).III. “God fulfils Himself in many ways.” The massacre of Nob, though unjustifiable in Saul, was God’s sentence on Eli’s house (1Sa_3:12-14; Isa_5:7, etc.) IV. Security with david (1Sa_22:23). This was beautiful faith. The outcast promising

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protection because the Lord was with him. He was willing to protect him with his life. So was Jesus. He was not only willing, but He did it (1Jn_3:8; 1Jn_3:16). (R. E. Faulkner.)

PETT, "1 Samuel 22:5‘And the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not abide not in the stronghold. Depart, and get you into the land of Judah.” Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.

Then, however, a young prophet named Gad arrived, possibly from Samuel. He came to David at Mizpeh and instructed him to return to the land of Judah. It was not good that David be out of touch with the people. It would be important in the future that he had lived among them. So David took shelter with his men in the Forest of Hereth (of which we know nothing). The thick, tangled forests of Judah made a good hiding place for a band of men like David’s.

Thus following his descent into deception at Nob and the low point of his life in Gath, YHWH had now given him three indications that He was still with him. The foundation of his new army at Adullam, the concern shown for his parents by the king of Moab, and the appearance of a prophet of YHWH to give him guidance. All demonstrated that YHWH had not forgotten him. Gad will later appear as ‘the king’s seer’ (2 Samuel 24:11; 1 Chronicles 21:9), will act as his adviser (2 Samuel 24:11 ff) and will keep records of his life for our benefit (1 Chronicles 29:29).

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:5. The prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold— It was natural to think that David would be more safe in his own tribe, and in a thick forest, than in the tribe of Saul, and a cave; and safety was all that he wanted, or God intended him before the death of Saul. But the principal reason of God's advising him to go into the land of Judah, was, I apprehend, because God intended to do him the honour of delivering one of the cities of Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, chap. 1 Samuel 23:3, &c.; and therefore sent him thither, that he might be near at hand, to protect it at the proper season from the invasion and plunder of their enemies: this he effected whilst he abode with his men in that part of the country; and it was a brave action: it was, as Grotius observes upon the place, an instance of his great love to his country; who, though proscribed as a rebel by the king, was so far from injuring his country, that he served it at the cost of his enemies.

REFLECTIONS.—Since innocence could be no longer his security, David seeks it by his sword. Having pitched on a fortress strong by nature, he resolves to maintain

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himself there.

1. Here his brethren came to him, having perhaps become obnoxious to Saul's displeasure by their relation to him; or willing to share his lot, in confidence of his future advancement. And as he wanted an armed force, not to act against his king, but to defend himself from the malice of his persecutor, he entertained all who resorted to him. Note; (1.) They who take part in the afflictions of the people of God, shall share with them in their kingdom of glory. (2.) The Lord Jesus refuses none; let the desperate sinner, who knows not where to flee; let the miserable debtor, obnoxious to the arrests of Divine Justice; let the discontented, who are weary of the dominion of sin and Satan, come to him; he will be a captain unto them, for he receiveth such.

2. Having a guard for his own person, David is solicitous to remove his parents to a place of safety, as Saul would now probably wreak his vengeance on them and theirs. With the permission of the king of Moab, he brings them to Mizpeh, in Moab, and leaves them there, till he should know what God would do with him; how long, or in what manner he would exercise his faith and patience, before he fulfilled his promises. Note; (1.) A good man cannot but be a dutiful child, and earnest to secure the repose of his aged parents. (2.) Whilst we have the fullest assurance of God's protection, we must be waiting upon him in the way of means, and patiently expect his salvation.

3. Gad the prophet, who had joined him in his exile, perhaps sent of Samuel to be with him to advise him, persuades him to go into the land of Judah; which being his own tribe, he might expect more friends; and by appearing publicly, would shew his own innocence, and confidence in God. David consents, and takes up his abode in the forest of Hareth.

6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul was seated, spear in hand, under the tamarisk tree on the hill at

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Gibeah, with all his officials standing at his side.

BARNES, "Under a tree in Ramah - Rather, “under the tamarisk-tree on the high place,” where he always held such meetings. It was a kind of parliament in the open air, and all his tribesmen gathered round him. (Compare Jdg_4:5.)

CLARKE, "Saul abode in Gibeah - Saul and his men were in pursuit of David, and had here, as is the general custom in the East, encamped on a height, for so Ramah should be translated, as in the margin. His spear, the ensign of power (see on 1Sa_18:11 (note)), was at hand, that is stuck in the ground where he rested, which was the mark to the soldiers that there was their general’s tent.

And all his servants were standing about him - That is, they were encamped around him, or perhaps here there is a reference to a sort of council of war called by Saul for the purpose of delivering the speech recorded in the following verses.

GILL, "When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him,.... That it was known where David was, and what number of men were gathered to him, and that they now openly appeared in the tribe of Judah; for some time Saul had heard nothing of him, but now a report had reached his ears that David was in arms, and at the head of a number of men; which now greatly alarmed Saul, and possessed him with fears and jealousies of his people, and all about him: now Saul abode in Gibeah, under a tree in Ramah; this was Gibeah of Saul, and in or near which was a place called Ramah, or an high place, as the word signifies, on which was a remarkable tree, and under that Saul abode, being a proper shelter for him from any inclemency of the weather; for this was not Ramah where Samuel dwelt, though the Jews in the Talmud (b) so think, and metaphorically understand the tree in it of Samuel in Ramah praying for him, by means of which he continued two years in the height of his kingdom; but this was a tree in a literal sense. R. Jonah (c) says it is possible it might be the same which in Arabia is called Ethel, and is like to a tamarisk tree: having his spear in his hand: ready to defend himself, and revenge his enemies; or rather which he held as a sceptre in his hand; See Gill on 1Sa_20:33, and all his servants were standing about him; in reverence of him, and honour to

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him, waiting upon him, and ready to obey his orders: these were his courtiers, or his guards, or both.

HENRY, "We have seen the progress of David's troubles; now here we have the progress of Saul's wickedness. He seems to have laid aside the thoughts of all other business and to have devoted himself wholly to the pursuit of David. He heard at length, by the common fame of the country, that David was discovered (that is, that he appeared publicly and enlisted men into his service); and hereupon he called all his servants about him, and sat down under a tree, or grove, in the high place at Gibeah, with his spear in his hand for a sceptre, intimating the force by which he designed to rule, and the present temper of his spirit, or its distemper rather, which was to kill all that stood in his way. In this bloody court of inquisition,

JAMISON, "Saul abode ... under a tree in Ramah — literally, “under a grove on a hill.” Oriental princes frequently sit with their court under some shady canopy in the open air. A spear was the early scepter.

K&D, "Murder of the Priests by Saul. - 1Sa_22:6. When Saul heard that David and the men with him were known, i.e., that information had been received as to their abode or hiding-place, he said to his servants when they were gathered round him, “Hear,” etc. The words, “and Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height,” etc., show that what follows took place in a solemn conclave of all the servants of Saul, who were gathered round their king to deliberate upon the more important affairs of the kingdom. This sitting took place at Gibeah, the residence of Saul, and in the open air “under the tamarisk.” ָּבָרָמה, upon the height, not “under a grove at Ramah” (Luther); for Ramah is an appellative, and ָּבָרָמה, which belongs to ָהֵאֶׁשל is a more minute definition of the locality, which is ,ַּתַחתindicated by the definite article (the tamarisk upon the height) as the well-known place where Saul's deliberative assemblies were held. From the king's address (“hear, ye Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse also give you all fields and vineyards?”) we perceive that Saul had chosen his immediate attendants form the members of his own tribe, and had rewarded their services right royally. ַּגם־ְלֻכְּלֶכם is placed first for the sake of emphasis, “You Benjaminites also,” and not rather to Judahites, the members of his own tribe. The second ְלֻכְּלֶכם (before ָיִׂשים) is not a dative; but ל tub merely serves to give greater prominence to the object which is placed at the head of the clause: As for all of you, will he make (you: see Ewald, §310, a.).ELLICOTT, " (6) When Saul heard.—No note of time is here given. Probably the return of David with a disciplined force to the land, and the pitching of an armed camp in the “forest of Hareth,” excited anew Saul’s jealous fears.Now Saul abode in Gibeah.—In Gibeah of Saul, his own royal city. The LXX.

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wrongly render, instead of Gibeah, “on the hills.” The margin of the English Version, “under a grove in a high place,” is correct as regards the later words, baramah signifying here upon the height. “Under a tree” is, however, nearer the original than “under a grove.” The literal rendering would be “under a tamarisk tree.” The sentence then should run, “Now Saul abode in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height.” The tamarisk, which grows so abundantly on the sea-shore of England and in warmer climates, develops into a very graceful tree, with long feathery branches and tufts. Saul’s love for trees has been noticed before. This solemn council of his, when the darkest deed of his reign was decided upon, was held in the spot Saul loved so well, under the spreading tamarisk branches. There we see him, leaning, as was his wont in peace as in war, upon his tall spear, surrounded by his valiant captains, chosen apparently, with one exception, from his own tribe of Benjamin—the exception being his wicked counsellor, the Edomite Doeg, who was over the royal herds. This is one of the earliest councils we have any definite account of in the world’s history. The king, surrounded by his chosen “fideles,” complaining of the treason of one of them lately exiled from their midst, bewailing the want of fidelity of his son, the heir to the throne—then the stepping forward of one of these “fideles,” one invested with high office, and publicly denouncing the chief religious official of the kingdom—forms a striking and vivid picture.BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:6-8. Having his spear in his hand — It seems, as an ensign of majesty, for in old times kings carried a spear instead of a sceptre. Ye Benjamites — You that are of my own tribe and kindred, from whom David designs to translate the kingdom to another tribe. Will he distribute profits and preferments among you Benjamites, as I have done? Will he not rather prefer those of his own tribe before you? That all of you have conspired against me — To conceal David’s designs from me, if not to assist him in them. See the nature of jealousy, and its arts of flattering and wheedling to extort discoveries of things which have no existence! That my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse — He suspects Jonathan had made a league with David, but did not certainly know it, much less what the league was. His jealousy even carried him so far as to make him suspect that Jonathan not only sided with David, but had encouraged him to take up arms, and to appear openly, as having many friends and supporters. For since Saul threw the javelin at Jonathan, it is likely the latter had absented himself from court, or did not appear so frequently, or looked discontented when he came into his father’s presence.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:6When Saul heard that David was discovered. Hebrew, "was known." The meaning is easy enough, though rendered obscure by the involved translation of the A.V; and is as follows: When Saul heard that there was information concerning David and his men, he held a solemn council, in which we see how simple was the dignity of his court, but how great the ferocity to which he was now a prey. There is no parenthesis, but the account of Saul taking his seat, surrounded by his officers,

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follows directly upon the narration of the fact that news of David had reached him, and should be translated thus: "And Saul takes his seat in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree on the height, holding his javelin (as a sceptre) in his hand, and all his officers stand in order by him." For Saul’s fondness for trees see 1Sa_14:2; but at a time when there were no large buildings a branching tree formed a fit place for a numerous meeting. A tree. Really a tamarisk tree, which "sometimes reaches such a size as to afford dense shade .... It is a very graceful tree, with long feathery branches and tufts, closely clad with the minutest of leaves, and surmounted in spring with spikes of beautiful pink blossom". It grows abundantly on the seashore of England, but requires a warmer climate to develope into a tree. In Spain beautiful specimens may be seen, as for instance at Pampeluna. In Ramah. Conder (Handbook) thinks that Gibeah was the name of a district, which included Ramah; others take the word in its original signification, and render "on the height." Standing. The word means that they took each their proper posts around him (See on 1Sa_10:23; 1Sa_12:7, 1Sa_12:16; 1Sa_17:16). Saul was holding a formal court, to decide what steps should be taken now that David had openly revolted from him.

COFFMAN, "Verse 6

SAUL CALLS A COUNCIL AGAINST DAVID

"Now Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Saul was sitting at Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, "Hear now, you Benjaminites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, none of you is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day." Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

"When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men with him" (1 Samuel 22:6). This is a reference to David's having been publicly "discovered" as an enemy of the king and an outlaw in Israel. There was no way that such information could have been hidden. Saul himself had forced David to flee for his life; and David's family, most naturally, were also afraid. Ruthless, savage tyrants of Saul's type frequently murdered whole families because of their hatred of any one of them.

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"Hear now you Benjaminites" (1 Samuel 22:7). It is significant here that Saul's "court" consisted solely of the members of his own little tribe; there had been no effort whatever to unite all Israel in a cohesive kingdom, in which effort it would have been wise to enlist members of all the tribes.

"Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards, and make you commanders, etc." (1 Samuel 22:7). Saul here threatens the Benjaminites with the idea that, if another king is chosen, he will favor his tribe in the same manner that Saul has favored the Benjaminites.

"None of you is sorry for me" (1 Samuel 22:8). One can only pity this paranoid sufferer. No one had warned him of danger, simply because none existed; no one was sorry for him, because all of his fears and apprehensions were monstrous creatures of his own evil imagination, having no reality whatever. Indeed it was an evil spirit that the Lord allowed to possess him.

THEN ANSWERED DOEG THE EDOMITE

This evil character told as vicious and unprincipled a lie as Satan himself could have invented; and yet much of what he said was true, thus illustrating the fact that the most savage and hurtful lies are the ones blended with truth. "There is no God but God; and Muhammed is the prophet of God," is another example. Doeg failed to include the manifest innocence of Ahimelech in his tale of what Ahimelech had done for David, thus definitely and purposely leaving the impression with Saul that Ahimelech had championed David's cause against that of the king.

Another evident truth here is that slander is in the same class with murder. The slanderer is always a murderer, whether or not, like Doeg, he thrusts his victims through with a literal sword.

PETT, "Verses 6-15

Saul Reveals His True Colours (1 Samuel 22:6-19).

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While David was going through his period of refining, Saul was displaying his true colours. Unlike David he did not learn from his tribulations. He rather used them as a base from which to launch further evils.

It appears that he had had his spies out constantly for David, for at length he learned that David ‘was discovered’, that his whereabouts were known, and that he had accumulated a good number of followers. This caused him to panic and he immediately set his mind to establishing his own position, first by promising rewards to those who followed him, and secondly by 1salessly destroying all whom he saw as opposing him, in this case the priests of Nob. The state of his mind comes out in that he even accused Jonathan his own son of plotting against him and of stirring up David to cause him trouble He seems to have thrown off all restraint. The truth was that the thought of David was eating into his soul, sadly at this time to the detriment of the innocent priests of Nob. He was a different man from the young man whom Samuel had anointed to be king so many years before, and in the end it had all come about through one or two major acts of disobedience against YHWH.

a And Saul heard that David was discovered (‘was known’), and the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him (1 Samuel 22:6).

b And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites. Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none who discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” (1 Samuel 22:7-8).

c Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he enquired of YHWH for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine” (1 Samuel 22:9-10).

d Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob, and all of them came to the king (1

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Samuel 22:11).

e And Saul said, “Hear now, you son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord” (1 Samuel 22:12).

f And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” (1 Samuel 22:13).

g Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is given audience with you, and is honourable in your house?” (1 Samuel 22:14).

f “Have I today commenced enquiring of God for him? Be it far from me. Do not let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father, for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more” (1 Samuel 22:15).

e And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father’s house” (1 Samuel 22:16).

d And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and slay the priests of YHWH, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall on the priests of YHWH (1 Samuel 22:17).

c And the king said to Doeg, “Turn you, and fall on the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell on the priests, and he slew on that day eighty five persons who wore a linen ephod. And he smote Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword (1 Samuel 22:18-19).

b And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain YHWH’s priests (1 Samuel 22:20-21).

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a And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me, and do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. For with me you will be under protection” (1 Samuel 22:22-23).

Note that in ‘a’ Saul was consulting in counsel with his chief courtiers as a result of his discovery about the nefarious activities of the evil David, theoretically judging Israel righteously, whilst in the parallel the same ‘evil David’ is talking to the only surviving Priest of YHWH and assuring him of his protection from the illegalities of Saul. (We may seriously ask, who was acting as YHWH’s legitimate ‘anointed one’ in this case?). In ‘b’ Saul is buttering up the Benjaminites and bribing them to remain faithful while charging them with failure to inform him of treasonable activities, while in the parallel David is being informed by an orphaned Abiathar of what this same Saul has done to YHWH’s priests, which was worse than treasonable, it was sacrilegious. In ‘c’ Doeg the Edomite informs on what he sees as Ahimelech’s treachery, and in the parallel he slays Ahimelech and all his relatives for that assumed treachery. In ‘d’ Saul calls for all the priests of Nob, and in the parallel orders their slaughter. In ‘e’ Saul call on ‘the son of Ahitub’ to speak, and in the parallel he tells him that he and all Ahitub’s house must die. In ‘f’ Saul accuses Ahimelech of enquiring of YHWH on behalf of David, and in the parallel Ahimelech points out that he had not just started doing so, but had been doing it for some time with the knowledge of the king. Centrally in ‘g’ the worthiness of David is emphasised and underlined.

1 Samuel 22:6

‘And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him.’

The passage begins with Saul calling his advisory council together because his spies have discovered the whereabouts of David, and had also brought the news that he has gathered a host around him. It was common in Israel for such activities as Saul’s to take place in the opening air under the shade of trees (compare Judges 4:5). In this case it was under ‘the tamarisk tree on the height’ where it would be cool. He was sat there carrying his ceremonial spear (all councillors beware), whilst all the councillors were standing around. It was a formal situation, seemingly of the utmost legality. But the passage will end up with an orphaned victim who was holy to God seeking protection from this legality with David, in the light of the slaughter

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of all YHWH’s holy High Priests as a result of a spurious verdict of this same court.

WHEDON, " SAUL’S ANGER, AND HIS SLAUGHTER OF THE PRIESTS OF NOB, 1 Samuel 22:6-19.

6. Saul heard that David was discovered — That is, Saul received information that David had gathered around him a band of men. This fact became generally known, and the events of this section probably took place while David was in the forest of Hareth.

Under a tree in Ramah — Rather, Under the tree on the height, referring to some well known tree at Gibeah, perhaps the pomegranate mentioned 1 Samuel 14:2.

All his servants were standing about him — As an assembly called together for a council of war.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:6. (Now Saul abode in Gibeah, &c.— Though mean people, travelling in the East, might make use of trees for shelter, we may perhaps think it almost incredible that kings should; imagining that either proper houses would be marked out for their reception, or, if that could not be conveniently done in some of their routes, that, at least, they would have tents carried along with them, as persons of more than ordinary rank and condition are supposed by Dr. Shaw to do. For these reasons, we may possibly have been extremely surprised at the present passage: Now Saul abode in Gibeah, under a tree in Ramah, (or, according to the Margins, under a grove in an high place,) having his spear in his hand; and all his servants were standing about him. Yet, strange as this may appear to us, it is natural enough according to the present customs of the East, where we know the solemnity and awfulness of superiority is kept up as high as ever. Thus, when Dr. Pococke was travelling in the company of the governor of Faiume, who was treated with great respect as he passed along, they spent one night, he tells us, (vol. 1: p. 56.) in a grove of palm trees. The governor might, no doubt, had he pleased, have lodged in some village, but he rather chose a place which we think very odd for a person of figure. The position of Saul, which was on an high place, according to the Margin, reminds me of another passage in this author, (p. 127.) where he gives us an account of the going out of the caia or lieutenant of the governor of Meloui, on a sort of Arabic expedition, towards a place where there was an ancient temple, attended by many people with kettle-drums and other music: the bishop visited that temple, and upon his return from it he went to the caia, "whose carpet and cushions were laid on an height on which he sat, with the standard by him, which is carried before him

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when he goes out in this manner. I sat down by him, and coffee was brought. The sardar [or governor] himself came after, as incognito." Saul seems, by the description given of him, as well as by the following part of the history, to have been pursuing after David, and, stopping, to have placed himself, according to the present oriental mode, in the posture of chief. Whether the spear in his hand, or, at his hand, (see Noldius,) was the same thing to Saul's people that the standard was to those of the caia, I know not: if it was, there are three things in this text illustrated by the doctor's account; the stopping under a tree, or grove; the stopping on an high place; and the sacred historian's remarks, that he had his spear by him. It is certain, that when a long pike is carried before a company of Arabs, it is a mark that an Arab scheich, or prince, is there; which pike is carried before him, and when he alights, and the horses are fastened, the pike is fixed, as appears from Norden, part ii. p. 181. and p. 71. See Observations, p. 293. Bishop Patrick well observes, that Justin, speaking of the first times of the Romans, (about the reign of Saul,) says, "In those days kings had spears as signs of royal authority, which the Greeks call sceptres. From time immemorial the ancients worshipped spears for immortal gods, in memory of which religion, spears are still added to the images of the gods." Justin, lib. iii. c. 43.

CONSTABLE, "Verses 6-23Saul"s slaughter of the priestsThe writer"s attention focused next on Saul"s activities. He used the literary device of focusing on David, then on Saul, then on David, etc. He used the same technique in chapters1-3with Samuel and Eli"s sons to contrast Samuel"s goodness with the wickedness of Hophni and Phinehas. The same purpose is in view in chapters21-31with David and Saul.

Saul was aware that some in his army, apparently even some of his tribal kinsmen from Benjamin, had deserted to David ( 1 Samuel 22:7). He showed signs of paranoia when he claimed that Jonathan had encouraged David to ambush him ( 1 Samuel 22:8; 1 Samuel 22:13). There is no indication that Jonathan had done this. Doeg was obviously loyal to Saul ( 1 Samuel 22:9-10), but he proved disloyal to Yahweh ( 1 Samuel 22:18-19).

Ahimelech appealed to Saul on David"s behalf much as Jonathan had done earlier ( 1 Samuel 22:14-15; cf. 1 Samuel 17:4-5). Nevertheless this time Saul did not respond to reasonable persuasion ( 1 Samuel 22:16). Saul"s disregard for Yahweh"s will is obvious in his command to kill the priests-whom God had appointed to serve Him. This punishment was entirely too severe, since the crime Saul charged them with was simply failing to tell Saul where David was.

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Saul"s soldiers had too much respect for the priesthood to slay the anointed servants of the Lord ( 1 Samuel 22:17). Moreover they probably realized that Saul"s order was irrational. Doeg was an Edomite, a foreigner who had less respect for the Mosaic Law (cf. 1 Samuel 21:7). He not only obeyed the king but went beyond Saul"s command and slaughtered all the men, women, children, and animals in Nob ( 1 Samuel 22:19). Nonetheless Saul was also responsible ( 1 Samuel 22:21). Earlier Saul had failed to slay all the Amalekites at the Lord"s command ( 1 Samuel 15:9). Now he was slaying all the Nobites without divine authorization.

"Through the hand of a foreigner, Saul perpetrates upon Israelites, priests of the Lord, what he himself did not perpetrate upon foreigners, the Amalekites." [Note: Miscall, p136.]

God preserved one of Eli"s descendants even though85 other priests died. This man fled to David, so from then on the priesthood was with David rather than Saul. David acknowledged that his deception of Ahimelech was responsible for the slaughter of the priests ( 1 Samuel 22:22; cf. 1 Samuel 21:2). David became the protector of the priesthood. The king-elect and the priest-elect now became fellow fugitives from Saul. Psalm 52provides insight into how David felt during this incident.

When people refuse to submit to God"s authority over them, they begin to die: spiritually, socially, psychologically, and physically ( Romans 6:23). Eli and Saul had both refused to submit to God"s authority. Eli, the priest, put his family before God. Consequently God cut off his family. Even though David was the cause of85 priests" deaths, this was one way God partially fulfilled the prophecy concerning Eli"s descendants ( 1 Samuel 2:27-36). God used David"s folly to accomplish His will. So even in this David became a blessing. This in no way justifies David"s lie ( 1 Samuel 21:2), but it does show how even in his sinning, David was used by God for blessing (cf. Psalm 76:10; Romans 6:1-2). Saul, the king, put himself before God. Therefore God cut off his life. Saul became increasingly paranoid, isolated from others, hateful toward his supporters as well as his enemies, and guilty of shedding innocent blood.

Conversely, when people submit to God"s authority over them, they really begin to live ( John 10:10). David submitted to God"s authority over him. His sins, including deceiving Ahimelech, bore bad consequences for himself and others. Nevertheless God continued to bless and use David. He blessed him personally: David continued to rise to the throne. God also blessed him by using him to accomplish God"s will,

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here the pruning of Eli"s descendants.

Therefore we conclude that the most important issue is one of long-term authority, not incidental acts. Acts are important, but who is in control-God or self-is even more important. For a believer the most important issue is authority. Believers can determine who is in control of our lives fairly easily by asking ourselves two test questions. Do I ask God for guidance, or do I ignore Him and make my own plans and decisions without praying? And, do I submit to His word, or do I disobey it, having ignored it or disregarded it?

HAWKER, "Verses 6-8(6) ¶ When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) (7) Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; (8) That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

Reader! remark the progress of iniquity in this unhappy man. Not able to bring his son Jonathan over to his own persuasion, he now implicates him in the supposed treachery of David; and thus seeks a pretence in the counsel of the wicked for David's destruction. Doth not the Reader call to mind an higher instance of this turpitude, in the conduct of the High Priest towards the person of our adorable Redeemer. Answerest thou nothing? (said this pretended upright and conscientious High Priest) behold how many things they witness against thee. And when our dear Lord, agreeable to what had been predicted of him, standing, as a lamb before her shearers is dumb, and opened not his mouth, still remained silent. "I adjure thee (says he) by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God?" And when to this solemn demand, the Son of God, who came to bear witness to the truth, openly professed who he was: the High Priest rent his clothes, and pronounced it to be blasphemy. See Matthew 26:62-65.

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7 He said to them, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Will the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

BARNES, "Ye Benjamites - Showing how isolated the tribes still were, and how for the most part Saul was surrounded by his own tribesmen only.

GILL, "Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him,.... He took this opportunity of addressing them in the following manner, upon the report of David being at the head of a certain number of men: hear now, ye Benjamites; for Saul being of the tribe of Benjamin, his courtiers and his bodyguards chiefly, if not altogether, consisted of persons of that tribe; and therefore as they were under obligation to him, and ought to abide by him, and adhere closely to him, so it was the more ungrateful in them, as he thought, not to be concerned for his honour and interest: will the son of Jesse give everyone of you fields and vineyards; as Saul had done, or was capable of doing, and would do if they were faithful to him; whereas it was not in the power of David, whom in contempt he calls the son of Jesse, to do it; and even should he ever be king, and in his power to make such donations, it cannot be thought he would give them to them, but to the favourites of his own tribe: and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds; which he now could not do, since he had with him but four hundred men in all; and should his army increase, and the kingdom come into his hands, so far would all of them be from being advanced to posts in the army, that it was probable none of them would, but those of his own tribe and party.

HENRY 7-8, " Saul seeks for information against David and Jonathan, 1Sa_22:7, 1Sa_22:8. Two things he was willing to suspect and desirous to see proved, that he might wreak his malice upon two of the best and most

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excellent men he had about him: - 1. That his servant David did lie in waitfor him and seek his life, which was utterly false. He really sought David's life, and therefore pretended that David sought his life, though he could not charge him with any overt act that gave the least shadow of suspicion. 2. That his son Jonathan stirred him up to do so, and was confederate with him in compassing and imagining the death of the king. This also was notoriously false. A league of friendship there was between David and Jonathan, but no conspiracy in any evil thing; none of the articles of their covenant carried any mischief to Saul. If Jonathan had agreed, after the death of Saul, to resign to David, in compliance with the revealed will of God, what harm would that do to Saul? Yet thus the best friends to their prince and country have often been odiously represented as enemies to both; even Christ himself was so. Saul took it for granted that Jonathan and David were in a plot against him, his crown and dignity, and was displeased with his servants that they did not give him information of it, supposing that they could not but know it; whereas really there was no such thing. See the nature of a jealous malice, and its pitiful arts to extort discoveries of things that are not. He looked upon all about him as his enemies because they did not say just as he said; and told them, (1.) That they were very unwise, and acted against the interest both of their tribe (for they were Benjamites, and David, if he were advanced, would bring the honour into Judah which was now in Benjamin) and of their families; for David would never be able to give them such rewards as he had for them, of fields and vineyards, and such preferments, to be colonels and captains. (2.) That they were unfaithful: You have conspired against me. What a continual agitation and torment are those in that give way to a spirit of jealousy! If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked (Pro_29:12), that is, they seem to be so in his eyes. (3.) That they were very unkind. He thought to work upon their good nature with that word: There is none of you that is so much as sorry for me, or solicitous for me, as some read it. By these reasonings he stirred them up to act vigorously, as the instruments of his malice, that they might take away his suspicions of them.

JAMISON, "Hear now, ye Benjamites — This was an appeal to stimulate the patriotism or jealousy of his own tribe, from which he insinuated it was the design of David to transfer the kingdom to another. This address seems to have been made on hearing of David’s return with his four hundred men to Judah. A dark suspicion had risen in the jealous mind of the king that Jonathan was aware of this movement, which he dreaded as a conspiracy against the crown.ELLICOTT, "(7) Hear now, ye Benjamites.—We have here a fair specimen of Saul’s manner of ruling in his later years. It is no wonder that the heart of the people gradually was estranged from one of whom in earlier years they had been so proud. The suspicious and gloomy king had evidently—we have it here from his own mouth—gradually given all the posts of honour and dignity to men of his own tribe and family, or to strangers like Doeg. “Hear now, ye Benjamites”—so the “fidèles” were evidently men of his own

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favoured tribe; indeed, he refers to his own weak partiality as the reason why they of all men should be loyal. “Who but a Benjamite,” he says, “would only honour Benjamites?” Such a sovereign had surely forfeited his kingdom. The consequences of such a weak and shortsighted policy were plainly visible in the thin array he was able in his hour of bitter need to muster together on the fatal field of Mount Gilboa against his sleepless Philistine enemies. (See 1 Samuel 31)PULPIT, "1Sa_22:7, 1Sa_22:8Ye Benjamites. Saul had evidently failed in blending the twelve tribes into one nation. He had begun well, and his great feat of delivering Jabesh Gilead by summoning the militia of all Israel together must have given them something of a corporate feeling, and taught them their power when united. Yet now we find him isolated, and this address to his officers seems to show that he had aggrandised his own tribe at the expense of the rest. Moreover, he appeals to the worst passions of these men, and asks whether they can expect David to continue this favouritism, which had given them riches and all posts of power. And then he turns upon them, and fiercely accuses them of banding together in a conspiracy against him, to conceal from him the private understanding which existed between his own son and his enemy. Hath made a league. Hebrew, "hath cut." This use of the formal phrase forsaking a covenant seems to show that Saul was at length aware of the solemn bond of friendship entered into by Jonathan with David. To lie in wait. To Saul’s mind, diseased with that suspicion which is the scourge of tyrants, David is secretly plotting his murder. As at this day. I.e. as today is manifest (see 1Sa_22:13).

PETT, "1 Samuel 22:7-8

‘And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, “Hear now, you Benjaminites. Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none who discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me, or discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” ’

Saul then addresses his ‘servants’ (his courtiers and commanders). The fact that he calls them ‘Benjaminites’ demonstrates how parochial Saul’s government has become. He now ruled through his favourites, of whom his son at this moment was clearly not one, and favoured his own tribe. And he points out to them that under the son of Jesse they would lose their special entitlements and honours, for he was not a Benjaminite. It would thus pay 68

them to keep in with him. They were to be good politicians.

But he then demonstrates his paranoia by suggesting that his son Jonathan is in league with David against him and is planning his downfall, and indeed that David is in some way ‘lying in wait’ for him. Both were untrue. But he was so obsessed with the idea that David was seeking to take over his kingdom that he could not separate fact from fiction.

Note the threefold description, ‘none have disclosed that his son is in league with David’, ‘none of them is sorry for him’, ‘none have disclosed what his own son has done in stirring up David against him’. In other words everyone is completely holding back on him, (and that about things that they could not possibly have known anything about).

So everything is wrong about his statement which is simply a revelation of a paranoid ruling badly and unjustly, fulfilling only too literally what Samuel had warned against in 1 Samuel 8:10-18.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:7-8. Then Saul said unto his servants— If this complaint was true, Saul must have been an exceedingly bad master, to be so entirely deserted and unpitied by his own servants, even when he had estates and preferments to give them. But what was the complaint? that all of them had conspired against him. How did this appear? why, because none of them shewed him that his son had made a league with the son of Jesse. And why should they shew him this, when he himself well knew it already, and needed not to be informed of it by them: for he had told his son before, that he had chosen the son of Jesse, to the confusion of his mother's nakedness? He adds, as a farther matter of complaint, none of you is sorry for me; and, if they thought that Jonathan's league with David was a thing right in itself, and a very happy circumstance for the kingdom in general, there was no cause why they should for this be sorry for him: and to charge them with conspiring against him for not telling him what he knew before, and for their not being grieved, on his account, for what they thought neither he nor they had any reason to be sorry for, is the most evident symptom of a disordered mind. But what shall we say to the last part of this pathetic complaint, there is none of you that sheweth unto me, that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait as it is this day? Why, that they could not discover what was not true in itself, and what they knew nothing of. Besides, Saul himself confesses, that it had no other foundation than his own surmise and jealousy, and that he had received no manner of proof of it. None of you, says Saul, shews unto me, &c.; he had, therefore, no proof from any of his servants of this wickedness of his son: Jonathan was innocent, and his father's complaint groundless and unjust.

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8 Is that why you have all conspired against me? No one tells me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse. None of you is concerned about me or tells me that my son has incited my servant to lie in wait for me, as he does today.”

CLARKE, "There is none that showeth me - He conjectured that Jonathan had made a league with David to dethrone him, and he accuses them of disloyalty for not making the discovery of this unnatural treason. Now it was impossible for any of them to show what did not exist, no such league having ever been made between David and Jonathan.

GILL, "That all of you have conspired against me,.... For though they had not revolted from him, and been guilty of overt acts of treason, yet since they did not discover to him what he supposed they knew, and showed no concern for the circumstances in which he was, he interpreted this a conspiracy against him: and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse; Saul did not know this certainly, he only suspected it from the strict and close friendship between them, and imagined that some of his servants were acquainted with it, though they kept it from him; whereas none knew of it but Jonathan and David themselves: and there is none of you that is sorry for me; concerned, troubled, and grieved, that he should be in such circumstances, his own son and his son-in-law in league against him: or, as De Dieu renders it, were not "solicitous" for him, cared not how things went with him, or, against him:

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or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait, as at this day? which he concluded was the case, from Jonathan's not appearing at court since Saul cast the javelin at him, 1Sa_19:10; or, however, if he did, his countenance showed he was uneasy and discontented, and displeased with Saul; and, besides, he could not think that David, with such a handful of men he had with him, would ever attempt to invade his kingdom, and seize his crown and throne, unless he was privately encouraged by his own son; and David's being either in the cave of Adullam, or forest of Hareth, whichever of them Saul heard of, he interpreted as lying in wait for him, whereas it was only for the security of himself; and what Saul took ill of his servants was, that none of them apprized him of his son's concern in this matter.

K&D, "“That you have all of you conspired against me, and no one informs me of it, since my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse.” ִּבְכֹרת, lit. at the making of a covenant. Saul may possibly have heard something of the facts related in 1Sa_20:12-17; at the same time, his words may merely refer to Jonathan's friendship with David, which was well known to him. ְוֵאין־ֹחֶלה, “and no one of you is grieved on my account ... that my son has set my servant (David) as a lier in wait against me,” i.e., to plot against my life, and wrest the throne to himself. We may see from this, that Saul was carried by his suspicions very far beyond the actual facts. “As at this day:” cf. Deu_8:18, etc.ELLICOTT, " (8) That all of you have conspired.—The unhappy, jealous spirit had obtained such complete mastery over the unhappy king that now he suspected even the chosen men of his own tribe. All his tried favourites, the men of his own house, even his gallant son, he charged with leaning towards David the traitor, his supplanter in the hearts of Israel.My son hath made a league.—It would seem as though Saul had learned something of what passed between Jonathan and David when they met for that farewell interview at the memorable New Moon feast; the words respecting the covenant between the two being too pointed and marked to refer only to the well-known ancient friendship between the prince and the son of Jesse.There is none of you that is sorry for me.—These words of the sad king—tormented as he was by an evil spirit, ever whispering doubt and jealous thoughts into the poor diseased mind—are here strangely real and pathetic.

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9 But Doeg the Edomite, who was standing with Saul’s officials, said, “I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelek son of Ahitub at Nob.

CLARKE, "Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul - In 1Sa_21:7he is said to be the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul, and the Septuagint intimate that he was over the mules of Saul. Probably he was what we call the king’s equery or groom.

GILL, "Then answered Doeg the Edomite,.... Josephus (d) calls him a Syrian, and so the Septuagint version; see 1Sa_21:7; being full of enmity to David, and willing to curry favour with Saul, and eager of further preferment, which Saul seemed to promise; and being more forward than the rest of his servants, prevented them and spoke first: (which was set over the servants of Saul): over his herdsmen; see 1Sa_21:7, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub; in imitation of Saul, he calls David by way of contempt the son of Jesse; and signifies that what he had to say of him was not by report, but he himself was an eyewitness of his coming to Nob, a city of the priests, and to Ahimelech the high priest there, and of what passed between them.

HENRY, "Though he could not learn any thing from his servants against David or Jonathan, yet he got information from Doeg against Ahimelech the priest.

1. An indictment is brought against Ahimelech by Doeg, and he himself is evidence against him, 1Sa_22:9, 1Sa_22:10. Perhaps Doeg, as bad as he was, would not have given this information if Saul had not extorted it, for had he been very forward to it he would have done it sooner: but now he thinks they must be all deemed traitors if none of them be accusers, and therefore tells Saul what kindness Ahimelech had shown to David, which he himself happened to be an eye-witness of. He had enquired of God for him(which the priest used not to do but for public persons and about public affairs) and he had furnished him with bread and a sword. All this was true; but it was not the whole truth. He ought to have told Saul further that David had made Ahimelech believe he was then going upon the king's business; so that what service he did to David, however it proved, was designed in honour to Saul, and this would have cleared Ahimelech, whom

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Saul had in his power, and would have thrown all the blame upon David, who was out of his reach.

JAMISON, "1Sa_22:9-16. Doeg accuses Ahimelech.Doeg ... set over the servants — Septuagint, “the mules of Saul.”K&D, "The Edomite Doeg could not refrain from yielding to this appeal, and telling

Saul what he had seen when staying at Nob; namely, that Ahimelech had inquired of God for David, and given him food as well as Goliath's sword. For the fact itself, see 1Sa_21:1-10, where there is no reference indeed to his inquiring of God; though it certainly took place, as Ahimelech (1Sa_22:15) does not disclaim it. Doeg is here designated ִנָּצב, “the superintendent of Saul's servants,” so that apparently he had been invested with the office of marshal of the court.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:9, 1Sa_22:10Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul. This translation is entirely wrong, nor would Saul’s Benjamites have endured to have an Edomite set over them. The verb is that used in 1Sa_22:6, and refers simply to Doeg’s place in the circle of attendants standing round Saul. The words mean, "Doeg the Edomite, who stood there with the servants of Saul." As chief herdsman he was present as a person of some importance, but far below "the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds." I saw the son of Jesse, etc. As Saul was in a dangerous state of excite. sent, bordering on insanity, Doeg’s statement was probably made with the evil intent of turning the king’s suspicions from the courtiers to the priests. His assertion that the high priest enquired of Jehovah for David was possibly true (see on 1Sa_22:15).

PETT, "1 Samuel 22:9-10

‘Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he enquired of YHWH for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” ’

The only one who replied to his unjust accusations was Doeg the Edomite. All the rest remained quiet with their own thoughts. But Doeg wanted to curry favour with Saul. Indeed we discover what kind of man he was in 1 Samuel 22:18-19. And he informed on Ahimelech. He did not actually lie. But he cannot be acquitted of deliberately feeding Saul’s unjustified suspicions without regard for the consequences, and he made no attempt to indicate the real truth concerning what he had seen. He presents no prettier

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picture than Saul.

Doeg is described as ‘standing by the servants of Saul’. In other words he was a hanger on. He was presumably there because he was Saul’s chief shepherd, which would be quite an important post, whilst not making him a member of the inner council composed of court officials and field commanders. He possibly felt both this and his inferiority as an Edomite, and he may even have resented the way in which he had been treated at the Sanctuary as a proselyte. He thus appears happy to vent his spleen by criticising the priests in order to demonstrate that they were not as good as they claimed. It is, however, doubtful if he realised how far Saul would go. But we should note in this regard that when he found out he gladly and heartlessly took advantage of it. So he was an unpleasant character altogether.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:9. Then answered Doeg—(which was set over the servants of Saul)— Who happened then to be with the servants of Saul. Houbigant. See the foregoing chapter, 1 Samuel 22:7. It does not appear from the preceding chapter, nor is it likely, that Ahimelech, or the priests, knew any thing of Saul's displeasure against David; and therefore, as he was the king's son-in-law, and Ahimelech thought he was sent on some hasty errand to the king, the giving him bread and a sword was what he owed in duty to Saul, instead of its being an act of treason. Nor could Ahimelech's inquiring of God for him, 1 Samuel 22:10 supposing the fact true, be liable to such a charge; for if he did enquire of God for him, Ahimelech declares, that this was not the first time he had done it on the king's affairs; and that therefore it could be no more criminal in him to do it now, upon a like occasion, than in former times.

10 Ahimelek inquired of the Lord for him; he also gave him provisions and the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”

BARNES, "He inquired of the Lord ... - This was not true, but Ahimelech’s going to fetch the sword from behind the ephod might have given occasion to the belief on Doeg’s part that he had put on the ephod to inquire of the Lord for David.

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CLARKE, "And he inquired of the Lord for him - This circumstance is not related in history; but it is probably true, as David would most naturally wish to know where to direct his steps in this very important crisis.

GILL, "And he inquired of the Lord for him,.... Which not being expressed before, some have taken it to be a lie of Doeg's, he being charged with lying by David, Psa_52:3; but it is not at all improbable that David should desire him to inquire of the Lord for him, and that he did; and he seems to acknowledge it, 1Sa_22:15; but according to the Jewish writers Doeg meant by this to prove a charge of treason both against David and Ahimelech; that the former made himself king, and the latter owned him to be so, since inquiry by Urim and Thummim was not made for a private person, but for a king (e): and gave him victuals; hallowed bread, loaves of shewbread, which none but priests might eat of; such was his kindness to him: and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine; which David took from him, and slew him with it. All this was true, but then he acted the deceitful part, with which he is charged in the above psalms, in not declaring how David had imposed upon the priest, by pretending he was sent in haste on the king's business; which was the reason he was so ill provided with servants, food, and armour; which if Doeg had reported faithfully, as he ought to have done, would have saved the credit and life of the priest, and of his family.

JAMISON, "he inquired of the Lord for him — Some suppose that this was a malicious fiction of Doeg to curry favor with the king, but Ahimelech seems to acknowledge the fact. The poor simple-minded high priest knew nothing of the existing family feud between Saul and David. The informer, if he knew it, said nothing of the cunning artifice by which David obtained the aid of Ahimelech. The facts looked against him, and the whole priesthood along with him were declared abettors of conspiracy [1Sa_22:16, 1Sa_22:17].ELLICOTT, " (10) And he enquired of the Lord for him.—This is, however, by no means certain (see below); nothing was said about the Urim and Thummim being brought out and questioned by the high priest on the occasion of David’s visit. It is possible that Doeg was misled here by the fact of the high priest’s going into the sanctuary, where the ephod was, to fetch the sword of Goliath for David. This famous sword was laid up, we know, behind the ephod.

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BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:10. He inquired of the Lord for him — Some think Doeg slandered Ahimelech in this, because we read nothing of it in the foregoing chapter; and David in the Psalms speaks of his false tongue. But whether or not, he was guilty of great wickedness in concealing part of the truth, which in this case he ought to have declared, for Ahimelech’s just defence; namely, the artifice whereby David had deceived him, making him believe that he was going on the king’s business; so that the service which Ahimelech did to David was designed in honour of Saul. And gave him victuals, &c. — Very innocently, as Doeg very well knew. But he represented these as acts whereby Ahimelech had aided and abetted David in a conspiracy; which are the lies that David lays to his charge, nothing being further from the truth.WHEDON, "10. He inquired of the Lord for him — We have no account of this in the narrative of David’s interview with Ahimelech, (1 Samuel 21:1-9;) and Doeg’s statement was probably only the bold utterance of his own suspicions; but the priest’s words in 1 Samuel 22:15 imply that he was in the habit of inquiring of the Lord for David. This was not the first time that he sought by urim to obtain Divine counsel for this most faithful of all the royal servants.

11 Then the king sent for the priest Ahimelek son of Ahitub and all the men of his family, who were the priests at Nob, and they all came to the king.

GILL, "Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub,.... Sent messengers to him, and summoned him to appear before him: and all his father's house; the family of Eli, which God had threatened to destroy, and now the time was hastening on: the priests that were in Nob; in which dwelt none but priests, at least these were the chief of the inhabitants, and therefore called the city of the priests, 1Sa_22:19,

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and they came all of them to the king; not being conscious of any evil they had committed, or that could be charged upon them; or otherwise they would not have appeared, but would have fled to David for protection.

HENRY, "Ahimelech is seized, or summoned rather to appear before the king, and upon this indictment he is arraigned. The king sent for him and all the priests who then attended the sanctuary, whom he supposed to be aiding and abetting; and they, not being conscious of any guilt, and therefore not apprehensive of any danger, came all of them to the king (1Sa_22:11), and none of them attempted to make an escape, or to flee to David for shelter, as they would have done now that he had set up his standard if they had been as much in his interests as Saul suspected they were. Saul arraigns Ahimelech himself with the utmost disdain and indignation (1Sa_22:12): Hear now, thou son of Ahitub; not so much as calling him by his name, much less giving him his title of distinction. By this it appears that he had cast off the fear of God, that he showed no respect at all to his priests, but took a pleasure in affronting them and insulting them. Ahimelech holds up his hand at the bar in those words: “Here I am, my lord, ready to hear my charge, knowing I have done no wrong.” He does not object to the jurisdiction of Saul's court, nor insist upon an exemption as a priest, no, not though he is a high priest, to which office that of the judge, or chief magistrate, had not long since been annexed; but Saul having now the sovereignty vested in him, in things pertaining to the king, even the high priest sets himself on a level with common Israelites. Let every soul be subject (even clergymen) to the higher powers.PULPIT 11-13, "1Sa_22:11-13All his father’s house. Doeg’s suggestion that the priests were David’s allies at once arouses all Saul’s worst passions. As if he had determined from the first upon the massacre of the whole body, he sends not merely for Ahimelech, but forevery priest at Nob. Shortly afterwards they arrived, for Nob was close to Gibeah, and Saul himself arraigns them before the court for treason, and recapitulates the three points mentioned by Doeg as conclusive proofs of their guilt.

PETT, "1 Samuel 22:11

‘Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nob, and all of them came to the king.’

Suitably stirred in his suspicions Saul sent for Ahimelech, and along with them ‘all his house’. This last fact already demonstrates that Saul had evil intentions towards them. He was looking for scapegoats. And that in spite of the fact that almost everyone would have recognised that Ahimelech was probably guiltless. Why should he have suspected the

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king’s son-in-law? It is doubtful if the majority of the priests wanted to come. Saul’s unaccountable moods were well known. But they had no choice but to obey a royal command, and no doubt came fearfully.

COFFMAN, "Verse 11

SAUL'S MURDER OF THE EIGHTY-FIVE PRIESTS OF NOB

"Then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests who were at Nob; and all of them came to the king. And Saul said, "Hear now, son of Ahitub." And he answered, "Here am I, my lord." And Saul said to him, "Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, so that he is risen against me, to lie in wait, as at this day."? Then Ahimelech answered the king, "And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and captain over your bodyguard, and honored in your house? Is today the first time that I have inquired of God for him? No! Let not the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father; for our servant has known nothing of all this, much or little." And the king said, "You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's house." And the king said to the guard who stood about him, "Turn and kill the priests of the Lord; because their hand also is with David, and they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me." But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn and fall upon the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both men and women, children and sucklings, oxen, asses and sheep, he put to the sword."

By this murder of a whole city of the priests of the Lord, Saul, in a sense, declared war on God Himself. Satan, at this point, dominated the will of Saul completely. How incredible is it that the man who refused to execute the [~cherem] or the "ban" against the Amalekites, even though God had commanded it, in this shameful episode executed the ban upon one of the cities of his own kingdom, "The city of the priests of the Lord"!

By thus ordering the destruction of Nob in the manner of the "ban" ([~cherem]), as God had commanded the children of Israel regarding Jericho, "Saul so completely identified his revenge with the cause of Jehovah that he avenged an imaginary conspiracy against himself, identifying it as treason against Jehovah,"[7] and ordered Doeg to destroy Nob.

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In this bloody and unscrupulous murder of so many, one must recall the judgment that the "man of God" pronounced against the house of Eli (1 Samuel 2:27-36). Of course, in this destruction, Abiathar escaped; but in time, the judgment of God overcame him also.

HAWKER, "Verses 11-15(11) Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. (12) And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. (13) And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (14) Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? (15) Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

I never read the process of an unjust tribunal like this of Saul's, but I desire to have my thoughts directed, by the Holy Ghost to contemplate thy matchless humbleness and purity of soul, dearest Jesus, when, before Pontius Pilate, thou didst witness a good confession. The conscious rectitude of Ahimelech in the instance before us, lovely as it is, sinks to nothing in the comparison. Who is faithful among all the Lord's servants, as the servant whom Jehovah had chosen? And yet was not he accused of blasphemy? Oh! thou Lamb of God, who didst endure such a contradiction of sinners against thyself. Hebrews 12:3.

12 Saul said, “Listen now, son of Ahitub.” “Yes, my lord,” he answered.

GILL, "And Saul said, hear now, thou son of Ahitub,.... The charge exhibited against him; in contempt of him, he does not so much as call him by his name, nor give him the title of his office, as high priest; though he was the

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second person in the kingdom, and to whose office a few years ago the civil government was annexed: and he answered, here I am, my lord; giving due honour to Saul, though he received none from him, and appearing with great boldness, as having a clear conscience, and so ready to hear what was to be said unto him.

HENRY, "Saul arraigns Ahimelech himself with the utmost disdain and indignation (1Sa_22:12): Hear now, thou son of Ahitub; not so much as calling him by his name, much less giving him his title of distinction. By this it appears that he had cast off the fear of God, that he showed no respect at all to his priests, but took a pleasure in affronting them and insulting them. Ahimelech holds up his hand at the bar in those words: “Here I am, my lord, ready to hear my charge, knowing I have done no wrong.” He does not object to the jurisdiction of Saul's court, nor insist upon an exemption as a priest, no, not though he is a high priest, to which office that of the judge, or chief magistrate, had not long since been annexed; but Saul having now the sovereignty vested in him, in things pertaining to the king, even the high priest sets himself on a level with common Israelites. Let every soul be subject (even clergymen) to the higher powers.PETT, "1 Samuel 22:12‘And Saul said, “Hear now, you son of Ahitub.” And he answered, “Here I am, my lord.” ’Saul addresses him as ‘you son of Ahitub’. That was not a very promising beginning. To speak of a man in that way was usually seen as insulting, as though he was not worthy of his own name being given. But Ahimelech replied respectfully, and openly. His conscience was clear.

13 Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, giving him bread and a sword and inquiring of God for him, so that he has rebelled against me and lies in wait for me, as he does today?”

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GILL, "Saul arraigns Ahimelech himself with the utmost disdain and indignation (1Sa_22:12): Hear now, thou son of Ahitub; not so much as calling him by his name, much less giving him his title of distinction. By this it appears that he had cast off the fear of God, that he showed no respect at all to his priests, but took a pleasure in affronting them and insulting them. Ahimelech holds up his hand at the bar in those words: “Here I am, my lord, ready to hear my charge, knowing I have done no wrong.” He does not object to the jurisdiction of Saul's court, nor insist upon an exemption as a priest, no, not though he is a high priest, to which office that of the judge, or chief magistrate, had not long since been annexed; but Saul having now the sovereignty vested in him, in things pertaining to the king, even the high priest sets himself on a level with common Israelites. Let every soul be subject (even clergymen) to the higher powers.

HENRY, "His indictment is read to him (1Sa_22:13), that he, as a false traitor, had joined himself with the son of Jesse in a plot to depose and murder the king. “His design” (says Saul) “was to rise up against me, and thou didst assist him with victuals and arms.” See what bad constructions the most innocent actions are liable to, how unsafe those are that live under a tyrannical government, and what reason we have to be thankful for the happy constitution and administration of the government we are under.PETT, "1 Samuel 22:13‘And Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread, and a sword, and have enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?” ’As with the case of Jonathan in verse 8 Saul links Ahimelech with ‘the son of Jesse’ (another insulting expression) as though the two had been conniving together. But the things included in the charge were innocent enough. He had simply provided David with bread and a sword and guidance from YHWH because he had thought that he was there in the service of Saul. These were innocent enough things if provided to someone about whom he had no suspicion. ELLICOTT, "(13) And hast enquired of God for him.—This using of the Urim and Thummim for David is again repeated by the king. It seems in Saul’s eyes to have been the gravest of the charges imputed to the high priest by Doeg, for Ahimelech specially in his defence recurs to this point with

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peculiar insistence: the only charge, as it appears, to which Ahimelech deigned to reply, “Did I then begin to enquire of God for him?” (1 Samuel 22:15).

14 Ahimelek answered the king, “Who of all your servants is as loyal as David, the king’s son-in-law, captain of your bodyguard and highly respected in your household?

BARNES, "Goeth at thy bidding - Better, “has access to thy (private) audience,” or council (compare 2Sa_23:23, margin).

CLARKE, "And who is so faithful - The word נאמן neeman, which we here translate faithful, is probably the name of an officer. See the note on Num_12:7.

GILL, "Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said,.... First with respect to David, and then with regard to himself; with respect to David as follows: and who is so faithful amongst thy servants as David; I considered him, as if he should say, as a servant of thine, upon an errand of thine, and doing thy business; and as a faithful one, none more so, and as such I valued and regarded him, not as a rebel to thee, having no such thought of him: which is the king's son in law; who has behaved himself so well, and thou hast entertained such an opinion of him, as to take him into thy family, and marry thy daughter to him; wherefore showing him favour, and doing him honour, was doing honour to thee and thy family, and surely there can be no blame in that: and goeth at thy bidding; has always been ready to execute thy commands, and obey thine orders, let them be what they will; as to go out against an

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enemy, and fight Saul's battles for him: and is honourable in thine house? behaved honourably there, and highly esteemed by all, as well as had the honour bestowed upon him to be the king's son-in-law, and made captain of a thousand; and therefore who could think that showing respect to such a man could be deemed treason and conspiracy, or he be thought to be a traitor to the king? and then with respect to himself he answers,

HENRY, " To this indictment he pleads, Not guilty, 1Sa_22:14, 1Sa_22:15. He owns the fact, but denies that he did it traitorously or maliciously, or with any design against the king. He pleads that he was so far from knowing of any quarrel between Saul and David that he really took David to have been then as much in favour at court as ever he had been. Observe, He does not plead that David had told him an untruth, and with that had imposed upon him, though really it was so, because he would not proclaim the weakness of so good a man, no, not for his own vindication, especially to Saul, who sought all occasions against him; but he insists upon the settled reputation David had as the most faithful of all the servants of Saul, the honour the king had put upon him in marrying his daughter to him, the use the king had often made of him, and the trust he had reposed on him: “He goes at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house, and therefore any one would think it a meritorious piece of service to the crown to show him respect, so far from apprehending it to be a crime.” He pleads that he had been wont to enquire of God for him when he was sent by Saul upon any expedition, and did it now as innocently as ever he had done it. He protests his abhorrence of the thought of being in a plot against the king: “Be it far from me. I mind my own business, and meddle not with state matters.” He begs the king's favour: “Let him not impute any crime to us;” and concludes with a declaration of his innocency: Thy servant knew nothing of all this.Could any man plead with more evidences of sincerity? Had he been tried by a jury of honest Israelites, he would certainly have been acquitted, for who can find any fault in him? But,PULPIT, "1Sa_22:14-16Ahimelech’s answers are those of an innocent man who had supposed that what he did was a matter of course. But his enumeration of David’s privileges of rank and station probably only embittered the king. In his eyes David was of all Saul s officers the most faithful, both trusty and trusted (see on 1Sa_2:35). He was, moreover, the king’s son-in-law; but the next words, he goeth at thy bidding, more probably mean, "has admission to thy audience," i.e. is thy privy councillor, with the right of entering unbidden the royal presence. Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? Though the meaning of these words is disputed, yet there seems no sufficient reason for taking them in any other than their natural sense. It was probably usual to consult God by the Urim and Thummim on all matters of importance, and David, as a high officer of Saul’s court, must often have done so before

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starting on such expeditions as are referred to in 1Sa_18:13. But the Bible is singularly reticent in such matters, and it is only incidentally that we learn how fully the Mosaic law entered into the daily life of the people. But for this frightful crime we should not even have known that Saul had brought the ark into his own neighbourhood, and restored the services of the sanctuary. But just as he took care to have Ahiah in attendance upon him in war, so we cannot doubt but that his main object in placing the priests at Nob was to have the benefit of the Divine counsel in his wars. It would be quite unreasonable to suppose that such consultations required the king’s personal attendance. Thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. Whatever Ahimelech had done had been in perfect good faith, and though David’s conduct must have seemed to him suspicious, yet there was nothing that would have justified him in acting differently. Nevertheless, in spite of his transparent innocence, Saul orders the slaughter not only of God’s high priest, but of the whole body of the priesthood whom he had placed at Nob, and now had summoned for this ferocious purpose into his presence.K&D 14-15, "On receiving this information, Saul immediately summoned

the priest Ahimelech and “all his father's house,” i.e., the whole priesthood, to Nob, to answer for what they had done. To Saul's appeal, “Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, by giving him bread?” Ahimelech, who was not conscious of any such crime, since David had come to him with a false pretext, and the priest had probably but very little knowledge of what took place at court, replied both calmly and worthily (1Sa_22:14): “And who of all thy servants is so faithful (proved, attested, as in Num_12:7) as David, and son-in-law of the king, and having access to thy private audience, and honoured in thy house?” The true explanation of ֶאל־ִמְׁשַמְעֶּת ָסר may be gathered from a comparison of 2Sa_23:23 and 1Ch_11:25, where ִמְׁשַמַעת occurs again, as the context clearly shows, in the sense of a privy councillor of the king, who hears his personal revelations and converses with him about them, so that it corresponds to our “audience.” סּור, lit. to turn aside from the way, to go in to any one, or to look after anything (Exo_3:3; Rth_4:1, etc.); hence in the passage before us “to have access,” to be attached to a person. This is the explanation given by Gesenius and most of the modern expositors, whereas the early translators entirely misunderstood the passage, though they have given the meaning correctly enough at 2Sa_23:23. But if this was the relation in which David stood to Saul, - and he had really done so for a long time, - there was nothing wrong in what the high priest had done for him; but he had acted according to the best of his knowledge, and quite conscientiously as a faithful subject of the king. Ahimelech then added still further (1Sa_22:15): “Did I then begin to inquire of God for him this day?” i.e., was it the first time that I had obtained the decision of God for David concerning important enterprises, which he had to carry out in the service of the king? “Far be from me,” sc., any conspiracy against the king, like that of which I am accused. “Let not the king lay it as a burden upon thy servant, my whole father's house (the omission of the cop. ו before ְּבָכל־ֵּכית may be accounted for from the excitement of the speaker); for thy servant knows not the least of all this.”

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.of all that Saul had charged him with ,ְּבָכל־זֹאת

BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:14. Ahimelech said, Who is so faithful, &c. — Or, rather, Who was so faithful, &c.; for it cannot be supposed, after Saul had just accused David of a conspiracy against him, that the high-priest would say he was then faithful. His apology, which sufficiently shows his innocence as to the things of which Saul accuses him, is, that since David had been held by all to be a most loyal subject, as well as a person of great honour, and in high favour with the king, having married his daughter, what could he think but that David was sent by the king, as he said he was, upon some business of public concern? Thus he does not take upon him to determine the difference between Saul and David, nor affirm what David now was; but only declares what David had formerly been, and what he was still, for any thing he knew to the contrary.PETT, "1 Samuel 22:14‘Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “And who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is taken into your council, and is honourable in your house?”Indeed, Ahimelech made his position clear. Why should he have been suspicious of a man who had served Saul faithfully, who was his son-in-law, who had constant audience with Saul, and had an honoured position in his house? The description is not only intended by the writer to be a defence, but also to be a true description of the character of David. He wanted all to recognise that this really was what David was like, an honourable and trustworthy courtier and commander. ELLICOTT, "(14) Who is so faithful among all thy servants?—The words of the high priest were quiet and dignified, and no doubt spoke the general sentiments of the people respecting David. What he—the guardian of the sanctuary—had done, he had done as a matter of course for one so closely related to the king—for one, too, ever loyal and devoted as David had ever proved himself.COKE, "1 Samuel 22:14. And goeth at thy bidding— Who is a prince under thy command. LXX, and Houbigant. See ch. 1 Samuel 21:1-2. Ahimelech's apology sufficiently shews his innocence. Saul's charge was, that he had conspired with David against him. What proof does he alledge? That he had given him bread and a sword, and had enquired of God for him. What was his vindication? And who amongst all thy servants is like David; faithful—and the king's son-in-law, &c.? He owns that he gave him bread and a sword, because he believed him to be the most faithful of all the king's servants; because he thought him employed in an affair of consequence for him; knew him diligent in executing his orders; and that he was of the highest esteem

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in his family: upon which accounts it was impossible that he could ever be justly thought to enter into conspiracy with him against his sovereign; and even Saul himself would have deeply resented it, had he refused thus to supply him upon any other occasion. As to the other part of the charge, his enquiring of God for him, Ahimelech replies, Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: or, "It is only what I have often done before, and that without any suspicion or blame," as some, and particularly Josephus, understand the words. Ant. Jud. l. vi. c. 12. sect. 5.But it should be observed, that the sacred historian makes no mention at all of Ahimelech's consulting God for David. It was, indeed, what Doeg charged him with; but, I think, falsely and maliciously, only to heighten the king's resentment against the priests; and therefore the words may be very naturally so interpreted as to imply an absolute denial of the charge. "Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? I never did it before, nor did I begin to do it now." The verb החלתי hachillothi which we render begin, is frequently used almost as an expletive; not to denote the first beginning of an action, but the action itself as begun and finished. See Judges 20:31. Numbers 25:1. This vindication was honest and sufficient; but what was the effect of it? a resolution worthy of the tyrant that made it.

15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Of course not! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of his father’s family, for your servant knows nothing at all about this whole affair.”

BARNES, "Did I then begin ... - Some lay the stress upon the word “begin,” as though Ahimelech’s justification was that he had often before inquired of the Lord for David when employed on the king’s affairs. But it is much better to understand the words as Ahimelech’s solemn denial of having inquired of the Lord for David, a duty which he owed to Saul alone as king of Israel. The force of the word “begin” lies in this, that it would have been his first act of allegiance to David and defection from Saul. This he strenuously

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repudiates, and adds, “thy servant knew nothing of all this” conspiracy between Jonathan and David of which Saul speaks: he had acted quite innocently.

CLARKE, "Did I then begin to inquire of God - He probably means that his inquiring now for David was no new thing, having often done so before, and without ever being informed it was either wrong in itself, or displeasing to the king. Nor is it likely that Ahimelech knew of any disagreement between Saul and David. He knew him to be the king’s son-in-law, and he treated him as such.

GILL, "Did I then begin to inquire of God for him?.... Was this the first time of inquiring of God for him? no; I have done this many a time, when he has been going upon the king's business, engaging in war with his enemies; he has then consulted the Lord by me, and I have inquired of the Lord for him, as I now did; and which I did as innocently, and as much for the king's service, as ever I did any. Kimchi observes it may be read without the interrogation, "that day I began to inquire of God for him"; it was the first time I ever did, and I did not know it would have been grievous to thee, or have given thee any disturbance or uneasiness. I did not know that he fled from thee, or was not in thy service, and upon thy business; had I known it, I would never have done it, and as it is the first time it shall be the last: be it far from me; from doing such a thing, had I known it to be disagreeable to thee, or how David stood with thee: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; charge me or them with the crime of treason, or conspiracy against him, or with aiding:, assisting, and abetting traitors and conspirators: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more; was entirely ignorant of this affair; which plain, honest, account of things, one might have thought, would have been satisfying to Saul; but it seems it was not by what follows.PETT, "1 Samuel 22:15“Have I today begun to enquire of God for him? Be it far from me. Do not let the king impute anything to his servant, nor to all the house of my father, for your servant knows nothing of all this, less or more.”He pointed out further that his enquiring of YHWH on his behalf was not a new thing as though he had not done it before. He had often enquired of YHWH for him, and no one had ever suggested that it was wrong. Thus it was far from the truth to suggest that by it he was in any way conspiring

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with him. And thus he asked the king not to read anything into it that was not true, both for his own sake, and for the sake of his father’s house whom he recognised to be in some danger, otherwise they would not have been there. The propensity of kings for widespread slaughter when they suspected treason was far too well known to be ignored. And he ended up by taking any guilt on himself, while assuring Saul that it would not be justified. The truth was, he urged, that he knew nothing of any conspiracy.ELLICOTT, " (15) Did I then begin to enquire?—The English translation of the Hebrew here would imply that David had on many previous occasions received through him (the high priest) Divine directions from the Urim and Thummim. “Did I that day begin to enquire?” Abarbanel gives an alternative rendering: “That was the first day that I enquired of God for him, and I did not know that it was displeasing to thee.” Another rendering is: “Did I enquire?” in a negative sense, suggesting the reply “No, I did not.” On the whole, the alternative rendering suggested by Abarbanel, quoted in Lange, is the best: “That was the first day, &c.” And the reason why Ahimelech allowed the sacred Urim to be consulted was that he supposed David was come (as he represented) on a mission direct from King Saul. Surely, thought the blameless high priest, I never supposed my king would have been wroth with me for that.If we render as in the English Version, which has the support of many scholars and versions, the only possible explanation of the words, “Did I that day begin to enquire?” is to suppose that David had been in the habit of consulting the Urim on special occasions for the king. The king, when there was a king in Israel, it is nearly certain, alone had this right. The Talmud teaching here is most definite; and it is a point in which the Talmud tradition may be looked on as authoritative. “The Rabbis have taught—How were the Urim and Thummim oracularly consulted? The king or the chief of the legislative administration, who alone had the privilege of consulting the Urim, stood facing the priest, and the priest was facing the Shekinah and the ‘Shem-hammephorash,’ the ineffable name deposited with the Urim within the breastplate.”—Treatise Yoma, fol. 73, cols. 1, 2.BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:15. Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? — These words do not necessarily imply that Ahimelech had inquired of God for David. Doeg indeed charged him with doing it, but as the sacred historian has made no mention of any such thing, it is probable that he charged him falsely and maliciously, and with a view to heighten the king’s resentment against the priests. Ahimelech’s words may be very naturally so interpreted, as Dr. Dodd has observed, as to imply an absolute denial of the charge. “Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. I never did it before, nor did I begin to do it now.” The verb החל, hechel, (from חלל, chelel,) which we render begin, is frequently a mere expletive, denoting not the first beginning of an action, but the action itself, as begun and finished. “This vindication was honest and sufficient; but what was the effect of it? A resolution worthy the tyrant that made it.” — Chandler. Thy servant knew nothing of all this — Of any design against thee.

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16 But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelek, you and your whole family.”

GILL, "And the king said, thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech,.... He pronounces the sentence himself, without taking the opinion and advice of others, or further time; which was an act of arbitrary power, and upon an innocent person, which was an act of great injustice: thou, and all thy father's house; more unrighteous still; but God suffered him to do this to fulfil his will, and execute his threatenings against the house of Eli, which was this priest's father's house, for former wickedness; but this is no excuse for, nor extenuation of the sin of, Saul.

HENRY, "Saul himself gives judgment against him (1Sa_22:16): Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, as a rebel, thou and all thy father's house.What could be more unjust? I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there, Ecc_3:16. (1.) It was unjust that Saul should himself, himself alone, give judgment in his own cause, without any appeal to judge or prophet, to his privy council, or to a council of war. (2.) That so fair a plea should be overruled and rejected without any reason given, or any attempt to disprove the allegations of it, but purely with a high hand. (3.) That sentence should be passed so hastily and with so much precipitation, the judge taking no time himself to consider of it, nor allowing the prisoner any time to move in arrest of judgment. (4.) That the sentence should be passed not only on Ahimelech, himself, who was the only person accused by Doeg, but on all his father's house, against whom nothing was alleged: must the children be put to death for the fathers? (5.) That the sentence should be pronounced in passion, not for the support of justice, but for the gratification of his brutish rage.

K&D, "Notwithstanding this truthful assertion of his innocence, Saul pronounced sentence of death, not only upon the high priest, but upon all the priests at Nob, and commanded his ָרִצים, “runner,” i.e., halberdiers, to

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put the priests to death, because, as he declared in his wrath, “their hand is with David (i.e., because they side with David), and because they knew that he fled and did not tell me.” Instead of the Chethibh it is probably more ,ָאזנcorrect to read ָאְזִני, according to the Keri, although the Chethibh may be accounted for if necessary from a sudden transition from a direct to an indirect form of address: “and (as he said) had not told him.” This sentence was so cruel, and so nearly bordering upon madness, that the halberdiers would not carry it out, but refused to lay hands upon “the priests of Jehovah.”

GUZIK 16=19, "(1Sa_22:16-19) Saul commands the execution of the priests and their families, and Doeg the Edomite carries it out.And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” Then the king said to the guards who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not tell it to me.” But the servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the LORD. And the king said to Doeg, “You turn and kill the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests, he struck with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and nursing infants, oxen and donkeys and sheep; with the edge of the sword.

a. “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and your father’s house!” Any man in the place of sin and rebellion Saul is in can’t stand to see an innocent, guileless man like Ahimelech not in agreement with him. So, he commands him to be murdered.i. This command shows Saul is going faster and faster down the decline away from the LORD. He had tried to kill David many times before, and had even tried to kill his own son. But now he commands the death of complete bystanders to the problem. He commands the death of priests of the LORD. And he commands the death of their families.ii. Saul was reluctant to kill the enemies of the LORD when he was commanded to (1Sa_15:9). But here he isn’t reluctant to murder the priests of the LORD in cold blood. Saul is clearly going off the deep end. “His anger was bent against the Lord himself, for taking away his kingdom, and giving it to another: and because he could not come at the Lord, therefore he wreaketh his rage upon his priests.” (Trapp)iii. “This is one of the worst acts in the life of Saul; his malice was implacable, and his wrath was cruel, and there is no motive of justice or policy by which such a barbarous act can be justified.” (Clarke) “A bloody sentence, harshly pronounced and as rashly executed, without any pause or deliberation, without any remorse or regret. This was the worst act that ever Saul did.” (Trapp)

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iv. “What a warning is here that we should not yield to the first intrusion of evil, lest the thought should lead to the act, and repeated acts to the habit, and habits congeal to character, and character become set in destiny!” (Meyer)b. The servants of the king would not lift their hands to strike the priests of the LORD. To their credit, Saul’s servants feared God more than Saul, and refused to murder the priests.c. So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck the priests: Doeg, who was not a Jew, but an Edomite, didn’t hesitate to murder the priests and their families. Apparently, when Doeg was detained before the LORDat the tabernacle (1Sa_21:7), it didn’t change his heart at all.

PETT, "Verse 16‘And the king said, “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you, and all your father’s house.”But Saul was not listening. Ahimelech had admitted offering David help and so he and his whole house must die whether they had intended a conspiracy or not. For by their actions they had specifically injured the sacred person of the king. While this verdict might have been acceptable in a foreign court where such standards applied, it was not seemly for a king of Israel who was supposed to uphold God’s Law. But that is the point that is being made here. Saul was putting himself above God’s Law. He was ignoring all the claims of justice. It will also be noted that there was only one witness. In Israelite law that was insufficient to bring a conviction (Deuteronomy 19:15). It may be that Saul would have claimed that Ahimelech was himself the second witness, but in that case it would not have applied to the other priests. And in any case a man could not be convicted on what was not really a confession. Everything is wrong with this verdict. Saul is being shown up as totally unjust. BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:16-17. Thou shalt surely die, thou and all thy father’s house — A cruel resolution; for what had the rest of the priests done to deserve such a bloody execution? The servants of the king would not, &c. — In this, undoubtedly, they were praiseworthy; but had been more so had they courageously taken the part of these innocent persons, and remonstrated to Saul against his cruelty, as contrary to all the laws of God and man. And if their reasons and prayers had proved ineffectual, they should have treated this command as the dictate of Saul’s melancholy or evil spirit, and have given the priests some opportunity to escape out of his hands, instead of standing tamely to see them fall, contrary to all laws, divine or human, by the hands of a ruffian, the minister of a tyrant’s cruelty.HAWKER, "Verses 11-15

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(11) Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. (12) And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. (13) And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (14) Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? (15) Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.I never read the process of an unjust tribunal like this of Saul's, but I desire to have my thoughts directed, by the Holy Ghost to contemplate thy matchless humbleness and purity of soul, dearest Jesus, when, before Pontius Pilate, thou didst witness a good confession. The conscious rectitude of Ahimelech in the instance before us, lovely as it is, sinks to nothing in the comparison. Who is faithful among all the Lord's servants, as the servant whom Jehovah had chosen? And yet was not he accused of blasphemy? Oh! thou Lamb of God, who didst endure such a contradiction of sinners against thyself. Hebrews 12:3.

17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.

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CLARKE, "But the servants of the king would not - They dared to disobey the commands of the king in a case of such injustice, inhumanity, and irreligion.

GILL, "And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him,.... Or the "runners" (f); the running footmen, that used to run before him when he went out from place to place, and were here waiting on him, ready to set out whenever he should give the orders to go elsewhere. The tradition of the Jews is, that these were Abner and Amasa (g); but, as Kimchi observes, they were not footmen, but princes, captains in the army, and the first of them the general of it: turn and slay the priests of the Lord; he owns them to be the priests of the Lord, and calls them so, and yet gave orders to put them to death, though innocent; one would have thought this their character would have flown in his face, and stung his conscience, and deterred him from so foul a fact: because their hand also is with David; as well as Ahimelech; which did not at all appear, nor that they had so much as seen him at Nob, only Ahimelech; and still less that they had entered into a conspiracy with him: and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me; which also was false; they knew nothing of the flight of David, and therefore could not discover it to the king: but the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord; their consciences would not suffer them to do it; they refused to obey the king's orders, and chose rather to expose themselves to his resentment, than to be guilty of such a crime. Saul's footmen had more sense of honour, justice, and truth, than he himself had, and were worthy of praise; but they would have been deserving of more, if they could not have prevailed upon him by entreaties and remonstrances to have forborne such a bloody execution, instead of being the tame spectators of it, they had taken him, and bound him as a madman, and so facilitated the escape of the priests, and prevented this shocking scene of wickedness.

HENRY, "He issues out a warrant (a verbal warrant only) for the immediate execution of this bloody sentence.

(1.) He ordered his footmen to be the executioners of this sentence, but they refused, 1Sa_22:17. Hereby he intended to put a further disgrace upon the priests; they may not die by the hands of the men of war (as 1Ki_2:29) or his usual ministers of justice, but his footmen must triumph over them, and wash their hands in their blood. [1.] Never was the command of a prince more barbarously given: Turn and slay the priests of the Lord. This is 93

spoken with such an air of impiety as can scarcely be paralleled. Had he seemed to forget their sacred office or relation to God, and taken no notice of that, he would thereby have intimated some regret that men of that character should fall under his displeasure; but to call them the priests of the Lord, when he ordered his footmen to cut their throats, looked as if, upon that very account, he hated them. God having rejected him, and ordered another to be anointed in his room, he seems well pleased with this opportunity of being revenged on the priests of the Lord, since God himself was out of his reach. What wickedness will not the evil spirit hurry men to, when he gets the dominion! He alleged, in his order that which was utterly false and unproved to him, that they knew when David fled; whereas they knew nothing of the matter. But malice and murder are commonly supported with lies. [2.] Never was the command of a prince more honourably disobeyed. The footmen had more sense and grace than their master. Though they might expect to be turned out of their places, if not punished and put to death for their refusal, yet, come on them what would, they would not offer to fall upon the priests of the Lord, such a reverence had they for their office, and such a conviction of their innocence.

JAMISON, "1Sa_22:17-19. Saul commands to kill the priests.the footmen that stood about him — his bodyguard, or his runners (1Sa_8:11; 2Sa_15:1; 1Ki_1:5; 1Ki_14:28), who held an important place at court (2Ch_12:10). But they chose rather to disobey the king than to offend God by imbruing their hands in the blood of his ministering servants. A foreigner alone (Psa_52:1-3) could be found willing to be the executioner of this bloody and sacrilegious sentence. Thus was the doom of the house of Eli fulfilled [1Sa_2:30-36].

PETT, "Verse 17‘And the king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn, and slay the priests of YHWH, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he fled, and did not disclose it to me.” But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall on the priests of YHWH.’This fact is then accentuated by what follows. For when Saul calls on his guard to slay the priests of Nob because Ahimelech had clearly favoured David against the king, and had not disclosed to him that David had fled, they refused to respond. They were very unwilling to ‘fall on the priests of YHWH’, especially on so flimsy a verdict. It is interesting that his own failure to react against them indicated that Saul too understood their qualms. It was because he was theoretically a Yahwist himself that he did so. He could therefore quite understand their reservations. But that being so it should have made him pull himself up and question what he was doing. Instead it simply made him look for someone less squeamish. he is revealed

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as clearly having no excuse for what he was doing.So again the writer is bringing out the enormity of what Saul was doing. It could not fail to resound against him before the whole of Israel, and would for ever demonstrate to the discerning that he was rejected by YHWH. For he was not only behaving unjustly and contrary to the Law, but was also doing it towards those who were holy to YHWH. He was falsely judging and slaughtering people who were YHWH’s own. It was sacrilege of the worst kind. It was the action of a man beyond the pale.“The guard.” Literally ‘the runners’, e.g. those who ran before him and attended him (compare 8:11, and see the use of the same word in 2 Kings 10:25). ELLICOTT, " (17) The footmen.—“Footmen,” literally runners. These “guards,” or “lictors,” were men who ran by the royal chariot as an escort. They are still the usual attendants of any great man in the East. From long habit they were able to maintain a great speed for a long time. (See 1 Samuel 8:11, where Samuel tells the children of Israel how the king of the future, whom they asked for, would take some of them to “run before his chariot.” See, too, for an example of the power of running in old times, 1 Kings 18:46, when Elijah outstripped the chariot of Ahab.)But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand.—“And thus they were more faithful to Saul than if they had obeyed his order, which was against the commandment of the Lord, whose servant the king was no less than they.”—Wordsworth.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:17-23

The tragedy at Nob.The facts are—1. Saul commands his guards to slay the priests of Nob, but they refuse.2. Thereupon he commands Doeg to effect their death, who slays eighty-five priests, and procures the destruction of the entire city.3. Abiathar, escaping to David, makes known to him what has happened.4. David perceives that his presence at Nob was the occasion of this sad calamity, and admits that he feared the course Doeg would take.5. He encourages Abiathar to remain with him, and assures him of safety. This section sets forth Saul’s conduct in the darkest characters, and brings out a turn in the course of events of great consequence to David, while at the same time illustrating several important truths.

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I. SINFUL MEN ARE SOMETIMES THE INSTRUMENTS OF FULFILLING DIVINE PREDICTIONS OF JUDGMENT. It had been declared as a judgment on the house of Eli that terrible things should befall his descendants (1Sa_2:31-36; 1Sa_3:11-14). In the fearful destruction at Nob this prediction was partly fulfilled. The sins of Saul brought on retribution for the sins of Eli and his sons. In this we have an instance of frequent occurrence in human history, both of nations and individuals. The savage ambition of Rome realised the truth of our Saviour’s words concerning the judgment due to impenitent Jerusalem (Mat_23:34-38; Luk_21:20-24). The untruthful conduct of Jacob was most severely chastised by the lying tongues of his sons who conspired against his favourite Joseph; just as now the judgment due to a parent for irreligious example in the home is often realised in the open vices of his children, which perhaps ruin his health and fortune. In all these cases we have to distinguish between the just purpose of God to visit sin by future retribution, and the free action of the men who are the means of bringing it to pass. Had pestilence, or plagues, or earthquakes bean more in the line of natural order just then, these would have conserved the Divine purpose. But man’s sinful action, free, responsible, was the agency used, thus illustrating the statement which sometimes perplexes superficial students of the Bible—"the wicked, which is thy sword" (Psa_17:13). The metaphysical question, involved in this conjunction of a righteous retribution with the free agency of man in the perpetration of crimes for which alone they are responsible, may be beyond present solution, but the fact is plain. Philosophical difficulties are inherent in common facts, and are not peculiar to theological truth.II. IN ORDINARY MEN RELIGIOUS INSTINCTS ARE STRONGER THAN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS. We need not be surprised that Saul’s Hebrew guards declined to obey his command to slay the "priests of the Lord." No doubt strong reasons were present to prove their loyalty to their king. Not only is loyalty a first principle of action with good subjects, but the fact that he was of their own tribe, and had been their choice out of all Israel (1Sa_10:19-24), must have made them anxious to sustain his authority against all comers. Even the very weaknesses of a monarch will induce some men to put down with strong hand all charged with conspiracy against him, whether or not the charge he fully established. Yet these men had been wont to recognise a higher authority than Saul’s. They belonged to a race whose vocation in the world was of God. All the sanctities of religious worship and ritual, all the rich instruction of their marvellous history, strengthened and purified the instinct that leads man to fear God. To them the high priest and his subordinates were representatives of a sacred order, the exponents of a spiritual power, and it would therefore be violence to all that was sacred, inexpressible, and most influential in their nature were they, out of loyalty to the king or from tribal considerations, to touch the "priests of the Lord." The religious instincts of men are a great power. They not only prompt to actions more or less good according to the degree of enlightenment, but we cannot calculate the vast benefits resulting to mankind by their restraining power. The fact is worthy of much study, and

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the wide world furnishes ample illustrations of its importance. On the nation, the family, and the individual it acts as a conservator of good and a represser of much that would destroy. It is often the only barrier against the tide of passion and ignorance. The wise know how to appeal to it and turn it to their own uses. It is this in men, among other things, which renders null and void all efforts to exterminate Christianity. Men may call reverence for sacred persons and offices superstition, and in extravagant forms the term is fitly applied, yet it is the indication of a governing influence in human affairs superior to all the advances of civilisation. Man must be remade if his life is permanently to be regulated by any principles or opinions at variance with the natural religiousness of his spirit.III. ACTIONS INNOCENT IN INTENTION MAY BE FRAUGHT WITH SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES TO OTHERS. It can scarcely be charged on David that he was guilty of sin in visiting the tabernacle at Nob, seeking there food and shelter, though it may have been an indiscretion. The false representation by reason of which Ahimelech was induced to give him bread and a sword was the real wrong. On a wider survey of facts, and with a juster estimate of the risks of compromising the officials of the sanctuary, he would probably have sought food in some other quarter, or have cried out to God for special deliverance. As it was, his device of being on Saul’s business was evidently intended to save the high priest from the political sin of aiding one outlawed by the king. But his good motives were entirely useless because the overt act was witnessed by an enemy, who, David felt sure, would put on it a construction inconsistent with his own wishes and the knowledge of the high priest. His conduct, therefore, pure in intentions and fenced with precaution, did compromise a band of innocent men, and was, owing to the wickedness of the parties he had to contend with, and not to the natural justice of the case, the occasion of the fearful slaughter of the priests and entire population of the city. The guilt of the slaughter rested on Saul; the occasion for the exercise of the murderous malice was unwittingly created by David. With a sorrowful heart he admits the great woe to have had its origin incidentally in his own action. It is a truism that every action carries with it consequences into the future, in which we ourselves and others are concerned. One of the effects of our action is to prompt the action of other men, or to modify the course which otherwise they would have taken. And as the interests of many may depend not on what we do directly, but on the conduct of others whom we directly affect, it is obvious that it is often possible for us to perform deeds or pursue courses which shall give occasion for other men to perpetrate great wrongs on those we would gladly shield. In that case we are not responsible for their crimes or follies, but we are responsible for any indiscretions which may have given plausible ground for their procedure, or have rendered it possible. But it is only where indiscretions are possible that blame really rests. The wise men from the East, inquiring with all simplicity of purpose for the newborn king, were the occasion of the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem; but though they no doubt were pained, if ever they knew the fact, they were not guilty of any wrong. We cannot always refuse to act because evil men exist. Indiscretion is chargeable where a knowledge of facts and of the probable uses men will make of our deeds is presumably possible. The practical

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bearing of the risks attendant on our actions is to induce extreme caution, to awaken watchfulness, lest by our well intentioned deeds we should compromise others, or give an appearance of reason for wicked men to manifest their wickedness. In the memory of many a man there are records of deeds unwise and out of season, which have left a fatal mark on the world in spite of subsequent efforts of wisdom and goodness. Like David men can say, "I have occasioned" all this.IV. THE DESIGNS OF THE WICKED DEFEAT THEMSELVES. The conflict waged by Saul was, as we have seen, really against the decree of God, but its ostensible object was a plot on the part of David against the throne. Whatever fears Saul may have had concerning Samuel’s sympathy with David, there was no public ground for them in any positive action taken by the prophet in concert with David. What he dreaded most of all was the open espousal of David’s cause by the spiritual power; for the priesthood had immense influence with the people. It was to crush out by one terrible blow any supposed concert that he caused the slaughter at Nob; and it is instructive to observe how this very attempt to deprive David of the official support of the spiritual power really put it on his side. The deeds of bad men are never complete enough for insuring a final triumph; some oversight, some weakness, some so called accident gives occasion for the ultimate frustration of their purpose. By some chance, as men say, Abiathar escaped and went over to David. Saul fell into the pit he had prepared for David (Psa_52:6). There is now a Christian spiritual power, and the truth thus exemplified is especially seen in the great conflict of men against it. The same interests in higher form are still in conflict with opposing forces. Every effort to subvert or crush out the kingdom of God, though it should be a great "slaughter" either of bodies or of characters, develops more life, leads to closer union, throws the Church more on the power and guidance of God, and so prepares the way for a new movement of a higher spiritual character before which the powers of evil must yield. Give time, and the spiritual will triumph.General lessons:—1. In matters of doubt, where evil consequences may possibly ensue from our conduct it is best to abstain from action; for it is a good rule to bar the way to evil by every possible contrivance.2. Where the reputation of others is affected by our conduct we should either seek their consent or avoid a possible compromise of their character.3. Any false step in life is greatly embittered in review if it has been attended with untruthfulness.4. We may confidently appeal to the religious feelings of men in our defence of Christian truth even when by bare argument we cannot touch them.5. In the frequent historical illustrations of the impossibility of men crushing out the spiritual power, whether in Jewish or Christian form, we see a prophecy of the time when Christ shall have "put down all rule and all

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authority and power" (1Co_15:24).

18 The king then ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests.” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck them down. That day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.

BARNES, "We are not to suppose that Doeg killed them all with his own hand. He had a band of men under his command, many or all of whom were perhaps foreigners like himself, and very likely of a Bedouin caste, to whom bloodshed would be quite natural, and the priests of the Lord of no more account than so Early sheep or oxen.

CLARKE, "And Doeg - fell upon the priests - A ruthless Edomite, capable of any species of iniquity.

Fourscore and five persons - The Septuagint read τριακοσιους και πεντε ανδρας, three hundred and five men; and Josephus has three hundred and eighty-five men. Probably the eighty-five were priests; the three hundred, the families of the priests; three hundred and eighty-five being the whole population of Nob.

That did wear a linen ephod - That is, persons who did actually administer, or had a right to administer, in sacred things. The linen ephod was the ordinary clothing of the priests.

GILL, "And the king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priests,.... For determined he was they should die; if one would not put them to death, another should, and who so fit for this bloody work as the false accuser of them, and false witness against them?

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and Doeg the Edomite turned; immediately, he at once obeyed the king's orders, as brutish as they were: and fell upon the priests; with his sword in hand: and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod; not the ephod of Urim and Thummim, which was only worn by the high priest, but a garment wholly linen, worn by common priests; the Targum is,"who are fit to be clothed with a linen ephod;''not that they were clothed with it, but were deserving of it; or it designs the great and more honourable among the servants of the Lord, as Kimchi observes, for such were clothed with this garment, as Samuel and David; and he thinks it suggests, that more were slain than these; and the Septuagint version makes them to be eight hundred five, and Josephus (h) three hundred eighty five; in the slaying of whom, as the same writer says, Doeg was assisted by some wicked men like himself; and the slaughter did not end here, as the 1Sa_22:19shows.

K&D, "Saul then commanded Doeg to cut down the priests, and he at once performed the bloody deed. On the expression “wearing the linen ephod,” compare the remarks at 1Sa_2:18. The allusion to the priestly clothing, like the repetition of the expression “priests of Jehovah,” serves to bring out into its true light the crime of the bloodthirsty Saul and his executioner Doeg. The very dress which the priests wore, as the consecrated servants of Jehovah, ought to have made them shrink from the commission of such a murder.

HENRY, "He ordered Doeg (the accuser) to be the executioner, and he obeyed. One would have thought that the footmen's refusal would awaken Saul's conscience, and that he would not insist upon the doing of a thing so barbarous as that his footmen startled at the thought of it. But his mind was blinded and his heart hardened, and, if they will not do it, the hands of the witness shall be upon the victims, Deu_17:7. The most bloody tyrants have found out instruments of their cruelty as barbarous as themselves. Doeg is no sooner commanded to fall upon the priests than he does it willingly enough, and, meeting with no resistance, slays with his own hand (for aught that appears) on that same day eighty-five priests that were of the age of ministration, between twenty and fifty, for they wore a linen ephod (1Sa_22:18), and perhaps appeared at this time before Saul in their habits, and were slain in them. This (one would think) was enough to satiate the most blood-thirsty; but the horseleech of persecution still cries, “Give, give.” Doeg, by Saul's order no doubt, having murdered the priests, went to their city Nob, and put all to the sword there (1Sa_22:19), men, women, and children, and the cattle too. Barbarous cruelty, and such as one cannot think of without horror! Strange that ever it should enter into the heart of

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man to be so impious, so inhuman! We may see in this, [1.] The desperate wickedness of Saul when the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. Nothing so vile but those may be hurried to it who have provoked God to give them up to their hearts' lusts. He that was so compassionate as to spare Agag and the cattle of the Amalekites, in disobedience to the command of God, could now, with unrelenting bowels, see the priests of the Lord murdered, and nothing spared of all that belonged to them. For that sin God left him to this. [2.] The accomplishment of the threatenings long since pronounced against the house of Eli; for Ahimelech and his family were descendants from him. Though Saul was unrighteous in doing this, yet God was righteous in permitting it. Now God performed against Eli that at which the ears of those that heard it must needs tingle, as he had told him that he would judge his house for ever 1Sa_3:11-13. No word of God shall fall to the ground. [3.] This may be considered as a great judgment upon Israel, and the just punishment of their desiring a king before the time God intended them one. How deplorable was the state of religion at this time in Israel! Though the ark had long been in obscurity, yet it was some comfort to them that they had the altar, and priests to serve at it; but now to see their priests weltering in their own blood, and the heirs of the priesthood too, and the city of the priests made a desolation, so that the altar of God must needs be neglected for want of attendants, and this by the unjust and cruel order of their own king to satisfy his brutish rage - this could not but go to the heart of all pious Israelites, and make them wish a thousand times they had been satisfied with the government of Samuel and his sons. The worst enemies of their nation could not have done them a greater mischief.PETT, "Verse 18

‘And the king said to Doeg, “Turn you, and fall on the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell on the priests, and he slew on that day four score and five persons who wore a linen ephod.’

Then Saul turned towards the only man who appeared to be in sympathy with what he wanted. Perhaps as a newly converted Edomite he would not have the same built in qualms of an Israelite. And he was right, For when he called on him to turn and fall on the priests, Doeg gladly obeyed, probably along with some of his shepherds. Shepherds were notorious for their godlessness (their very occupation prevented regular worship at the Sanctuary). And that day Saul’s chief shepherd turned on the chief shepherds of YHWH and cut them to pieces, all eighty five of them.

“Four score and five persons who wore the linen ephod”. The linen ephod was the 101

sign that they were qualified to act as High Priests in an emergency. They were the true priesthood. So the ‘holiest’ men of Israel, whose lives were taken up in the service of YHWH, were being murdered. The partial effects of this is seen later in 1 Chronicles 24:4 when the sons of Ithamar could not raise more than eight ‘chief men’ to be over the orders of the priests in the Sanctuary, compared with Eleazar’s sixteen.

(As with all numbers in ancient times, however, the number may not be intended to be seen as mathematically accurate. Most did not think mathematically in those days, and no one would have made a head count. Larger numbers were rather intended to convey an impression. Thus this may represent four full priestly groups and a part group of novitiates or reserves awaiting appointment to a group, all of course descended from Ithamar, Aaron’s son).

ELLICOTT, " (18) And Doeg the Edomite . . . fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons.—No doubt, assisted by his own attached servants, Doeg carried out this deed of unexampled barbarity. For this act the Edomite servant of Saul has been execrated in the most ancient Jewish writings perhaps above any other of the famous wicked men who meet us in the Holy Scriptures. For instance, we read in the Babylonian Talmud how “Doeg the Edomite, after his massacre of the priests, was encountered by three destructive demons. One deprived him of his learning (concerning which see above, in Note on 1 Samuel 22:9), a second burned his soul, and a third scattered his dust in the synagogues”—Treatise Sanhedrin, fol. 106, Colossians 2. The Babylonian Talmud has a still more curious comment on the iniquity of Doeg, in which David is bitterly reproached by the Most High for being the cause of Doeg’s great sin and its terrible consequences. “Rav Yehudah recorded that Rav had said . . . The Holy One, blessed be He! had said to David, How long shall this iniquity cling to thee? Through thee the priests of Nob were slain; through thee Doeg the Edomite became a reprobate; and through thee Saul and his three sons were slain.”—Treatise Sanhedrin, fol. 95, cols. 1, 2.

A linen ephod.—The ordinary priests appear to have worn a linen over garment, similar in form to the high priestly cape or ephod. They came probably from Nob to Gibeah (the distance was not great) clad in their official costume, out of respect to the king who sent for them. The murderous deed assumes a still more awful character when we recollect who were the victims—the priests of the living God,

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clad in their white ministering robes!

BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:18. Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests — The country of Doeg is very properly here mentioned, and again repeated, to wipe off the stain of this butchery from the Israelitish nation, and to show why he was so ready to do it; because he was one of that nation which had an implacable hatred against all Israelites, and against the priests of the Lord. And slew on that day fourscore and five persons — “The massacre of these innocent men was so outrageous, so bloody, and so horrible, that it paints the character of Saul in the blackest colours, and exposes him as a warning, not only to tyrannical monarchs, but likewise to private persons, who give a loose to the instigations of jealous suspicions and intemperate wrath.” — Chandler. That did wear a linen ephod — That is, ministered unto the Lord; but we are not to understand by the ephod such a garment as the high-priest wore, for this is distinguished from the high-priest’s ephod by the matter of it, which was merely linen. The priests had probably all put on this habit, on account of appearing before the king.

COKE, "1 Samuel 22:18-19. Doeg—slew on that day fourscore and five persons— Josephus says, that Doeg, taking to his assistance some men as wicked as himself, slew, in all, three hundred and eighty-five persons. The LXX says three hundred and five. A robe of linen was the common dress of the priests, and it is what the historian means by a linen ephod; very different from that of the high-priest. See chap. 1 Samuel 2:18. But why should all the priests have been involved in this barbarous massacre? Doeg mentions only Ahimelech as being applied to by David; and, in like manner, Saul himself, in the charge he brings against Ahimelech, accused him and David: why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse? without a syllable of any other priests. As to the priests not acquainting Saul with David's flight, why should they do it, if they were not informed of it, but believed, as David had pretended, that he was in haste upon the king's business? And if they had known the reason of it, it was not in their power to have acquainted Saul with it time enough for him to have apprehended David; for the sacred writer informs us, ch. 1 Samuel 21:10 that David arose and fled that very day, for fear of Saul. It appears further, that Saul's guards thought Ahimelech and the priests wholly innocent; because, when he bid them put them all to the sword, 1 Samuel 22:17 they unanimously refused to obey his command; and one ruffian only was found, a foreigner, and by nation an enemy to the Jews, capable of imbruing his hands in the blood of so many respectable and innocent persons. It is further

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evident, from Saul's charge against Ahimelech, that his suspicion of the priests being in David's interest arose merely from the information of Doeg, and not from any thing they had done before this, contrary to their duty. For Saul confines himself to the facts which Doeg alleged against him, and never intimates that they had done any thing formerly to offend. Even Saul himself afterwards exculpates them, when he declares David to be more righteous than himself, chap. 1 Samuel 24:17 which David could not be, if really guilty of rebellion against him; and if he was totally free from this charge, the priests could not be concerned in any such rebellion with him. The massacre of them, therefore, was so outrageous, so bloody, and so horrible, that it paints the character of Saul in the blackest colours; and exposes him as a warning, not only to tyrannical monarchs, but likewise to private persons who give a loose to the instigations of jealous suspicion and intemperate wrath. Dr. Delaney observes, that Saul attained two ends by this massacre: First, He weakened the power of the priests, whom he had made his enemies, by slaying such a number of them and stripping the order of their possessions; and secondly, He strengthened the hands of his own family, and confirmed the faith of his tribe, then doubtful, by conferring those possessions upon them. It is observed by almost all the commentators, how remarkable an instance this massacre of the priests supplies of God's turning the worst devices of the wicked to the purposes of his Providence. Eli had grievously offended God, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not: for this reason God denounced his vengeance against his race, and declared that they should be cut off by a sudden and surprising destruction in one day. See how terribly this denunciation was fulfilled by Saul's unparalleled cruelty!

19 He also put to the sword Nob, the town of the priests, with its men and women, its children and infants, and its cattle, donkeys and sheep.

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BARNES, "Both men and women ... - The language employed in the case of the Amalekites 1Sa_15:3 and of Jericho Jos_6:21. Nothing could be more truculent than Saul’s revenge.

CLARKE, "And Nob - smote he with the edge of the sword - This is one of the worst acts in the life of Saul; his malice was implacable, and his wrath was cruel, and there is no motive of justice or policy by which such a barbarous act can be justified.

GILL, "And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword,.... Either Doeg or Saul; who, as Josephus (i) says, sent men thither to slay all the inhabitants of it: both men and women, children and sucklings; not sparing sex nor age: and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword; Saul, who was so tender hearted and merciful in the case of the Amalekites, when his orders from the Lord were utterly to destroy them, 1Sa_15:2, that he spared their king, and the best of their cattle, 1Sa_15:7; yet now so cruel to a city of the priests, as to destroy all the inhabitants of it, and cattle in it; and yet this bloody affair of Saul's is not taken notice of afterwards, only his slaughter of the Gibeonites, 2Sa_21:1; and Abarbinel is of opinion, that the inhabitants of this place were Gibeonites, who were hewers of wood, and drawers of water, to the house of the Lord here, Jos_9:23. Now Saul was the more severe this city, to deter others from joining with David, who, if they did, must expect the same treatment.

HENRY, "Doeg, by Saul's order no doubt, having murdered the priests, went to their city Nob, and put all to the sword there (1Sa_22:19), men, women, and children, and the cattle too. Barbarous cruelty, and such as one cannot think of without horror! Strange that ever it should enter into the heart of man to be so impious, so inhuman! We may see in this, [1.] The desperate wickedness of Saul when the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him. Nothing so vile but those may be hurried to it who have provoked God to give them up to their hearts' lusts. He that was so compassionate as to spare Agag and the cattle of the Amalekites, in disobedience to the command of God, could now, with unrelenting bowels, see the priests of the Lord murdered, and nothing spared of all that belonged to them. For that sin God left him to this. [2.] The accomplishment of the threatenings long since pronounced against the house of Eli; for Ahimelech and his family

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were descendants from him. Though Saul was unrighteous in doing this, yet God was righteous in permitting it. Now God performed against Eli that at which the ears of those that heard it must needs tingle, as he had told him that he would judge his house for ever 1Sa_3:11-13. No word of God shall fall to the ground. [3.] This may be considered as a great judgment upon Israel, and the just punishment of their desiring a king before the time God intended them one. How deplorable was the state of religion at this time in Israel! Though the ark had long been in obscurity, yet it was some comfort to them that they had the altar, and priests to serve at it; but now to see their priests weltering in their own blood, and the heirs of the priesthood too, and the city of the priests made a desolation, so that the altar of God must needs be neglected for want of attendants, and this by the unjust and cruel order of their own king to satisfy his brutish rage - this could not but go to the heart of all pious Israelites, and make them wish a thousand times they had been satisfied with the government of Samuel and his sons. The worst enemies of their nation could not have done them a greater mischief.

JAMISON, "Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword — The barbarous atrocities perpetrated against this city seem to have been designed to terrify all the subjects of Saul from affording either aid or an asylum to David. But they proved ruinous to Saul’s own interest, as they alienated the priesthood and disgusted all good men in the kingdom.

K&D, 'But not content with even this revenge, Saul had the whole city of Nob destroyed, like a city that was laid under the ban (vid., Deu_13:13.). So completely did Saul identify his private revenge with the cause of Jehovah, that he avenged a supposed conspiracy against his own person as treason against Jehovah the God-king.PETT, "Verse 19‘And he smote Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep, with the edge of the sword.’Doeg then followed this up by doing the equivalent of ‘devoting’ the city of the priests and all who were in it to destruction (although certainly not to YHWH). But it was not at YHWH’s command, nor of His will. It was rather an act of total barbarism. The writer wants us to see that Saul was doing to God’s holy priests and their possessions what he had refused to do to the Amalekites and their possessions (1 Samuel 15). His unbelief and sacrilege was being emphasised a hundredfold. ELLICOTT, "(19) Nob, the city of the priests, smote he.—The vengeful king,

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not content with striking the men, the heads of the priestly houses, in his insane fury proceeded to treat the innocent city where they resided as a city under the ban “cherem,” as though it had been polluted with idolatry and wickedness, and therefore devoted to utter destruction. The only crime of Nob had been that its venerable chief citizen, Ahimelech the priest, had shown kindness to David, whom Saul hated with a fierce mad hate. In 2 Samuel 21:1 we read of a scourge in the form of a famine afflicting Israel during three years. The cause of this God-sent calamity is told us in the Lord’s words: “It was for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.” Now, this slaughter of the Gibeonites—evidently a dark crime—is nowhere specially related in the Old Testament books. Was it not this awful sequel to the crime of Gibeah, where the hapless Ahimelech and his eighty-five priests were murdered, that was referred to in the above mentioned passage—the awful sequel when Saul smote Nob, the city of the priests, with the sword? In that terrible catastrophe, were not the Gibeonites, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Tabernacle (see Joshua 9:21-27), slain? for we read how in the destruction of the ill fated city men, women and children, and all cattle perished. “Only once before had so terrible a calamity befallen the sons of Aaron, and that was when the Philistines destroyed Shiloh. But they were enemies, and had been provoked by the people bringing the Ark to battle; and even then the women and children seem to have escaped. It was left to the anointed king of Israel, who had himself settled the priests at Nob and restored Jehovah’s worship there, to perpetrate an act unparalleled in Jewish history for its barbarity.”—Dean Payne Smith.BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:19. Both men and women, children and sucklings — In all the life of Saul there is no wickedness to be compared to this. He appears now to be wholly under the power of that evil spirit which had long tormented him. And this destruction could not but go to the heart of every pious Israelite, and make them wish a thousand times they had been content with the government of Samuel. Josephus, in relating this, reflects on the depravity of human nature, which, when it is in a private station, often strictly and willingly confines itself within the bounds of right and justice; but when it has gained an uncontrollable power, thinks it has a right to trample upon all laws, as well divine as human. We ought therefore to pray, as Justin Martyr says, that kings and rulers, together with a royal power, may be found having a sober mind. Or, as Le Clerc observes, we ought never to put such a power into any persons’ hands as to enable them to trample upon all laws and the common rights of mankind. Whether the Israelites assisted in the execution upon the inhabitants of Nob, does not appear; or whether it was performed by Doeg the Edomite, and the rest of Saul’s hirelings. But it was sufficiently shameful to the Israelites that they did not even stand up to prevent such a cruel massacre.

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20 But one son of Ahimelek son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to join David.

BARNES, "Abiathar - He may have remained at Nob to take care of the sanctuary when the other priests went to Saul, and so escaped. He continued David’s faithful friend throughout his reign 1Sa_23:9; 1Sa_30:7; 2Sa_15:24, 2Sa_15:29, 2Sa_15:35, but gave offence by taking Adonijah’s part against Solomon 1Ki_1:7, 1Ki_1:19, 1Ki_1:42, and in consequence was deprived of the high priesthood 1Ki_2:26-27. In Mar_2:26, he is spoken of as the High Priest who gave the showbread to David. Perhaps he was the instigator of this act of kindness to David; and for this cause, as well as his constancy to David, is mentioned by our Lord instead of Ahimelech. It is also possible that, as sagan to his father, he may have performed most of the priestly functions, as Hophni and Phinehas did in the lifetime of Eli. Abiathar did not actually join David until he went to Keilah (marginal reference).

CLARKE, "Abiathar, escaped - This man carried with him his sacerdotal garments, as we find from 1Sa_23:6, 1Sa_23:9.

GILL, "And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped,.... Who very probably was left by his father to take care of the sanctuary, and the holy things in it, when he and the rest of the priests were summoned to appear before Saul; who having heard of his bloody execution of them, before his messengers could get to Nob, took, the ephod, with the Urim and Thummim, and made his escape, as appears from 1Sa_23:6; this man succeeded his father in the high priesthood, and continued in it until the times of Solomon: and fled after David; who was now removed, or removing from the forest of Hareth to Keilah, whither Abiathar followed him, and came to him there, 1Sa_23:6, and with whom only he could be safe, and therefore it was right to flee unto him.

HENRY, "Here is, 1. The escape of Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, out of the desolations of the priests' city. Probably when his father went to appear, upon Saul's summons, he was left at home to attend the altar, by which means he escaped the first execution, and, before Doeg and his

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bloodhounds came to Nob, he had intelligence of the danger, and had time to shift for his own safety. And whither should he go but to David? 1Sa_22:20. Let those that suffer for the Son of David commit the keeping of their souls to him, 1Pe_4:19.

JAMISON, "1Sa_22:20-23. Abiathar escapes and flees after David.one of the sons of Ahimelech ... escaped — This was Abiathar, who repaired to David in the forest of Hareth, rescuing, with his own life, the high priest’s vestments (1Sa_23:6, 1Sa_23:9). On hearing his sad tale, David declared that he had dreaded such a fatal result from the malice and intriguing ambition of Doeg; and, accusing himself as having been the occasion of all the disaster to Abiathar’s family, David invited him to remain, because, firmly trusting himself in the accomplishment of the divine promise, David could guarantee protection to him.K&D 20-23, "The only one of the whole body of priests who escaped this

bloody death was a son of Ahimelech, named Abiathar, who “fled after David,” i.e., to David the fugitive, and informed him of the barbarous vengeance which Saul had taken upon the priests of the Lord. Then David recognised and confessed his guilt. “I knew that day that the Edomite Doeg was there, that he (i.e., that as the Edomite Doeg was there, he) would tell Saul: I am the cause of all the souls of thy father's house,” i.e., of their death. ָסַבב is used here in the sense of being the cause of a thing, which is one of the meanings of the verb in the Arabic and Talmudic (vid., Ges. Lex. s. v.). “Stay with me, fear not; for he who seeks my life seeks thy life: for thou art safe with me.” The abstract mishmereth, protection, keeping (Exo_12:6; Exo_16:33-34), is used for the concrete, in the sense of protected, well kept. The thought is the following: As no other is seeking thy life than Saul, who also wants to kill me, thou mayest stay with me without fear, as I am sure of divine protection. David spoke thus in the firm belief that the Lord would deliver him from his foe, and give him the kingdom. The action of Saul, which had just been reported to him, could only strengthen him in this belief, as it was a sign of the growing hardness of Saul, which must accelerate his destruction.PULPIT, "1Sa_22:20-23Abiathar escaped. Probably he was left in charge of the sanctuary when Ahimelech and the rest were summoned into the king’s presence, and on news being brought of Saul’s violence, at once made his escape, Naturally, as representing a family who, though originally Saul’s friends, had suffered so much for David, he was kindly received, and a friendship commenced which lasted all David’s life; but, taking at last Adonijah’s side, he was deprived by Solomon of the high priesthood, and sent into honourable banishment at Anathoth (1Ki_2:26). On hearing of the terrible tragedy from which Abiathar had escaped, David, with characteristic tenderness of conscience, accuses himself of being the cause of all this bloodshed. Perhaps he felt that when he saw Doeg at Nob he ought at once to have gone away,

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without implicating Ahimelech in his cause; but he could never have imagined that Saul would have treated innocent men so barbarously, and may have supposed that their sacred character as well as their guiltlessness would have secured them from more than temporary displeasure. David now warmly promises Abiathar safety and friendship, and possibly the inversion of the natural order, he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life, is meant to express this entire oneness and close union henceforward of the two friends. As to the question when and where Abiathar joined David, see on 1Sa_23:6.

GUZIK, "(1Sa_22:20-23) David protects Abiathar, the only survivor of Ahimelech’s family.Now one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the Lord’s priests. So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house. Stay with me; do not fear. For he who seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you shall be safe.”

a. I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: David showed how he felt about this in Psa_52:1-9, which says in its title A Contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”i. In Psa_52:1-9, David shows his outrage against Doeg: Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue. (Psa_52:1 a, Psa_52:2-4)ii. In Psa_52:1-9, David shows his confidence in God’s judgments: God shall likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot you from the land of the living. (Psa_52:5)iii. In Psa_52:1-9, David shows his focus on the LORD: But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever, because You have done it; and in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good. (Psa_52:8-9)

b. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house: David meant this in two ways. In the greater way, it was David’s mere presence with Ahimelech that made him guilty before Saul, and there really wasn’t anything David or anyone could do about that. In the lesser way, David’s lying to Ahimelech made the priest more

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vulnerable than ever before Saul.i. David’s lies did not directly kill Ahimelech and the other priests. But at the very least, he kept Ahimelech from dying with greater honor. If Ahimelech would have known of the conflict between David and Saul, he could have chosen to stand with David, and die with greater honor. Any way you slice it, David’s lies came to no good.ii. We know from both 1 Samuel and the Psalms that David turned his heart back to the LORD and asked forgiveness after his lies to Ahimelech. David was restored, but there was still bad fruit to come of the lies, and now David sees and tastes that bad fruit.

c. With me you shall be safe: David could not do anything about the priests who were already murdered. He confessed his guilt in the matter, and sought forgiveness from the LORD. Now, all he can do is minister to the need in front of him - Abiathar, the surviving priest.

PETT, "Verse 20

‘And one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David.’

One of the sons of Ahimelech, however, somehow escaped and ‘fled after David’. His name was Abiathar. He was becoming a refugee like David, and would later become David’s High Priest, before losing his status in the time of Solomon when he took part in the rebellion of Adonijah.

ELLICOTT, "(20) Abiathar.—Of those who dwelt at Nob, only one single priest, Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son, seems to have escaped this general massacre. It has been suggested that when his father and the whole body of priests went to Gibeah, in accordance with the summons of King Saul, Abiathar remained behind to perform the necessary functions in the sanctuary, and when he heard of the death of his father and his brother priests, he made his escape, and eventually joined David. The exact period of his coming to the exiled band under David is uncertain; in many of the recitals in this Book no note of time is given. It is, therefore, probable that the meeting and interview with David—related in 1 Samuel 22:20 and following verses—did not take place immediately after the massacre at Gibeah, nor even directly after the destruction of Nob. From the statement in 1 Samuel 22:6 of 1 Samuel 23, it would appear that Abiathar only joined David at Keilah. From that time, however, Abiathar, who became after his father’s death high priest, occupies an important place in the story of David’s life. Throughout his reign he continued his faithful friend, and seems to have been a worthy holder of his important office. The close of his life, however, was a melancholy one. In the troubles which arose about the 111

succession, in the last days of David’s reign, he espoused the side of Adonijah, and was in consequence deposed by the successful Solomon from the high priesthood, and sent into banishment to Anathoth. (See 1 Kings 2:26.)

BENSON, "1 Samuel 22:20. Abiathar escaped and fled after David — He, by his father’s death, was now high-priest, and is the person referred to Mark 2:26, where we find him described by an office which he did not bear till after the event alluded to, Ahimelech, as we have seen, being high-priest when David took the show-bread.

In what has been just related we have a remarkable instance of God’s turning the worst devices of the wicked to the purposes of his providence; for in all this was fulfilled the threatening denounced by the Lord against the house of Eli; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not; see 1 Samuel 2:31; and 1 Samuel 3:13.

COFFMAN, "Verse 20

THE ESCAPE OF ABIATHAR TO DAVID

"But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. And David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me, fear not; he that seeks my life seeks your life; with me you shall be in safekeeping."

"Abiathar escaped and fled after David" (1 Samuel 22:20). We are not told just how this escape came about; but the general supposition is that he was left in attendance at the altar while all the rest of the priests answered Saul's summons. In the following chapter we shall see that Abiathar became a very important member of David's staff of advisers.

"I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house" (1 Samuel 22:22). It would have been far better for David to have told Ahimelech the truth and to have left the results to the Lord. As it turned out, all those murders were directly due to David's lies. In the words here, David regretfully admitted it. The conversation here recorded (1 Samuel 22:21-23) between David and Abiathar, "Belongs chronologically after 1 Samuel 23:6."[8] David and Abiathar were not together until they met in Keilah.

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21 He told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord.

GILL, "And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the Lord's priests. Of which perhaps he had not as yet heard; though tidings of such a nature generally fly swiftly; and a sorrowful shocking account he had to give, and which was so to David.

HENRY 21-23, "David's resentment of the melancholy tidings he brought. He gave David an account of the bloody work Saul had made among the priests of the Lord (1Sa_22:21), as the disciples of John, when their master was beheaded, went and told Jesus, Mat_14:12. And David greatly lamented the calamity itself, but especially his being accessory to it: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house, 1Sa_22:22. Note, It is a great trouble to a good man to find himself in any way an occasion of the calamities of the church and ministry. David knew Doeg's character so well that he feared he would do some such mischief as this when he saw him at the sanctuary: I knew he would tell Saul. He calls him Doeg the Edomite,because he retained the heart of an Edomite, though, by embracing the profession of the Jewish religion, he had put on the mask of an Israelite. 3. The protection he granted to Abiathar. He perceived him to be terrified, as he had reason to be, and therefore bade him not to fear, he would be as careful for him as for himself: With me thou shalt be in safeguard, 1Sa_22:23. David, having now time to recollect himself, speaks with assurance of his own safety, and promises that Abiathar shall have the full benefit of his protection. It is promised to the Son of David that God will hide him in the shadow of his hand (Isa_49:2), and, with him, all that are his may be sure that they shall be in safeguard, Psa_91:1. David had now not only a prophet, but a priest, a high-priest, with him, to whom he was a blessing and they to him, and both a happy omen of his success. Yet it appears (by Psa_28:6) that Saul had a high priest too, for he had a urim to consult: it is supposed that he preferred Ahitub the father of Zadok, of the family of Eleazar (1Ch_6:8), for even those that hate the power of godliness yet will not be without the form. It must not be forgotten here that David at this time penned Psa_52:1-9, as appears by the title of that psalm, wherein he represents Doeg not

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only as malicious and spiteful, but as false and deceitful, because though what he said was, for the substance of it, true, yet he put false colours upon it, with a design to do mischief. Yet even then, when the priesthood had become as a withered branch, he looks upon himself as a green olive-tree in the house of God, Psa_52:8. In this great hurry and distraction that David was continually in, yet he found both time and a heart for communion with God, and found comfort in it.PETT, "Verse 21‘And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain YHWH’s priests.’And Abiathar told David that Saul had slain ‘YHWH’s Priests’. The pregnant short sentence brings out the solemn awfulness of what Saul had done. It was seen as almost beyond words. Saul had actually lifted up his hand against YHWH and what was His. HAWKER, "Verses 11-15(11) Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. (12) And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. (13) And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (14) Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? (15) Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

I never read the process of an unjust tribunal like this of Saul's, but I desire to have my thoughts directed, by the Holy Ghost to contemplate thy matchless humbleness and purity of soul, dearest Jesus, when, before Pontius Pilate, thou didst witness a good confession. The conscious rectitude of Ahimelech in the instance before us, lovely as it is, sinks to nothing in the comparison. Who is faithful among all the Lord's servants, as the servant whom Jehovah had chosen? And yet was not he accused of blasphemy? Oh! thou Lamb of God, who didst endure such a contradiction of sinners against thyself. Hebrews 12:3.

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22 Then David said to Abiathar, “That day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, I knew he would be sure to tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of your whole family.

CLARKE, "I knew it that day - When I saw Doeg there, I suspected he would make the matter known to Saul.

I have occasioned the death of all the persons - I have been the innocent cause of their destruction.

GILL, "And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day,.... That is, he thought in his mind at that time: when Doeg the Edomite was there; at Nob; in the tabernacle, at the same time that David was there: that he would surely tell Saul; that he saw David there, and what passed between him and Ahimelech; he knew he was a spiteful mischievous man; that he was a true Edomite, though a proselyte, and bore hatred and enmity in his mind against an Israelite, and especially an Israelite indeed, as David was: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house: or have been the cause of all the evils that befell them, and the death they were put unto, not with design, but by accident; and it grieved him that he should be any ways an accessory thereunto, though without intention.PETT, "Verse 22‘And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house.” ’

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When David heard it he was conscience stricken. He had noticed Doeg at the Sanctuary and now realised that he should have done something about him, and by not doing so had occasioned the death of all of Abiathar’s priestly relatives. It was not strictly an accurate verdict, for he could hardly justly have murdered Doeg at the time. But it does demonstrate how deeply David felt it.ELLICOTT, " (22) When Doeg the Edomite was there.—The Talmudical tradition evidently pre-supposes that a bitter enmity existed between David and Saul’s too faithful friend Doeg. If the Rabbinical belief that the identity between the family servant, or steward, who accompanied the young man Saul on that journey when we first meet with him (see 1 Samuel 9) be accepted, this enmity would be partly accounted for. The Edomite Doeg, brought up with Saul in the family of Kish, no doubt was jealous for his master and his master’s house with the passionate jealousy we so often find in old servants. He would share and probably fan his royal master’s envy and fear respecting the brilliant young hero who was so rapidly supplanting Saul and Saul’s house in the affections of Israel. So when David, flying for his life from Saul, met Doeg at the Sanctuary of Nob, he was seized with grave misgivings as to what would happen; and now, after the terrible vengeance of Saul, seems to reproach himself with having in Doeg’s presence exposed the hapless priest Ahimelech to Saul’s furious anger.The Talmud says the servant (1 Samuel 16:18) who first searched out and brought David to play to the sick king was Doeg, anxious to relieve his master’s sufferings, but curiously adds that even then the praises bestowed on David by Doeg were unreal: “All the praises of David enumerated by Doeg in 1 Samuel 16:18 had a malicious object.”—Sanhedrin, fol. 93, Colossians 2.WHEDON, "22. I have occasioned — David now remembers with regret the falsehoods by which he had deceived Ahimelech and acknowledges his guilt. But the rash and bloody deed of Saul convinces him that the king is God-forsaken, and he strengthens himself in view of this, and utters the feelings of his heart in an inimitable psalm. See Psalm lii, which is not so much against Doeg as against Saul, and at the conclusion of which David expresses his own hope and trust in the mercy of God.

23 Stay with me; don’t be afraid. The man who wants to kill you is trying to kill me too. You will

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be safe with me.”

BARNES, "The characteristic generosity of David’s disposition breaks out in these words. He never forgot a friend. (Compare 2Sa_1:26; 2Sa_9:1, etc.) David acknowledges that Saul’s enmity against Abiathar is the consequence of his enmity against himself, and therefore David makes common cause with him.

CLARKE, "He that seeketh my life seeketh thy life - The enmity of Saul is directed against thee as well as against me, and thou canst have no safety but in being closely attached to me; and I will defend thee even at the risk of my own life. This he was bound in duty and conscience to do.

GILL, "Abide thou with me, fear not,.... He appeared to be in a fright; which is not to be wondered at, as not knowing what to do, and where to go and provide for his safety; when, to allay his fears, and make him easy, David invites and encourages him to stay with him, and not be afraid of Saul, nor any other: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life; or, as Kimchi observes, it may be interpreted, "my life he seeks who seeks thy life"; we are in the same circumstances, and have the same common enemy, and therefore it is best and safest to be together; as the Targum,"he that seeks to kill me seeks to kill thee;''and as Jarchi adds, he that loves me will love thee, and he that keeps my life will keep thine: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard; intimating, that he would be as careful of him as of himself; and that for this reason, as Ben Gersom suggests, because he brought the ephod with the Urim and Thummim with him, by which he could inquire of God for him; but this was the thing David was confident of, that God would preserve him, and raise him to the kingdom, and therefore Abiathar might be sure of safety with him: at this time he penned the fifty second psalm, which shows the frame of spirit he was now in; see Psa_52:1.PETT, "Verse 23

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“Stay with me, and do not be afraid. For he who seeks my life seeks your life. For with me you will be under protection.”And then he assured Abiathar that he would be safe with him. For really they were in the same boat. The one who sought David’s life also sought Abiathar’s life. Thus Abiathar would enjoy the same protection, both from YHWH and from David’s men, as David himself did. Saul’s verdicts could not reach him here. This was another turning point in Saul’s evil life. He had lost the Priest of YHWH to David, who could therefore from now on consult the oracle and have official dealings with YHWH, and be given legitimacy in the eyes of YHWH’s people. That Saul, when he came to his senses, realised this comes out in that he appointed Zadok, of the line of Eleazar, as his High Priest, for Zadok also turns up later as High Priest at the Sanctuary whilst Abiathar was still alive. But the Urim and the Thummim were seemingly now with David (1 Samuel 23:6), and as we shall see, he uses them shortly. HAWKER, "Verses 11-15(11) Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. (12) And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. (13) And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast enquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (14) Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? (15) Did I then begin to enquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.I never read the process of an unjust tribunal like this of Saul's, but I desire to have my thoughts directed, by the Holy Ghost to contemplate thy matchless humbleness and purity of soul, dearest Jesus, when, before Pontius Pilate, thou didst witness a good confession. The conscious rectitude of Ahimelech in the instance before us, lovely as it is, sinks to nothing in the comparison. Who is faithful among all the Lord's servants, as the servant whom Jehovah had chosen? And yet was not he accused of blasphemy? Oh! thou Lamb of God, who didst endure such a contradiction of sinners against thyself. Hebrews 12:3.

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