(KJV) 1 Samuel 291

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⥃The Philistines Reject David

[1] Now the Philistines2 gathered together all their armies to Aphek3: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which [is] in Jezreel4. [2] And the lords5 of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David6 and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish. [3] Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, [Is] not this David7, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days8, or these years, and I have found9 no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day? [4] And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow10 return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? [should it] not [be] with the heads of these men? [5] [Is] not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?11

[6] Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, [as] the Lord12 liveth, thou hast13 been upright, and thy going14 out and thy coming in with me in the host [is] good in my sight: for I have not15 found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour16 thee not. [7] Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease17 not the lords of the Philistines.

[8] [¶]And David said unto Achish, But what have18 I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with19 thee unto this day, that I may not20 go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? [9] And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou [art] good in my sight, as an angel21 of God: notwithstanding the princes22 of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. [10] Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart.23 [11] So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines24 went up to Jezreel25.

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  1. 1Sam 29:1, David marching with the Philistines, 1Sam 29:3, is disallowed by their princes; 1Sam 29:6, Achish dismisses him, with commendations of his fidelity. ↩

  2. 1Sam 28:1-2 ↩

  3. 1Sam 4:1; Josh 19:30; 1Kgs 20:30 ↩

  4. 1Sam 28:4; Josh 19:18; Judg 6:33; 1Kgs 18:45-46, 1Kgs 21:1, 1Kgs 21:23; 2Kgs 9:36; Hos 1:4-11 ↩

  5. 1Sam 29:6-7, 1Sam 5:8-11, 1Sam 6:4; Josh 13:3 ↩

  6. 1Sam 28:1-2 ↩

  7. These words seem to mark no definite time; and may be understood thus: "Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me for a considerable time?" ↩

  8. 1Sam 27:7 ↩

  9. 1Sam 25:28; Dan 6:5; John 19:6; Rom 12:17; 1Pet 3:16 ↩

  10. The princes reasoned wisely, according to the common practice of mankind; and it was well for David that they were such good politicians. It was ordered by a gracious Providence that they refused to let David go with them to this battle, in which he must have been either an enemy to his country, or false to his friends and to his trust. Had he fought for the Philistines, he would have fought against God and his country; and had he in the battle gone over to the Israelites, he would have deceived and become a traitor to the hospitable Achish. God therefore delivered him from such disgrace; and by the same kind Providence he was sent back to rescue his wives, and the wives and children of his people, from captivity. 1Sam 14:21; 1Chr 12:19; Luke 16:8 ↩

  11. 1Sam 18:6-7, 1Sam 21:11; Prov 27:14 ↩

  12. 1Sam 20:3, 1Sam 28:10; Deut 10:20; Isa 65:16; Jer 12:16 ↩

  13. Matt 5:16; 1Pet 2:12, 1Pet 3:16 ↩

  14. Num 27:17; 2Sam 3:25; 2Kgs 19:27; Ps 121:8 ↩

  15. 1Sam 29:3 ↩

  16. etc. Heb. thou art not good in the eyes of the lords, Gen 16:6; Josh 22:30 *marg. ↩

  17. Heb. do not evil in the eyes of the lords, Num 22:34 ↩

  18. 1Sam 12:3, 1Sam 17:29, 1Sam 20:8, 1Sam 26:18 ↩

  19. Heb. before ↩

  20. 1Sam 28:2; 2Sam 16:18-19; Ps 34:13-14; Matt 6:13 ↩

  21. 2Sam 14:17, 2Sam 14:20, 2Sam 19:27; Gal 4:14 ↩

  22. 1Sam 29:4 ↩

  23. 1Sam 30:1-2; Gen 22:14; Ps 37:23-24; 1Cor 10:13; 2Pet 2:9 ↩

  24. 1Sam 29:1; Josh 19:18; 2Sam 4:4 ↩

  25. Jezreel, or Esdrelon, was a city of Issachar, afterwards celebrated as the residence of the kings of Israel, delightfully situated in the extensive and fertile plain of the same name, which extends from Scythopolis or Beth–shan on the east to mount Carmel on the west. Eusebius and Jerome inform us, that it was in their time a place of considerable consequence, lying between Scythopolis on the east and Legio on the west; and the latter (on Hos 1:1-11). informs us that it was pretty near Maximianopolis. The Jerusalem Itinerary places it ten miles west from Scythopolis; and William of Tyre says it was called Little Gerinum in his time, and that there was a fine fountain in it, whose waters fell into the Jordan near Scythopolis. See note on 1Sam 29:1. ↩