1 Samuel 27:3 Kommentar

David was a man after God's own heart, and yet he had his faults, which are recorded, not for our imitation, but for our admonition; witness the story of this chapter, in which, though, I. We find, to his praise, that he prudently took care of his own safety and his family's (Sa1 27:2-4) and valiantly fought Israel's battles against the Canaanites (Sa1 27:8-9), yet, II. We find, to his dishonour, 1. That he began to despair of his deliverance (Sa1 27:1). 2. That he deserted his own country, and went to dwell in the land of the Philistines (Sa1 27:1, Sa1 27:5-7). 3. That he imposed upon Achish with an equivocation, if not a lie, concerning his expedition (Sa1 27:10-12).

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 27 David, fearing he should perish by the hand of Saul at one time or another, went into the land of the Philistines, which Saul hearing of, sought no more after him, Sa1 27:1; and finding favour in the eyes of the king of Gath, desired a place in his country might be given him to reside in; and accordingly Ziklag was given him, Sa1 27:5; from whence he made excursions into the land of the Amalekites, and others, and utterly destroyed them; but imposed on the king of Gath, pretending he had made his road into the southern parts of Judah, Sa1 27:8.

And David dwelt with Achish at Gath,.... The metropolis of his kingdom, called, Sa1 27:5, the royal city: he and his men, every man with his household; or family; which they brought with them, to secure them from the malice of Saul; who in their absence might have destroyed them, as being the families of traitors and fugitives, and might be the more readily received by Achish, as he might hope for some advantage front them; and besides were pledges of their fidelity to him, and of their design to continue with him: even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife; who had been the wife of Nabal; of these See Gill on Sa1 25:43.

“When the Philistines held him in Gath”; this is recounted in the text of the book of Kings [Samuel]. David was terrorized by attacks of Saul and thought that he would be hidden in the city of Gath among the Philistines. But we have said that all this is to be explained as mystical allegory. Gath denotes “winepress,” the squeezing which every Christian endures, but then he makes the harvest most abundant when he has been pressed by the rods of afflictions. So the church reasonably and appropriately speaks in this heading. Though weighed down by the persecutions of the Philistines, that is, by outsiders, [the church] pours forth the deserving merits of its saints with abundant freedom as though they were liquid nectar.

He was from the tribe of Caleb. The teachers of the synagogue were from the disciples of the lawgiver. For the scribes and Pharisees sat on Moses' seat (Matthew XXIII); who, since they then led other mortals by the grace of both human and divine wisdom, can, not unjustly, be called Caleb, that is, the whole heart; or because we read that patriarch Caleb was powerful in faith and virtue, we can say that the faithfulness of the faithful is the increase of damnation for the faithless, who have degenerated from the life of their parents.

And David dwelt with Achish in Gath, etc. Gath, which is translated as winepress, signifies the pressures and tribulations by which the faith of the Church is tested in this life; as also the Psalms, which are titled for the winepresses, declare. Achish, who is called Brother of man, signifies the people of the nations who, by believing in Christ, rejoice to be his brother through grace, and to act manfully. For Maoch, his father, who is translated into emasculation, that is, deprived of manly action, mind, and virtue, demonstrates the Gentiles of earlier times, who, serving idols, remained void both of the work and reward of virtue. Therefore, the Lord dwelt among the nations first in persecutions and very great pressures, until they themselves could know to accept his faith; he and his apostles: every shepherd, with the Church subjected to him which he governs and educates; Christ himself as the one shepherd of twin flocks, namely those he brought from the Gentiles, and those from the Jews dispersed in the day of gloom and cloud, whom he does not cease to preserve and feed among the nations. David’s two wives can also be understood as the chaste souls of the faithful, adhering to Christ in the lifestyle of two ways of life, namely active and contemplative. Ahinoam the Jezreelite, that is, my brother’s beauty, deriving origin from the seed of God, may be she whose eyes of an enlightened mind burn with all their strength to see the King in his beauty. Abigail, on the other hand, that is, my Father’s exultation; the wife of Nabal the Carmelite, that is, the foolish and soft one, can be understood as she who, recently saved by repentance from the blandishments of a foolish teacher, brings such joy in the Father in heaven along with the angels, more than over the ninety-nine righteous who do not need repentance.

David flies to Achish, king of Gath, who receives him kindly, and gives him Ziklag to dwell in, where he continues a year and four months, Sa1 27:1-7. David invades the Geshurites and Amalekites, and leaves neither man nor woman alive, Sa1 27:8, Sa1 27:9. He returns to Achish, and pretends that he had been making inroads on the Israelites, and Achish believes it, Sa1 27:10-12.

Every man with his household - So it appears that the men who consorted with David had wives and families. David and his company resembled a tribe of the wandering Arabs.

SAUL HEARING THAT DAVID WAS FLED TO GATH, SEEKS NO MORE FOR HIM. (Sa1 27:1-4) David said in his heart, . . . there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines--This resolution of David's was, in every respect, wrong: (1) It was removing him from the place where the divine oracle intimated him to remain (Sa1 22:5); (2) It was rushing into the idolatrous land, for driving him into which he had denounced an imprecation on his enemies (Sa1 26:19); (3) It was a withdrawal of his counsel and aid from God's people. It was a movement, however, overruled by Providence to detach him from his country and to let the disasters impending over Saul and his followers be brought on by the Philistines.

David at Ziklag in the Land of the Philistines - Sa1 27:1-12 In his despair of being able permanently to escape the plots of Saul in the land of Israel, David betook himself, with his attendants, to the neighbouring land of the Philistines, to king Achish of Gath, and received from him the town of Ziklag, which was assigned him at his own request as a dwelling-place (Sa1 27:1-7). From this point he made attacks upon certain tribes on the southern frontier of Canaan which were hostile to Israel, but described them to Achish as attacks upon Judah and its dependencies, that he might still retain the protection of the Philistian chief (Sa1 27:8-12). David had fled to Achish at Gath once before; but on that occasion he had been obliged to feign insanity in order to preserve his life, because he was recognised as the conqueror of Goliath. This act of David was not forgotten by the Philistines even now. But as David had been pursued by Saul for many years, Achish did not hesitate to give a place of refuge in his land to the fugitive who had been outlawed by the king of Israel, the arch-enemy of the Philistines, possibly with the hope that if a fresh war with Saul should break out, he should be able to reap some advantage from David's friendship.