1 Samuel 27:6 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.

Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day,.... A city which in the division of the land was given to the tribe of Judah, and after that to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 15:31; though it seems not to have been possessed by either of them, at least not long, but soon came into the hands of the Philistines, who kept it till this time, and now it returned to its right owners; according to Bunting (g) it was twelve miles from Gath: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day; not to the tribe of Judah, though it originally belonged to it, but to the kings of it, it, being granted to David, who quickly after this became king of Judah; and this was annexed to the crown lands, and ever after enjoyed by the kings, of the house of Judah; for this was not given for a temporary habitation, but for perpetual possession. This clause seems to be added by the continuator of this history, after the death of Samuel; who might be Gad or Nathan; some say Ezra, and Abarbinel that Jeremiah was the writer of it. (g) Travels, &c. p. 136.

Therefore Achis gave him on that day Siceleg, etc. Siceleg is interpreted as the purification of a raised voice; but to purify a voice is to bring a voice to itself, with careful discretion, to inquire which speech smells of truth, which of falsehood. Therefore, the believers from the Gentiles gave to Christ, to dedicate their dwelling, which is understood as the Church, throngs of souls who, coming to themselves from the voices of preachers, knew how to discern, by reason, and to separate the purity of the apostolic voice from the dregs of the philosophical or pagan voice. For this reason, such assemblies of souls, having been withdrawn from gentile ceremonies, have become subject in perpetuity to the authority of the apostles. This sense, I believe, is also aided by the history of Josephus in the Antiquities (Book XVI, Chapter 13), which says: "To whom the king gave a certain village called Siceleg. This village he so loved, that when David reigned, he and his men honored it as their own possession."

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.

Achish gave him Ziklag - Ziklag was at first given to the tribe of Judah, but afterwards it was ceded to that of Simeon, Jos 15:31; Jos 19:5. The Philistines had, however, made themselves masters of it, and held it to the time here mentioned; it then fell into the tribe of Judah again, and continued to be the property of the kings of Judah. This verse is a proof that this book was written long after the days of Samuel, and that it was formed by a later hand, out of materials which had been collected by a contemporary author. See the preface.

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.

Ziklag--Though originally assigned to Judah (Jos 15:31), and subsequently to Simeon (Jos 19:5), this town had never been possessed by the Israelites. It belonged to the Philistines, who gave it to David.

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.