1 And David said to his heart, “Now, I will be swept away one day by Saul's hand. i There's nothing good for me, except to escape. I shall escape to Philistines' land. And Saul will despair from seeking me again in all Israel's border, and I shall escape from his hand.” 2 And David arose, and he crossed over, and his six hundred men who were with him, to Achish, son of Maoch, ii king of Winepress. 3 And David dwelt with Achish in Winepress, and his men, each his household, David and his two women, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and Abigail, woman of Fool, the Carmelite. 4 And it was told to Saul that David fled to Winepress, and he did not continue to seek him.
5 And David said to Achish, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, let them give to me a place of the cities of the field, and I shall dwell there. And why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 And Achish gave him on that day Ziklag, therefore Ziklag has been to Judah's kings unto this day. 7 And the number of days that David dwelt in Philistines' field was days iii and four months.
8 And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurite and the Girzite iv and the Amalekite, for they inhabited the land from of old, in your going to Shur and unto Egypt's land. 9 And David struck the land, and did not keep a man or a woman alive. And he took sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels and garments and returned and went in to Achish.
10 And Achish said, “Have you not raided v today?” And David said, “Against Judah's south and against the southern Jerahmeelite vi and to the south of the Kenite.” 11 And a man or a woman David did not keep alive to bring to Winepress, saying, “Lest they tell on us, saying, 'Thus David did.'” And thus was his judgment all the days while he dwelt in Philistines' field. 12 And Achish trusted in David, saying, “He surely stinks among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever.”
Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf.
- Even though David had spared Saul's life twice now (1 Samuel 24 & 26), and Saul twice acknowledged his error, David still doesn't trust him. ^
- ךְמלעו) mâ`okh) “Maoch” - only here. ^
- ם ילמי) yâmiym) “days” - this is what it says literally, but the meaning is a “year.” See Exodus 13:10 and footnote. ^
- Written י זי רג גי) girziy) “Girzite” NKJV; read י רי זג גי) gizriy) “Gezrites” KJV ^
- אעל־פגשעטגתים') al-peshattem) “Have you not raided” DARBY (more literal); “Where have you made a raid” NKJV, NAS – this is abnormal Hebrew construction, perhaps explained by Achish's poor Hebrew? אעל') al) is an adverb of negation (“no” or “not”) not otherwise found with the perfect tense, as here. LXX reads, ἐπὶ τίνα (epi tiva) “Upon whom . . . .”
Also, the verb here, “you raided,” is a plural “you.”
^ - י לי אי מג חג יערג) yarchem'êliy) “Jerahmeelite” YLT; “Jerahmeelites” NKJV – found also in 1 Samuel 30:29. ^
And David's two women were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelite, and Abigail, woman of Fool, the Carmelite. -- י ללִלמִררְכמ) karmeliy) “Carmelite” - masculine, thus referring to Fool. See 1 Samuel 27:3 in reference to Abigail.