A verse by verse commentary on 1 Samuel 29 dealing with David being sent back to Ziklag by Achish.

1. 1 SAMUEL 29 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Achish Sends David Back to Ziklag
1 The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek,
and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.
BARNES, "A fountain - Probably, the fine spring Ain-Jalud. It is impossible to say
what the special circumstances were which led to the struggle between Israel and the
Philistines taking place so far north as the plain of Jezreel. Possibly it was connected
with some movements of the Aramaic tribes to the north of Palestine. See 2 Sam. 8.
CLARKE, "To Aphek - This was a place in the valley of Jezreel, between Mounts
Tabor and Gilboa.
Pitched by a fountain - To be near a fountain, or copious spring of water, was a
point of great importance to an army in countries such as these, where water was so very
scarce. It is supposed, as William of Tyre says, that it was at this same fountain that
Saladin pitched his camp, while Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, pitched his by another
fountain between Nazareth and Sephoris; each being anxious to secure that without
which it was impossible for their armies to subsist.
GILL, "Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek,....
Not the city in the tribe of Judah of that name, Jos_15:53; where the Philistines had a
camp in the time of Samuel, 1Sa_4:1; but rather that in the tribe of Asher, Jos_19:30;
unless there was one of this name in the tribe of Issachar, not mentioned, since it seems
to have been near Jezreel and Shunem, which were both in that tribe, Jos_19:18,
and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel; in the valley of
Jezreel; of which See Gill on Jos_19:18 and See Gill on Hos_1:5.
Here is, I. The great strait that David was in, which we may suppose he himself was
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2. aware of, though we read not of his asking advice from God, nor of any project of his
own to get clear of it. The two armies of the Philistines and the Israelites were encamped
and ready to engage, 1Sa_29:1. Achish, who had been kind to David, had obliged him to
come himself and bring the forces he had into his service. David came accordingly, and,
upon a review of the army, was found with Achish, in the post assigned him in the rear,
1Sa_29:2. Now, 1. If, when the armies engaged, he should retire, and quit his post, he
would fall under the indelible reproach, not only of cowardice and treachery, but of base
ingratitude to Achish, who had been his protector and benefactor and had reposed a
confidence in him, and from whom he had received a very honourable commission. Such
an unprincipled thing as this he could by no means persuade himself to do. 2. If he
should, as was expected from him, fight for the Philistines against Israel, he would incur
the imputation of being an enemy to the Israel of God and a traitor to his country, would
make his own people hate him, and unanimously oppose his coming to the crown, as
unworthy the name of an Israelite, much more the honour and trust of a king of Israel,
when he had fought against them under the banner of the uncircumcised. If Saul should
be killed (as it proved he was) in this engagement, the fault would be laid at David's
door, as if he had killed him. So that on each side there seemed to be both sin and
scandal. This was the strait he was in; and a great strait it was to a good man, greater to
see sin before him than to see trouble. Into this strait he brought himself by his own
unadvisedness, in quitting the land of Judah, and going among the uncircumcised. It is
strange if those that associate themselves with wicked people, and grow intimate with
them, come off without guilt, or grief, or both. What he himself proposed to do does not
appear. Perhaps he designed to act only as keeper to the king's head, the post assigned
him (1Sa_28:2) and not to do any thing offensively against Israel. But it would have been
very hard to come so near the brink of sin and not to fall in. Therefore, though God
might justly have left him in this difficulty, to chastise him for his folly, yet, because his
heart was upright with him, he would not suffer him to be tempted above what he was
able, but with the temptation made a way for him to escape, 1Co_10:13.
JAMISON, "1Sa_29:1-5. David marching with the Philistines to fight with Israel.
Aphek — (Jos_12:8), in the tribe of Issachar, and in the plain of Esdraelon. A person
who compares the Bible account of Saul’s last battle with the Philistines, with the region
around Gilboa, has the same sort of evidence that the account relates what is true, that a
person would have that such a battle as Waterloo really took place. Gilboa, Jezreel,
Shunem, En-dor, are all found, still bearing the same names. They lie within sight of
each other. Aphek is the only one of the cluster not yet identified. Jezreel on the
northern slope of Gilboa, and at the distance of twenty minutes to the east, is a large
fountain, and a smaller one still nearer; just the position which a chieftain would select,
both on account of its elevation and the supply of water needed for his troops [Hackett,
Scripture Illustrated].
K&D, "Whilst Saul derived no comfort from his visit to the witch at Endor, but simply
heard from the mouth of Samuel the confirmation of his rejection on the part of God,
and an announcement of his approaching fate, David was delivered, through the
interposition of God, from the danger of having to fight against his own people.
1Sa_29:1
The account of this is introduced by a fuller description of the position of the hostile
army. “The Philistines gathered all their armies together towards Aphek, but Israel
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3. encamped at the fountain in (at) Jezreel.” This fountain is the present Ain Jalûd (or Ain
Jalût, i.e., Goliath's fountain, probably so called because it was regarded as the scene of
the defeat of Goliath), a very large fountain, which issues from a cleft in the rock at the
foot of the mountain on the north-eastern border of Gilboa, forming a beautifully limpid
pool of about forty or fifty feet in diameter, and then flowing in a brook through the
valley (Rob. Pal. iii. p. 168). Consequently Aphek, which must be carefully distinguished
from the towns of the same name in Asher (Jos_19:30; Jdg_1:31) and upon the
mountains of Judah (Jos_15:53) and also at Ebenezer (1Sa_4:1), is to be sought for not
very far from Shunem, in the plain of Jezreel; according to Van de Velde's Mem., by the
side of the present el Afûleh, though the situation has not been exactly determined. The
statement in the Onom., “near Endor of Jezreel where Saul fought,” is merely founded
upon the Septuagint, in which ‫ן‬ִ‫י‬ַ‫ע‬ ָ‫בּ‬ is erroneously rendered ἐν Ἐνδώρ.
PULPIT, "1Sa_29:1
The Philistines gathered, etc. The narrative, broken off for the description of Saul’s
abasement, is again resumed from 1Sa_28:1. Aphek. As we saw on 1Sa_4:1, this word,
signifying a fortress, is a very common name for places. If it was the Aphek in Judah
there mentioned, David’s dismissal would have taken place near Gath, and so soon after
Achish joined the Philistine army. Mr. Conder thinks it was the place represented by the
modern village Fuku’a, near Mount Gilboa, in the tribe of Issachar; but as this was
distant from Ziklag eighty or ninety miles, it would not have been possible for David to
have reached home thence on the third day (1Sa_30:1), nor was it probable that his
presence with his little army would remain long unnoticed. A fountain which is in
Jezreel. Hebrew, "the fountain." Conder says, "Crossing the valley we see before us the
site of Jezreel, on a knoll 500 feet high. The position is very peculiar, for whilst on the
north and northeast the slopes are steep and rugged, on the south the ascent is very
gradual, and the traveller coming northward is astonished to look down suddenly on the
valley with its two springs: one, ’Ain Jalud, welling out from a conglomerate cliff, and
forming a pool 100 yards long with muddy borders; the other, the Crusaders’ fountain of
Tubania" (’Tent-Work,’ 1:124). The former is the fountain mentioned here; and it is
evident that even now Saul had chosen a strong position for his army. The reading of the
Septuagint, En-dor instead of "the fountain" (Hebrew, ’En, or ’Ain), is indefensible, as
the Israelites were many miles to the southward.
GUZIK, "THE PHILISTINES REJECT DAVID
A. The Philistine rulers object to David’s presence among the Philistine army.
1. (1Sa_29:1-3) Achish defends David in the face of accusations from the other
leaders Philistines.
Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites
encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed in
review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the
rear with Achish. Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews
doing here?” And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the
servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And
to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”
a. Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies: The battle
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4. lines were drawn in the previous chapter, when the Philistines made a deep
incursion into Israelite territory. The Philistines were intent on delivering a
death-blow to Israel, and the two armies square off in anticipation of battle.
i. Where is Saul? The night before, Saul sought the help of a spirit medium,
wanting to hear from God. Through a strange appearance of the prophet
Samuel, God told Saul he would die the next day in battle. Instead of
humbling himself in repentance before the LORD, Saul simply resigned
himself to this fate.
b. The lords of the Philistines passed in review . . . David and his men
passed in review at the rear: What is David doing among the Philistines?
David, in the midst of great discouragement, left the people of God and the land
of Israel, and cast his lot with the Philistines instead (1Sa_27:1-12).
i. David now finds himself in a place he thought he would never be: among
the ungodly, ready to fight against God’s people! When we sin, when we
backslide, when we turn away from the things of God, we may soon find
ourselves in a place we never thought we would be.
c. What are these Hebrews doing here: Leaders among the Philistines
looked at David and his men, and said, “They aren’t one of us. They are Hebrews.
The worship another God. They live in the land God promised to them. We don’t
belong together!”
i. The Philistine leaders could see what David was blinded to. David had
started to think and act like a Philistine, and was ready to fight with them
against the people of God. But the Philistine leaders could see that this wasn’t
right, even when David couldn’t!
ii. The Philistine leaders knew who David really was - that is, a Hebrew, a
part of God’s people. David seems to have forgotten this, but the Philistine
leaders knew. David would have never slipped into this sinful place if he had
remembered who he really was, and what His destiny was. This is a sad
example of a time when we wish David had the wisdom of the Philistines!
iii. “It is very terrible when the children of the world have a higher sense of
Christian propriety and fitness than Christians themselves, and say to one
another, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’“ (Meyer)
d. Is this not David . . . who has been with me these days, or these
years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected
to me: It is a sad thing that a Philistine ruler will defend David so confidently!
David has identified himself so much with the ungodly, that Achish knows he has
David in his pocket.
i. Hearing these words from Achish should have grieved David. To hear an
ungodly ruler say, “David has been with me” and “I have found no fault in
him” and “he defected to me” should have been a great wake-up call to David.
It would be as if an ungodly coworker insisted to others that you really
weren’t a Christian after all, because they had seen how you live! God was
speaking to David through this, but was David listening?
ii. It is also important to see that Achish wasn’t just making this up. David
had said as much in 1Sa_28:1-2 and Achish had every reason to believe that
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5. David would fight on his side.
Robert Roe, "which is about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem on the coastal plains]
while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel [up north about
30 miles southwest of Galilee. In other words the two armies are gathered together
about 40-50 miles apart. One on the plain. One up in the mountains. The Philistines
are going to come sweeping up just below Galilee and assault the Israelites. The
Israelites having a lesser force and being more lightly armed, want the Philistines in
the mountains where they have the advantage
BENSON, "1 Samuel 29:1-2. The Philistines gathered, the Israelites pitched — Or
rather, had gathered, had pitched; for we are informed in the foregoing chapter that
the Philistines were come to Shunen, and it is probable David’s departure from their
army was prior to Saul’s consulting the woman at Endor. The lords of the
Philistines passed on by hundreds, &c. — When they took a view of their army, the
great men appeared, some at the head of a hundred, some of a thousand soldiers.
David and his men passed on with Achish — Who seems to have been the general of
the army, and to have made David and his men his life-guard, according to his
resolution, chap. 1 Samuel 28:2. From this we may learn how dangerous a thing it is
to deviate from truth, and what inconveniences it often brings us into. The pretences
which David made to Achish (as related chap. 28.) of his inveteracy to the Israelites,
and of the damage he had done them in making incursions upon them, were the
inducements that prompted Achish to make David and his men his life-guard;
whereby David was brought into the grievous strait of either fighting against his
own countrymen, or betraying his benefactor.
ELLICOTT, " (1) Aphek.—The name Aphek was a common one, and was given to
several “places of arms” in Canaan. It signifies a fort or a strong place. This Aphek
was most likely situated in the Plain of Jezreel. Eusebius places it in the
neighbourhood of En-dor.
By a fountain which is in Jezreel.—“By a fountain.” The LXX. wrongly adds “dor,”
supposing the spring or fountain to be the well-known En-dor—spring of Dor—but
En-dor, we know, lay many miles away from the camp of Saul. This “fountain” has
been identified by modern travellers as Ain-Jalûd, the Fountain of Goliath, because
it was traditionally regarded as the scene of the old combat with the giant. It is a
large spring which flows from under the cavern in the rock which forms the base of
Gilboa. “There is every reason to regard this as the ancient fountain of Jezreel,
where Saul and Jonathan pitched before their last fatal battle, and where, too, in the
days of the Crusades, Saladin and the Christians successively encamped.”—
Robinson, Palestine, , 8.
COKE, "1 Samuel 29:1. The Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel—
As we are informed in the foregoing chapter, 1 Samuel 29:4 that the Philistines were
come to Shunem, the verbs in this verse should be read in the past tense, had
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6. gathered,—had pitched:—David's departure from the army of the Philistines being
prior to Saul's consulting the woman at Endor. The archbishop of Tyre tells us, that
the Christian kings of Jerusalem used to assemble their forces at a fountain betwixt
Nazareth and Sephoris, which was greatly celebrated on that account. This being
looked upon to be nearly the centre of their kingdom, they could from thence
consequently march to any place where their presence was wanted. He mentions
also another fountain, near a town called Little Gerinum, which, he says, was the
ancient Jezreel. Near this fountain Saladine pitched his camp for the benefit of its
waters, while Baldwin king of Jerusalem had, as usual, assembled his army at the
first mentioned place. This solicitude, in the princes of these sultry climes, to pitch
near fountains; this mention of one by Jezreel, and this custom of assembling their
armies in the centre of their kingdom, all serve to illustrate the present passage,
which speaks of the encampment of Israel at a fountain, considerably distant from
the proper country of the Philistines, just before the fatal battle which concluded the
reign of Saul. If the Philistines had extended their territories at this time to mount
Carmel; if they were wont to make their irruptions into the land of Israel that way,
in that age; or if Saul had received intelligence of such a design at this time; these
circumstances, or any of them, would farther explain the propriety of this pitching
by the fountain of Jezreel: but what William of Tyre says about the managements of
the Christian kings of Jerusalem of his days, and of their predecessors, is alone a
more clear illustration of this passage than commentators have furnished us with.
Observations, p. 335.
COFFMAN, "It would have been some kind of a miracle if David's long association
with Achish had not resulted in his being sucked into the vortex of war against his
own people; and only the intervention of God Himself prevented that from
happening, as revealed here. Fortunately, the temptation that came to David in this
trial brought with it the promised "way of escape," as the Lord promised (1
Corinthians 10:13). David wrote in Psalms that, "I do not sit with false men ... I hate
the company of evildoers" (Psalms 26:4-5); but at this juncture in his life he had
been closely associated with the wicked for years. God alone could have spared him
from the disastrous results which might have ensued.
WHY THE PHILISTINE COMMANDERS REJECTED DAVID
Willis cited no less that four reasons why the commanders of the Philistines vetoed
the intention of Achish to take David and his men into the battle against Israel.
These were:
(1) The long enmity between the Philistines and the Hebrews had resulted in deep
mistrust on both sides.
(2) In the battle of Geba (1 Samuel 14:21), the Hebrews who had deserted to the
Philistines defected to their fellow-Israelites and aided Saul in destroying the
Philistines. As Caird noted, "That was an unanswerable objection to David's being
allowed to join their army."[1]
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7. (3) If David and his men decided to go back to Saul, they would easily do so by
slaughtering the Philistines (any great number of them) and taking their heads to
Saul. An opportunity like that, the lords of the Philistines were determined not to
put into the hands of David.
(4) David had a reputation of having slain "tens of thousands" of Philistines; and
the lords of the Philistines were not about to forget it.[2]
It is surprising that H. P. Smith wrote that there is, "An absence of any allusion to
Goliath,"[3] in this chapter, but the quotation of the Philistine lords of that song
which was sung following David's killing Goliath is just about the strongest allusion
to David's killing that giant that could be imagined.
"David ... has been with me now for days and years" (1 Samuel 29:3). These words
from Achish indicate the indefinite chronology of this whole chapter. As noted
earlier, the Bible does not tell us how long David's total sojourn in Philistia actually
lasted. R. P. Smith wrote that, "This passage refers to an indefinitely long time."[4]
"I have found no fault in him to this day" (1 Samuel 29:3). David had completely
deceived Achish; but fortunately for the Philistines, the other lords of the Philistines
were not so gullible.
"They were angry ... Send him back" (1 Samuel 29:4). Regardless of the wishes of
Achish, the Philistine lords outvoted Achish and successfully removed David and his
men from their forces.
"In this manner David was saved from making war on his own people and was
returned to Ziklag exactly at the right time to save his wives and property from
their confiscation by the Amalekites."[5]
How marvelous are the ways of God in the protection that He casts like a cloak
around his saints!
WHEDON, " 1. Aphek — Supposed by some to be the modern el Afuleh, a little to
the northwest of Shunem, but it has not been identified with certainty. More likely it
is the same as the Aphek of chap. 41, somewhere northwest of Jerusalem, and this
gathering of the Philistines is to be understood as occurring before they “came and
pitched in Shunem.” 1 Samuel 28:4. The historian goes back in this chapter to
narrate events that took place before the two armies approached very near to each
other. This is the more likely, since the Philistine lords would have objected to
David’s presence before he had gone with them as far as Shunem.
A fountain which is in Jezreel — The modern Ain Jalud, situated about six miles
south of Shunem, at the base of the mountains of Gilboa. It is “a very large fountain,
flowing out from under a sort of cavern in the conglomerate rock which here forms
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8. the base of Gilboa. The water is excellent, and, issuing from crevices in the rocks, it
spreads out at once into a fine limpid pool, forty or fifty feet in diameter, in which
great numbers of small fish were sporting. From the reservoir, a stream sufficient to
turn a mill flows off eastward down the valley. There is every reason to regard this
as the ancient fountain of Jezreel, where Saul and Jonathan pitched before their last
fatal battle.” — Robinson.
CONSTABLE, "One cannot help wondering if all that undeserved praise which
Achish heaped upon David did not hurt his conscience. Another source of acute
curiosity on our part is the question of, "What did David really intend to do during
that approaching battle?" Was he planning to betray Achish, attack the Philistines
and to aid Israel? Who knows?
"What have you found in your servant ... that I may not go and fight against the
enemies of my lord the king" (1 Samuel 29:8). Of course, Achish conceitedly applied
David's words here as a pledge that he would fight for Achish and the Philistines,
but THE WORDS DO NOT SAY THAT. This is another of those ambiguous
remarks which David so skillfully employed in his phenomenal deceit of Achish.
David's fighting against the enemies of "my lord the king," applies to Saul as well as
to Achish.
As was his custom for years during this period of David's life, he prevaricated
continually. Here he pretended that he really wanted to go to battle with Achish, but
it is very likely that such was not David's real wish at all. Still he kept up his
persistent line of falsehoods to Achish, but his reason for doing so is by no means
clear. It is difficult to realize that the David who appears in these chapters is the
same David who wrote:
O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent?
Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly,
And does what is right,
And speaks truth in his heart (Psalms 15:1,2).
That the man's conscience was indeed wounded by such continual lying as is seen in
these chapters is indicated by Psalms 51, in which David wrote:
Behold thou desirest truth in the inward being ...
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ...
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9. Hide thy face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities (Psalms 51:1-9).
"You are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God" (1 Samuel 29:9). "What
Achish said of David here, God by the voice of his prophet said of `the house of
David,' `On that day the Lord will put a shield about the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, at their head'
(Zechariah 12:8)."[6] Of course, this reference in Zechariah has in view the Messiah
and the new Israel of God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
"With the servants of your lord who came with you" (1 Samuel 29:10). This rather
ambiguous statement was clarified by Cook. "The clue to this is in 1 Chronicles
12:19-21, where it appears that a considerable number of Manassites "fell" to David
just at this time, and went back with him to Ziklag. It was to these newcomers that
Achish applied the expression here."[7]
Philbeck's comment on David's professed reluctance to be sent back to Ziklag
indicated that, "Although David was relieved, his role as a loyal subject of Achish
required him to protest the decision. Nevertheless, he and his troops were ready to
leave the next morning at daylight."[8]
Keil's concluding comment on this chapter catches the probable emotion of David
regarding this development.
"In accordance with Achish's orders, David returned the next morning into the
land of the Philistines, to Ziklag; no doubt very light in heart, and praising God for
having so graciously rescued him out of the disastrous situation into which he had
been brought, and not altogether without some fault of his own, rejoicing that he
had not committed either sin, he had neither violated his loyalty to Achish nor had
he fought against his own people."[9]
HAWKERS, "Verse 1-2
(1) ¶ Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the
Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. (2) And the lords of the
Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed
on in the rereward with Achish.
It is to be supposed, though it be not said so in the history, that David must have felt
himself most awkwardly situated in the army of the Philistines. To have declined
going to the battle would have betrayed him to the Philistines: and to have been
found fighting against his country, how was this possible to a generous patriot like
David? Had David's want of faith been less, and he had remained in Judah, this
could not have happened. See Reader! how even good men when going, out of the
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10. path of duty, expose themselves to temptation. Now if the Lord doth not interpose
for him, we cannot see any way by which he may escape. Blessed be God! there is a
promise to this purport, and though we deserve it not, yet not our merit but divine
grace, becomes the source of our deliverance. See the promise; 1 Corinthians 10:13.
LANGE, " II. David’s Dismissal from the Philistine Army
1 Samuel 29:1-11
1Now [And] the Philistines gathered together all their armies[FN1] to Aphek; and 2
the Israelites pitched by a [the] fountain[FN2] which is in Jezreel. And the
lords[FN3] of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but [and]
David and his 3 men passed on in the rearward [rear] with Achish. Then said the
princes[FN4] of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto
the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the [om. the] king
of Israel, which [who] hath been with me these days or these years,[FN5] and I have
found no 4 fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the
Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him,
Make this fellow [the man] 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[FN6] to us; for wherewith should he reconcile himself [make himself
accept 5 able] unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not
this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his
thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely [om. surely], as the Lord [As
Jehovah] liveth, thou hast been [art] upright, and thy going out and thy coming in
with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the
day of thy coming unto me unto this day; nevertheless the lords favour thee 7 not
[but in the eyes of the lords thou art not good]. Wherefore [And] now return, 8and
go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. And David said unto
Achish, But[FN7] what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so
long as I have been with thee [from the day[FN8] when I was in thy presence] unto
this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 9And
Achish answered and said unto David, I know[FN9] that thou art good in my sight
as an angel[FN10] of God; notwithstanding [but] the princes of the Philistines have
said, 10He shall not go up with us to the battle. Wherefore [And] now, rise up early
in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee;[FN11] and as
soon as 11 ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. So David and his
men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines.
And the Philistines went up to[FN12] Jezreel.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1 Samuel 29:1. Resumption of the narrative of the war between the Philistines and
Israelites, 1 Samuel 28:1-4, with an exacter description of the positions of the two
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11. armies. Aphek—to be distinguished from the places of the same name in Asher
( Joshua 19:30; Judges 1:31), in Judah on the mountain ( Joshua 15:53), and near
Ebenezer ( 1 Samuel 4:1)—belonged to Issachar, and is probably the same with the
present el Afuleh near Solam=Sunem (v. d. Velde, Mem., p286; Ew, Gesch., III, 142,
A2). Southeast of this Philistine rendezvous the Israelites were encamped “at the
spring near Jezreel,” the present Zerin (Rob, III, i395) [Am. ed, ii319–323, where
Robinson explains the identity of the names Jezreel and Zerin, the Heb. el often
becoming in in Arabic, as Beitin = Bethel; so Zerel=Zerin.—Tr.] Ain [= “spring”] is
not = Endor, as the Sept. wrongly gives it, whence it is adopted by Euseb. in the
Onomasticon, but the present Ain Jalud,[FN13] a very bold spring on the northwest
declivity of Gilboa, whence flows a brook through the Wady Jalud into the Jordan.
There the Israelitish army encamped opposite the Phlistine in a well-watered spot
near Jezreel. “Elsewhere also a spring gives name to a stopping-place or border line,
2 Samuel 17:17; Numbers 34:11” (Böttch.).
PETT, "Verses 1-11
The Philistines Gather In Readiness For The Invasion of Israel And Refuse To Have
David In Their Company (1 Samuel 29:1-11).
This passage brings out how very much the concentration of the writer of Samuel is
on the personalities involved, and how little on the history. Here was one of the great
moments of history when the massed hosts of the Philistines, stronger than ever
before, were about to overwhelm Israel, and, probably for the first time since their
arrival in Canaan, extend their empire over the River Jordan. It is covering the
period of the establishment of the Philistine Empire at its largest, and the total
subjugation of most of Israel. And what is the writer’s concentration on? The one
who did not take part in the battle because he was not to be trusted by the
Philistines (David), and what he meanwhile accomplished against a gathering of the
tribes of Amalekites. In other words what the writer is interested in is what
happened with David, and what subsequently happened to Saul (and had happened
in 1 Samuel 28). His interest is in YHWH’s activity in history. The Philistines’
activities are simply colourful background. What he is concerned with here is the
outworking of YHWH’s purposes. This is the story of YHWH.
David was certainly put on the spot as a result of the call to join in the invasion of
Israel. Had he actually had to do so it is questionable whether he would ever have
been able to re-establish his acceptability to the Israelites. But we are expected to see
that YHWH intervened and prevented him from having to do so.
This being turned back was also providential for another reason, for while the
Philistine army was on the march, unknown to anyone the Amalekites had taken
advantage of the situation in order to invade the southern parts of Judah and
Philistia, including Ziklag. With David on war duty, and gone for the duration, and
both Judah and Philistia emptied of its main fighting troops, it was seen by them as
too good an opportunity to be missed. And it would give them even more satisfaction
11

12. in that they would be gaining vengeance for what David had done to their fellow-
tribesmen (1 Samuel 27:8-9). They never dreamed that because YHWH was at work
watching over His people David might return so soon.
Analysis.
a Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek: and the Israelites
encamped by the fountain which is in Jezreel (1 Samuel 29:1).
b And the lords of the Philistines passed on by ‘hundreds’, and by ‘thousands’
(smaller and larger military units), and David and his men passed on in the
rearward with Achish (1 Samuel 29:2).
c Then said the princes of the Philistines, “What do these Hebrews here?” And
Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is not this David, the servant of Saul
the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I
have found no fault in him since he fell away to me unto this day?” But the princes
of the Philistines were angry with him, and the princes of the Philistines said to him,
“Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where you have appointed
him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an
adversary to us. For by what method should this fellow reconcile himself to his lord?
Should it not be with the heads of these men?” (1 Samuel 29:3-4).
d “Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has
slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands?” (1 Samuel 29:5).
e Then Achish called David, and said to him, “As YHWH lives, you have been
upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the host is good in my
sight, for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day
(1 Samuel 29:6 a).
f Nevertheless the lords do not favour you. For this reason now return, and go in
peace, that you displease not the lords of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 29:6-7).
e And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in
your servant for as long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and
fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” (1 Samuel 29:8).
d And Achish answered and said to David, “I know that you are good in my sight, as
an angel of God.”
c “Notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with
us to the battle’. For this reason now rise up early in the morning with the servants
of your lord who are come with you, and as soon as you are up early in the morning,
and have light, depart” (1 Samuel 29:9-10).
12

13. b So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into
the land of the Philistines (1 Samuel 29:11 a).
a And the Philistines went up to Jezreel (1 Samuel 29:11 b).
Note that in ‘a’ Israel were encamped by the spring which is in Jezreel, and in the
parallel the Philistines went up to Jezreel. In ‘b’ David went up with the Philistines,
and in the parallel he returns from following the Philistines. In ‘c’ the Philistines
refuse to let him ‘go down to battle’ and command that he return to Philistia, and in
the parallel Achish points this out and tells him to return to Philistia. In ‘d’ the
women of Israel sang of David’s glory, and in the parallel Achish sees him as ‘like
an angel of God’. In ‘e’ Achish declares him faithful and reliable and in the parallel
David argues that he is faithful and reliable. In ‘f’ it is stressed that David is not
favoured by the lords of the Philistines, and that he must therefore go in peace and
return to Ziklag.
1 Samuel 29:1
‘Now the Philistines gathered together all their hosts to Aphek, and the Israelites
encamped by the spring which is in Jezreel.’
The writer was not really interested in the details of the invasion, but only in its
consequences. However, we can gather from what he does tell us something of what
happened. It would appear that the speed of movement of the invasion forces had
taken Saul by surprise, so that although the call went out to the tribes in the north
and in Transjordan, neither sets of levies had time to reach him prior to the battle
with the result that they could only watch in dismay, (the northern tribes from
across the valley of Jezreel), while those whom Saul had been able to gather initially
were cut to pieces, first at Jezreel and then as they fled over Mount Gilboa (1
Samuel 31:7).
There are two possible scenarios depending on whether we take the Aphek here to
be that near Bethhoron (1 Samuel 4:1), or another Aphek further northward. Either
is possible for we know that ‘Aphek’ in fact means ‘a fortress’ and we also know
that there were a number of Apheks (fortress cities). Thus this Aphek may have
been in or near the valley of Jezreel.
Some, however, see this verse as a flashback, referring to the initial gathering of the
Philistine forces prior to their advance on Shunem (1 Samuel 28:4). This would
place the David incident in 1 Samuel 29 prior to the Philistine movement on
Shunem. Others see it as occurring after the Philistines had initially gathered, and
had arrived at Shunem, being the next stage in their advance towards Jezreel. This
ties in better with the impression we get from 1 Samuel 28 that David was with
Achish at Shunem.
Either way Saul may have encamped where he did, rather than further southward,
13

14. precisely because he was in expectancy of being joined by the tribal levies from the
northern tribes, and hoped that they might arrive before the Philistines did,
something which unfortunately for him may never have occurred (1 Samuel 31:7),
simply because of the early Philistine arrival in Jezreel. If that is so it would appear
that the Transjordanian levies also never had time to reach him (1 Samuel 31:7).
On the other hand the ‘men of Israel’ mentioned in 1 Samuel 31:7 may merely have
been those left behind to guard their cities, in which case Saul would have had his
full forces, with the description in 1 Samuel 31:7 simply bringing out the
consequence of the battle, that the cities of Israel were subjugated by the Philistines
to an extent never known before, as the Philistine empire reached its maximum
extent.
But the writer is not over interested in all this. What he is concerned to present is
the fact that while Saul and all Israel were in process of being hopelessly defeated
and decimated, as YHWH had declared, David was marching off towards victory
and triumph, maintaining the integrity of his ‘kingdom’, again within the purposes
of YHWH. The Philistine triumph would not be the end of Israel.
“The spring of Jezreel.” This spring is probably the present Ain Jalûd (or Ain Jalût,
i.e. ‘Goliath's spring’, so called because it was regarded as the scene of the defeat of
Goliath). It is a very large spring, which issues from a cleft in the rock at the foot of
the mountain on the north-eastern border of Gilboa, forming a beautifully limpid
pool of about forty or fifty feet in diameter, and then flowing in a stream through
the valley, being sufficient to turn a millwheel.
2 As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of
hundreds and thousands, David and his men were
marching at the rear with Achish.
Here is a paradoxical picture, for it is David the future king of Israel marching with
the Philistines going off to fight king Saul the present king of Israel in a war that
leaves him dead, and the door open for David to be the king. Fortunately, David and
his men were dismissed so they did not have to fight against their own people, and
be a part of a war that killed David's best friend Jonathan.
BARNES, "The lords - See Jdg_3:3 note, as distinguished from ordinary “princes”
1Sa_29:3. The military divisions of the Philistine army were by hundreds and by
thousands, like those of the Israelites 1Sa_8:12. David and his men formed a body-guard
14

15. to Achish 1Sa_28:2.
CLARKE, "By hundreds, and by thousands - They were probably divided, as the
Jewish armies, by fifties, hundreds, and thousands; each having its proper officer or
captain.
GILL, "And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by
thousands,.... Not that there were so many lords, for there were but five of them; but
these marched, some at the head of hundreds with them, and others at the head of
thousands:
but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish; who being the
generalissimo brought up the rear, and David, whom he had appointed captain of his
bodyguards, attended him with his men, which in point of gratitude he could not refuse;
and yet was in the greatest strait and difficulty how to act, it being both against his
conscience and his interest to fight against Israel, and was waiting and hoping for some
appearance of Providence to deliver him out of this dilemma, and which was quickly
seen; but Abarbinel thinks David had no other notion in going to the battle, but of being
the bodyguard of Achish, and accompanying him, and that he should not fight against
Israel, nor for the Philistines: neither harm the one, nor help the other.
HENRY, " A door opened for his deliverance out of this strait. God inclined the hearts
of the princes of the Philistines to oppose his being employed in the battle, and to insist
upon his being dismissed. Thus their enmity befriended him, when no friend he had was
capable of doing him such a kindness. 1. It was a proper question which they asked,
upon the mustering of the forces, “What do these Hebrews here? 1Sa_29:3. What
confidence can we put in them, or what service can we expect from them?” A Hebrew is
out of his place, and, if he has the spirit of a Hebrew, is out of his element, when he is in
the camp of the Philistines, and deserves to be made uneasy there. David used to hate
the congregation of evil doers, however he came now to be among them, Psa_26:5. It
was an honourable testimony which Achish, on this occasion, gave to David. He looked
upon him as a refugee, that fled from a wrongful prosecution in his own country, and
had put himself under his protection, whom therefore he was obliged, in justice, to take
care of, and thought he might in prudence employ; “for (says he) he has been with me
these days, or these years,” that is, a considerable time, many days at his court and a
year or two in his country, and he never found any fault in him, nor saw any cause to
distrust his fidelity, or to think any other than that he had heartily come over to him. By
this it appears that David had conducted himself with a great deal of caution, and had
prudently concealed the affection he still retained for his own people. We have need to
walk in wisdom towards those that are without, to keep our mouth when the wicked is
before us, and to be upon the reserve. 3. Yet the princes are peremptory in it, that he
must be sent home; and they give good reasons for their insisting on it.
JAMISON, "David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish — as
the commander of the lifeguards of Achish, who was general of this invading army of the
Philistines.
15

16. K&D, "1Sa_29:2-3
When the princes of the Philistines (sarne, as in Jos_13:3) advanced by hundreds and
thousands (i.e., arranged in companies of hundreds and thousands), and David and his
men came behind with Achish (i.e., forming the rear-guard), the (other) princes
pronounced against their allowing David and his men to go with them. The did not occur
at the time of their setting out, but on the road, when they had already gone some
distance (compare 1Sa_29:11 with 1Sa_30:1), probably when the five princes (Jos_13:3)
of the Philistines had effected a junction. To the inquiry, “What are these Hebrews
doing?” Achish replied, “Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who
has been with me days already, or years already? and I have found nothing in him
since his coming over unto this day.” ‫ה‬ ָ‫אוּמ‬ ְ‫,מ‬ anything at all that could render his
suspicious, or his fidelity doubtful. ‫ל‬ַ‫ָפ‬‫נ‬, to fall away and go over to a person; generally
construed with ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ (Jer_37:13; Jer_38:19, etc.) or ‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ (Jer_21:9; Jer_37:14; 1Ch_
12:19-20), but here absolutely, as the more precise meaning can be gathered from the
context.
PULPIT, "1Sa_29:2, 1Sa_29:3
The lords of the Philistines passed on. Evidently they were on their march
northward, with their troops arranged in divisions, when David’s presence in the
rearward with the contingent of Achish was noticed. The princes—not the strict word
for the Philistine lords (see on 1Sa_5:8), but a loose, general term used again in 1Sa_
29:4—on having it reported to them in the course of a day or two that there was a body
of strange troops in the army of Gath, asked, What do these Hebrews here?
Hebrew, "What these Hebrews?" i.e. What mean these Hebrews? using of them the
ordinary Philistine term of contempt. Achish answers that these men were the followers
of David, who, having deserted from Saul, had been with him these days or these
years, i.e. an indefinitely long time, during which he had conducted himself with the
utmost fidelity to his new master.
Deffinbaugh, "The “rear guard” of the entire Philistine army is none other than
David and his men. It has taken a while (and a bit of prompting) for me to grasp the
significance of this, since I have no military experience. You recall that Achish
“honored” David by making him his lifetime bodyguard. I take it that of the five
divisions of soldiers who pass by that day, the fifth division is that led by Achish.
David is at the back of the entire army.151 This is a most crucial position, for if at
all possible, the opposing army will try to flank their enemy and then attack them
from behind, as well as from in front. Those stationed at the back are some of the
finest, bravest, and most highly skilled warriors. David and his men are given this
honor."
What Achish regards as an “honor” is perceived as a “horror” to the other
Philistine commanders. While we are not told what David is thinking or planning to
do here, we are allowed to overhear the exchange between Achish and his four
commander colleagues as this top level military summit takes place. The other four
commanders are livid. They cannot imagine how Achish could be so nave as to take
David into battle with them, and to do so by placing him in a very strategic position.
16

17. They are not at all happy with the situation and waste no time calling Achish to
account for his folly. What in the world are David and his 600 warriors (these
Hebrews) doing in the Philistine army?
Robert H. Roe, "The Philistines were an oligarchy not a monarchy. There were five
lords who ruled over the country. Each one had his own capitol city. Achish had
Gath. There was one at Gaza, one at Ashkelon, one at Ashdod and one at Ekron.
Normally they each ran their own little territory but on occasion, they united for
military and self-preservation purposes. This was one of those occasions. Israel had
been disintegrating while Saul wasted his time chasing David. Now thousands of
Philistines were moving up the coastal plain to gather into a vast army and move
against the Israelites. David, as part of Achish's army, was at the head of the army
surrounding the king, so thousands of Achish's men were behind him. Also
thousands upon thousands of the men of the other four Lords were ahead of him.
He was boxed in with nowhere to go. He couldn't just suddenly fade away."
ELLICOTT, " (2) And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by
thousands.—The orderly advance of this great military nation is thus described. The
“lords” a different term to the expression “princes.” There were apparently in the
Philistine federation five sovereign princes, of whom Achish of Gath was one.
Beneath these were other chieftains, who seemingly had great control over the
sovereign princes.
David and his men.—David, in return for the lands round Ziklag given him by the
King of Gath, seems to have owed a kind of military service to his suzerain Achish.
The difference in the arms and equipment of the Israelitish warriors in the division
of David, which was marching under the standard of Gath, no doubt excited
questions. The general appearance of the Hebrews was, of course, well known to
their hereditary Philistine foes.
TRAPP, " 11. The Philistines went up to Jezreel — The village of Jezreel, the
modern Zerin, (see on Joshua 19:18,) was about three miles south of Shunem, so
that in this movement the Philistines advanced towards the Israelites. The modern
village stands “upon the brow of a very steep rocky descent of one hundred feet or
more towards the northeast.” — Robinson.
LANGE, " II. David’s Dismissal from the Philistine Army
1 Samuel 29:1-11
1Now [And] the Philistines gathered together all their armies[FN1] to Aphek; and 2
the Israelites pitched by a [the] fountain[FN2] which is in Jezreel. And the
lords[FN3] of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but [and]
David and his 3 men passed on in the rearward [rear] with Achish. Then said the
princes[FN4] of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto
the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the [om. the] king
17

18. of Israel, which [who] hath been with me these days or these years,[FN5] and I have
found no 4 fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the
Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him,
Make this fellow [the man] 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[FN6] to us; for wherewith should he reconcile himself [make himself
accept 5 able] unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not
this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his
thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely [om. surely], as the Lord [As
Jehovah] liveth, thou hast been [art] upright, and thy going out and thy coming in
with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in thee since the
day of thy coming unto me unto this day; nevertheless the lords favour thee 7 not
[but in the eyes of the lords thou art not good]. Wherefore [And] now return, 8and
go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. And David said unto
Achish, But[FN7] what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so
long as I have been with thee [from the day[FN8] when I was in thy presence] unto
this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 9And
Achish answered and said unto David, I know[FN9] that thou art good in my sight
as an angel[FN10] of God; notwithstanding [but] the princes of the Philistines have
said, 10He shall not go up with us to the battle. Wherefore [And] now, rise up early
in the morning with thy master’s servants that are come with thee;[FN11] and as
soon as 11 ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. So David and his
men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines.
And the Philistines went up to[FN12] Jezreel.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1 Samuel 29:1. Resumption of the narrative of the war between the Philistines and
Israelites, 1 Samuel 28:1-4, with an exacter description of the positions of the two
armies. Aphek—to be distinguished from the places of the same name in Asher
( Joshua 19:30; Judges 1:31), in Judah on the mountain ( Joshua 15:53), and near
Ebenezer ( 1 Samuel 4:1)—belonged to Issachar, and is probably the same with the
present el Afuleh near Solam=Sunem (v. d. Velde, Mem., p286; Ew, Gesch., III, 142,
A2). Southeast of this Philistine rendezvous the Israelites were encamped “at the
spring near Jezreel,” the present Zerin (Rob, III, i395) [Am. ed, ii319–323, where
Robinson explains the identity of the names Jezreel and Zerin, the Heb. el often
becoming in in Arabic, as Beitin = Bethel; so Zerel=Zerin.—Tr.] Ain [= “spring”] is
not = Endor, as the Sept. wrongly gives it, whence it is adopted by Euseb. in the
Onomasticon, but the present Ain Jalud,[FN13] a very bold spring on the northwest
declivity of Gilboa, whence flows a brook through the Wady Jalud into the Jordan.
There the Israelitish army encamped opposite the Phlistine in a well-watered spot
near Jezreel. “Elsewhere also a spring gives name to a stopping-place or border line,
2 Samuel 17:17; Numbers 34:11” (Böttch.).
18

19. 3 The commanders of the Philistines asked, "What
about these Hebrews?"
Achish replied, "Is this not David, who was an
officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with
me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until
now, I have found no fault in him."
BARNES, "He fell unto me - The regular word for deserting and going over to the
other side. See Jer_37:13; Jer_38:19.
CLARKE, "These days, or these years - I suppose these words to mark no
definite time, and may be understood thus: “Is not this David, who has been with me for
a considerable time?”
GILL, "Then said the princes of the Philistines,.... To Achish; not those of the
court of Achish, who were his subjects, but the confederate princes with him in this war,
the lords of the other principalities, as appears by the freedom they took with him, 1Sa_
29:4,
what do these Hebrews here? or Jews, as the Targum; what hast thou to do with
them, or they to be with thee? men of another nation and religion, and known enemies
to the Philistines:
and Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines; in order to soften them, and
reconcile them to these men, and their being with him:
is not this David the servant of Saul the king of Israel; between whom there had
been a quarrel, and the former had fled from the latter to him:
which hath been with me these days, or these years; had been with him many
days, and he might say years, as he had been with him one whole year, and part of
another, see 1Sa_27:7; and he might have known him longer, if he was the same Achish
David first fled to; Kimchi interprets it, that he knew him as well as if he had been with
him as many years as days:
and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? the affair
of David's going against the Geshurites, &c. not being yet known by him, or, if it was, he
19

20. approved of it, they being enemies of his; this shows that David behaved with a great
deal of prudence to have such a character as this from a king of the Philistines.
HENRY, " A door opened for his deliverance out of this strait. God inclined the hearts
of the princes of the Philistines to oppose his being employed in the battle, and to insist
upon his being dismissed. Thus their enmity befriended him, when no friend he had was
capable of doing him such a kindness. 1. It was a proper question which they asked,
upon the mustering of the forces, “What do these Hebrews here? 1Sa_29:3. What
confidence can we put in them, or what service can we expect from them?” A Hebrew is
out of his place, and, if he has the spirit of a Hebrew, is out of his element, when he is in
the camp of the Philistines, and deserves to be made uneasy there. David used to hate
the congregation of evil doers, however he came now to be among them, Psa_26:5. It
was an honourable testimony which Achish, on this occasion, gave to David. He looked
upon him as a refugee, that fled from a wrongful prosecution in his own country, and
had put himself under his protection, whom therefore he was obliged, in justice, to take
care of, and thought he might in prudence employ; “for (says he) he has been with me
these days, or these years,” that is, a considerable time, many days at his court and a
year or two in his country, and he never found any fault in him, nor saw any cause to
distrust his fidelity, or to think any other than that he had heartily come over to him. By
this it appears that David had conducted himself with a great deal of caution, and had
prudently concealed the affection he still retained for his own people. We have need to
walk in wisdom towards those that are without, to keep our mouth when the wicked is
before us, and to be upon the reserve.
JAMISON, "these days, or these years — He had now been with the Philistines a
full year and four months (1Sa_27:7), and also some years before. It has been thought
that David kept up a private correspondence with this Philistine prince, either on
account of his native generosity, or in the anticipation that an asylum in his territories
would sooner or later be needed.
BI, "What do these Hebrews here?
One question with two meanings
David was almost at the lowest point of his fortunes when he fled into foreign territory.
The Philistine commanders, very naturally, were suspicious of these allies, just as
Englishmen would have been if, the night before Waterloo, a brigade of Frenchmen had
deserted and offered their help to fight, Napoleon. So the question, “What, do these
Hebrews here?”—amongst our ranks—was an extremely natural one, and it was
answered in the only possible way, by the subsequent departure of David and his men
from the unnatural and ill-omened alliance. Now, that suggests to us that Christian
people are out of their places, even in the eyes of worldly people, when they are fighting
shoulder to shoulder with them in certain causes; and it suggests the propriety of
keeping apart. “Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.”
“What do these Hebrews here?” is a question that, Philistia often asks. But now turn to
the other question. Elijah had fallen into the mood of depression which so often follows
great nervous tension. The usually undaunted prophet, in the reaction after the great
effort, was fearful for his life, and deserted his work, and flung himself into solitude, and
shook the dust off his feet against Israel. Was that not just doing what I have been saying
that Christian people ought to do—separating himself from the world? In a sense yes,
20

21. and the voice came, “What dost thou here, Elijah?” “Go back to your work; to Ahab, to
Jezebel.” “Go back to death if need be. Do not shirk your duty on the pretence of
separating yourself from the world.” So we put the two questions together. They limit
one another, and they suggest the via media, the course between, and lead me to say one
or two plain things about that duty of Christian separation from an evil world.
I. The first thing I would suggest to you is the inevitable intermingling, which is the law
of God, and therefore can never be broken with impunity. Christ’s parable about the
Kingdom of Heaven in the world being like a man that sowed good seed in his field,
which sprung up intermingled with tares, contains the lesson, not so much of the purity
or non-purity of the Church as of the inseparable intertwining in the world of Christian
people with others. Society at present, and the earthly form of the Kingdom of God, are
not organised on the basis of religious affinity, but upon a great many other things, such
as family, kindred, business, a thousand ties of all sorts. There are types of Christian life
today unwholesomely self-engrossed, and too much occupied with their own spiritual
condition, to realize and discharge the duty of witnessing, in the world. Wherever you
find a Christian man that tries more to keep himself apart, in the enjoyment and
cultivation of his own religious life, than to fling himself into the midst of the world’s
worst evil, in order to fight and to cure it, you get a man who is sharing in Elijah’s
transgression, and needs Elijah’s rebuke. The intermingling is inevitable in the present
state of things.
II. And now let me say a word about the second thing, and that is—the imperative
separation. “What do these Israelites here?” is the question. What do we do when we are
left to do as we like? Where do we go? When the half-cwt fastened by the bit of string is
taken off the sapling it starts back to its original uprightedness. Is that what, your
Christianity does? Let us look at the spirit. Where do I turn to? What do I like to do?
Where are my chosen companions? What are my recreations? Is my life of such a sort as
that the world will turn to ms and say, “What! you here!” “A man is known by the
company he keeps,” says an old Latin proverb, and I am bound to say that I do not think
it is a good sign of the depth of a Christian professor’s religion if he feels himself more at
home in the company of the people that do not share his religion than in the company of
those that do. There are two questions which every Christian professor ought to ask
himself about such subjects. One is, Can I ask God to bless this, and my doing it? And
the other is, Does this help or hinder my religion?
III. Now there is one last suggestion that I wish to make, and that is the double
questioning that we shall have to stand. The lords of the Philistines said, “What do these
Hebrews here?” They saw the inconsistency, if David and his men did not. They were
sharp to detect it, and David and his band did not rise in their opinion. So let me tell you,
you will neither recommend your religion nor yourselves to men of the world, by
inconsistently trying to identify yourselves with them. The world respects an out-and-
out Christian; and neither God nor the world respects an inconsistent one. But there is
another question, and another questioner—“What dost, thou hers, Elijah?” That
question is put to us all in the moment when we are truest to our professions and
ourselves. What do you think you would say if, in some of these moments of unnecessary
intermingling with questionable things and doubtful people, you were brought suddenly
to this, that you had to formulate into some kind of plausibility your reason for being
there? Let us cleave to Christ, and that will separate us from the world. If we cleave to
the world, that will separate us from Christ. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
21

22. The Philistines will have Hebrews in front of them, and Hebrews
behind them, and this begins to bother them. Achish, quickly, comes to
the defense of David and his men. He is not aware that David killed as
many Philistines as he did. You remember, he thought David was raiding
Israelites, when he came and shared his animals he had won in battle.
TRAPP, "1 Samuel 29:3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these
Hebrews [here]? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, [Is] not this
David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or
these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day?
Ver. 3. What do these Hebrews here?] A people ever as much hated by the heathens
for their religion, as afterwards the Christians were: but now more than ordinarily
by these Philistines, because their mortal enemies.
And I have found no fault in him.] Faults David had not a few, [Psalms 19:12] and if
the best man’s faults were written in his forehead, it would make him pull his hat
over his eyes, but God had hid them from public notice; which was to him a greater
mercy than it is to us, that the filth and stench that is within us annoyeth us not. If
Seneca could say of Cato, that he was the lively image of all virtues: and Valerius
Maximus of Scipio, that he was the man whom God would have [to be] born, ut esset
in quo virtus per omnes numeros hominibus efficaciter se ostenderet, that he might
be a perfect pattern to men of unblamable conversation: how much more might the
same be said of the holy David?
HAWKERS, "(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 David, the
servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these
years, and I have found 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 fellow 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?
Reader! do not fail to observe, how God opened a door of escape for David. Surely it
was God's superintendance over him; that prompted the minds of the Philistine
princes thus to reason, and thus to insist upon his departure. The Lord hath the
hearts of all men at his disposal, and like rivers of waters, turneth them
whithersoever he pleaseth; Proverbs 21:1. It is very sweet and precious to eye God's
hand in all our concerns.
22

23. LANGE, " 1 Samuel 29:3. The other leaders object to the presence of David and his
men: What do these Hebrews here? As it is said in 1 Samuel 29:11 that David
returned to the land of the Philistines, and according to 1 Samuel 30:1 they reached
Ziklag after a three days march, the objection of the Philistine princes must have
been made on Israelitish soil, or near the Palestinian border, but not at the
commencement of the march. From Achish’s reply it appears that the princes
distrusted David, suspecting that he would go over to his own people and fight
against the Philistines. Achish observes1) that David is servant of Saul, king of
Israel, thus alluding to his enmity with Saul, 2) that he has already been allied with
him a long time against Saul, “these days or these years” = “a year and a day,”
indefinite statement of the time mentioned in 1 Samuel 27:7 : “a year and four
months,”—and3) that in all this time he has seen nothing in him to awaken
suspicions of treachery. From the day of his falling (‫לוֹ‬ ְ‫ָפ‬‫נ‬, instead of [rather, used
alongside of—Tr.] ‫לוֹ‬ ְ‫פ‬ִ‫,נ‬ see Ew, § 255, d). The vss. add “to me,” according to the
usual construction of the verb, though we need not therefore insert “to me” (‫ַי‬‫ל‬ ֵ‫)א‬ in
the text (Then.), “since it is understood from the context” (Keil). On these
grounds Achish thought himself quite sure of David, comp. 1 Samuel 27:12.
PETT, "1 Samuel 29:3
‘Then said the princes of the Philistines, “What do these Hebrews here?” And
Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is not this David, the servant of Saul
the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I
have found no fault in him since he fell away to me unto this day?”
But the other ‘lords’ of the Philistines, (here also described as ‘princes’, although
this latter term may have indicated a wider group) were not pleased to see the
Hebrew contingent among their forces. Possibly their memories went back to how
Hebrew contingents had previously proved false when the heat of the battle was on
(1 Samuel 14:21). So they asked Achish why he had brought these Hebrews along.
Achish’s reply was that this was David, the former servant of Saul, who had proved
himself a loyal servant to Achish through the years. The detailed reply was probably
intended by the writer to be seen in the light of 1 Samuel 27:7-12, and to remind the
reader and listener (when it was read out at feasts) how thoroughly David had
duped Achish. He wanted David’s continued supremacy to be recognised. He was no
one’s tool.
“Is not this ---?” Compare the similar question in 1 Samuel 29:5. Note how the reply
here parallels that in 1 Samuel 29:5. This first reply indicates that Achish, while
glorying in David’s faithfulness, has been deceived by David’s wiles and is therefore
really the plaything of David, while 1 Samuel 29:5 reveals David’s supremacy as a
fighting man. In other words both are deliberately exalting David. This is part of the
point of the passage. All are to recognise that he is YHWH’s man and no one else’s.
MACLAREN, "WHAT DOEST THOU HERE?
23

24. 1 Samuel 29:3. - 1 Kings 19:9.
I have put these two verses together, not only because of their identity in form,
though that is striking, but because they bear upon one and the same subject, as will
appear, if, in a word or two, I set each of them in its setting. David was almost at the
lowest point of his fortunes when he fled into foreign territory, and for awhile took
service under one of the kings of the Philistines. He served him faithfully, and so,
when the last great fight, in which Saul lost his life, was about to be waged between
Philistia and Israel, David and his men came as a contingent to the army of the
former. The Philistine commanders, very naturally, were suspicious of these allies,
just as Englishmen would have been if, on the night before Waterloo, a brigade of
Frenchmen had deserted and offered their help to fight Napoleon. So the question
‘What do these Hebrews here?’-amongst our ranks-was an extremely natural one,
and it was answered in the only possible way, by the subsequent departure of David
and his men from the unnatural and ill-omened alliance.
Now, that suggests to us that Christian people are out of their places, even in the
eyes of worldly people, when they are fighting shoulder to shoulder with them in
certain causes; and it suggests the propriety of keeping apart. ‘Come ye out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord’ ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ is a
question that Philistia often asks. But now turn to the other question. Elijah had
fallen into the mood of depression which so often follows great nervous tension. He
had just offered the sacrifice on Carmel, and brought all Israel back to the Lord,
and Jezebel had flamed out and threatened his life. The usually undaunted prophet,
in the reaction after his great effort, was fearful for his life and deserted his work,
flung himself into solitude and shook the dust off his feet against Israel. Was that
not just doing what I have been saying that Christian people ought to do-separating
himself from the world? In a sense, yes, but the voice came, ‘What dost thou here,
Elijah?’ ‘Go back to your work; to Ahab, to Jezebel. Go back to death if need be. Do
not shirk your duty on the pretence of separating yourself from the world.’
So we put the two questions together. They limit one another, and they suggest the
via media, the course between, and lead me to say one or two plain things about that
duty of Christian separation from an evil world.
I. The first thing that I would suggest to you is the inevitable intermingling, which is
the law of God, and therefore can never be broken with impunity.
Christ’s parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in the world being like a man that
sowed good seed in his field, which sprung up intermingled with tares, contains the
lesson, not so much of the purity or nonpurity of the Church as of the inseparable
intertwining in the world of Christian people with others. The roots are matted
together, and you cannot pull up a tare without danger of pulling up a wheat-stalk
that has got interlaced with it. That is but to say that Society at present, and the
earthly form of the Kingdom of God, are not organised on the basis of religious
24

25. affinity, but upon a great many other things, such as family, kindred, business, a
thousand ties of all sorts which mat men together, and make it undesirable,
impossible, contrary to God’s intention, that the good people should club themselves
together, and leave the bad ones to rot and stink. The two are meant to be in close
contact. ‘Let both grow together till the harvest.’ If any Christian man were to do as
the monks of old did, fly into solitude to look after his own soul, then the question
which came to Elijah would be suitable to him, ‘What doest thou here?’ Is there not
work enough for you out there, in that wicked world? Is that not the place for you?
Where is the place for the ‘salt’? Where the meat is in danger of putrefaction. Rub it
in! That is what it was meant for. ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ That suggests the
picture of a lamp upon a pedestal that it may send out its rays, but itself remains
apart. But the companion metaphor suggests the closest possible contact, and such
contact is duty for us Christian people. Elijah ran away from his work. There are
types of Christian life to-day unwholesomely self-engrossed, and too much occupied
with their own spiritual condition, to realise and discharge the duty of witnessing in
the world. Wherever you find a Christian man -whether he is a monk with bare
foot, and a rope round his brown robe, and shaven head, or whether he is in the
garb of modern Protestantism- that tries more to keep himself apart, in the
enjoyment and cultivation of his own religious life, than to fling himself into the
midst of the world’s worst evil, in order to fight and to cure it, you get a man who is
sharing in Elijah’s transgression, and needs Elijah’s rebuke. The intermingling is
inevitable in the present state of things; and family, kindred, business, social and
political movements, all require that Christian people should work side by side with
men who are not possessors of ‘like precious faith.’ If ever there have been
individuals or communities that have tried to traverse that law, they have developed
narrowness and bitterness and stunted growth, and a hundred evils that we all
know.
II. And now let me say a word about the second thing, and that is-the imperative
separation.
‘What do these Israelites here?’ is the question. Much of all our lives lies outside
these necessary connections with the world, of which I have been speaking. And the
question for each of us is, What do we do when we are left to do as we like? Where
do we go? When the iron weight fastened by the bit of string is taken off the sapling,
it starts back to its original uprightness. Is that what your Christianity does for you?
When you are left to yourself, when you have done all the work that is required, and
you are free, where do you turn naturally? It is of no use to lay down special
regulations. There has been far too much regulation and red-tape in our
Christianity all along. Do not let us put so much stress upon individual acts. Let us
look at the spirit. Whither do I turn? What do I like to do? Who are my chosen
companions? What are my recreations? Is my life of such a sort as that the world
will point to me, and say, ‘What! you here I a professing Christian; what are you
doing here?’
I remember that in the autobiography of Mr. Spurgeon, there is a story told about
25

26. what he did when a child, and living with his grandfather, the pastor of a little
country church. There was a very prominent member of that church who was in the
habit of going into the public-house occasionally; and the small boy stepped into the
sanded parlour where this inconsistent man was sitting, walked up to him, and said,
‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’ It was the turning-point of the man’s life. That is
the question that I desire us all to ask ourselves-where do we go, and what sort of
lives do we live in the moments when our own voluntary choice determines our
action?
‘A man is known by the company he keeps,’ says an old Latin proverb, and I am
bound to say that I do not think that it is a good sign of the depth of a Christian
professor’s religion if he feels himself more at home in the company of people who
do not share his religion than in the company of those that do. I do not wish to be
strait-laced and narrow, but I do not wish, either, to be so broad as to obliterate
altogether the distinction between Christian people and others. The fact of the case
is this, dear friends; if we are Christ’s servants we have more in common with the
most uncongenial Christians than we have with the most congenial man who is not a
Christian. And if we were nearer our Master we should feel that it was so. ‘Being let
go they went to their own company.’ Where do you go when you can make your
choice?
I am not going to speak in detail about occupations or recreations. I can quite
believe that the theatre might be made an instrument of morality. I can quite believe
that a race-course might be a perfectly innocent place. I can quite believe that there
may be no harm in a dance. All that I say is that there are two questions which
every Christian professor ought to ask himself about such subjects. One is, Can I
ask God to bless this thing, and my doing it? And the other is, Does this help or
hinder my religion? If we will take these two questions with us as tests of conduct
and companionship, I do not think that we shall go far wrong, either in the choice of
our companions, or in the choice of our surroundings of any kind, or in the choice of
our recreations and our occupations. But if we do not, then I am quite sure that we
shall go wrong in them all. ‘What communion hath light with darkness?’ ‘What
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? Come ye out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord.’
The main question is, do I grasp the aim of life with clearness and decision as being
to make myself by God’s help such a character as God has pleasure in? If I do I
shall regulate all these things thereby.
III. Now there is one last suggestion that I wish to make, and that is the double
questioning that we shall have to stand.
The lords of the Philistines said, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’ They saw the
inconsistency, if David and his men did not. They were sharp to detect it, and David
and his band did not rise in their opinion, but decidedly went down, when they saw
them marching there, in such an unnatural place as ‘behind Achish,’ and ready to
26

27. flesh their swords in the blood of their brethren. So let me tell you, you will neither
recommend your religion nor yourselves to men of the world, by inconsistently
trying to identify yourselves with them. There are a great many professing
Christians nowadays whose mouths are full of the word ‘liberality,’ and who seem
to try to show how absolutely identical with a godless man’s a God-fearing one’s life
may be made. Do you think that the world respects that type of Christian, or
regards his religion as the kind of thing to be admired? No; the question that they
fling at such people is the question which David was humiliated by having pitched at
his head-’What do these Hebrews here?’ ‘Let them go back to their mountains. This
is no place for them.’ The world respects an out-and-out Christian; but neither God
nor the world respects an inconsistent one.
But there is another question, and another Questioner-’What doest thou here,
Elijah?’ God did not ask Elijah the question because he did not know the answer;
but because he wished to make Elijah put his mood into words, since then Elijah
would understand it a little better, and, when he found the tremendous difficulty of
making a decent excuse, would begin to suspect that the conduct that wanted so
much glozing was not exactly the conduct fit for a prophet. And so let us think that
God is looking down upon us, in all our occupation of our free time, and that He is
wishing us to put into words what we are about, and why we are where we are.
What do you think you would say if, in some of these moments of unnecessary
intermingling with questionable things and doubtful people, you were brought
suddenly to this, that you had to formulate into some kind of plausibility your
reason for being there? I am afraid it would be a very lame and ragged set of
reasons that many of us would have to give. Well! better that we should now have to
answer the question ‘What doest thou here?’ than that we should have to fail in
answering the future question, after we have done with the world: ‘What didst thou
there?’
Dear brethren, let us cleave to Christ, and that will separate us from the world. If
we cleave to the world, that will separate us from Christ. I do not insist on details of
conduct, but I do beseech you, professing Christians, to recognise that you are set in
the world in order to grow like your Master, and that their tendency to help you to
that likeness is the one test of all occupations, recreations, and companionships, by
which we may know whether we are in or out of the place that pleases Him. And if
we are in it, that blessed hope which is held forth in the parable to which I have
already referred, will come full of sweetness and of strength to us, that, yonder, men
will be grouped according to their moral and religious character; that the tares will
be taken away from the wheat, and, that as Christ says, ‘Then shall the righteous
flame as the sun in their heavenly Father’s Kingdom.’
4 But the Philistine commanders were angry with him
27

28. and said, "Send the man back, that he may return to
the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into
battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting.
How better could he regain his master's favor than by
taking the heads of our own men?
CLARKE, "The princes of the Philistines were wroth - It is strange that they had
not yet heard of David’s destruction of a village of the Geshurites, Gezrites, and
Amalekites, 1Sa_27:8, 1Sa_27:9. Had they heard of this, they would have seen much
more cause for suspicion.
GILL, "And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him,.... With
Achish, for giving such a character of David, and taking his part, in order to detain him,
if possible:
and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, make this fellow return;
they speak of him with contempt, and insist on it that Achish order him to turn back,
and go no further with them:
that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him; to Ziklag,
the place that Achish had given him for his residence, 1Sa_27:6; they did not desire to
have him sent to his own country, and to Saul, since should a reconciliation be made
between them, he would be of great service to Saul against them:
and let him not go down with us to battle; into the valley of Jezreel, where the
Israelites had pitched:
lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: and fall upon them behind, being in the
rear, while they were engaging in the front with Israel:
for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? to Saul he had
offended, and fled from:
should it not be with the heads of these men? the Philistines; or unless by the
heads of these men (m); he had no other way of making his peace with his master but by
cutting off the heads of the Philistines; and therefore he was a dangerous man to take
with them into the battle.
HENRY, " Because he might be a most dangerous enemy to them, and do them more
mischief then all Saul's army could (1Sa_29:4): “He may in the battle be an adversary to
us, and surprise us with an attack in the rear, while their army charges us in the front;
28

29. and we have reason to think he will do so, that, by betraying us, he may reconcile himself
to his master. Who can trust a man who, besides his affection to his country, will think it
his interest to be false to us?” It is dangerous to put confidence in a reconciled enemy.
JAMISON, "the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him — It must be
considered a happy circumstance in the overruling providence of God to rescue David
out of the dangerous dilemma in which he was now placed. But David is not free from
censure in his professions to Achish (1Sa_29:8), to do what he probably had not the
smallest purpose of doing - of fighting with Achish against his enemies. It is just an
instance of the unhappy consequences into which a false step - a departure from the
straight course of duty - will betray everyone who commits it.
K&D, "1Sa_29:4
But the princes, i.e., the four other princes of the Philistines, not the courtiers of
Achish himself, were angry with Achish, and demanded, “Send the man back, that he
may return to his place, which thou hast assigned him; that he may not go down with
us into the war, and may not become an adversary (satan) to us in the war; for
wherewith could he show himself acceptable to his lord (viz., Saul), if not with the heads
of these men?” ‫א‬ ‫ֲל‬‫ה‬, nonne, strictly speaking, introduces a new question to confirm the
previous question. “Go down to the battle:” this expression is used as in 1Sa_26:10; 1Sa_
30:24, because battles were generally fought in the plains, into which the Hebrews were
obliged to come down from their mountainous land. “These men,” i.e., the soldiers of the
Philistines, to whom the princes were pointing.
PULPIT, "1Sa_29:4-6
Angrily rejecting the testimony of Achish in David’s favour, they say, Make this fellow
(Hebrew, "the man") return, that he may go again to his place, i.e. to Ziklag. He
shall not go down with us to battle. Though the Philistines marched up into the
Israelite territory, yet they speak naturally of going down into battle, because while
armies usually encamped on opposite ranges of hills, they descended into the plain
between for the encounter. An adversary. Hebrew, "a satan," without the article, and
so in 1Ch_21:1. As a proper name it has the article, as in the books of Job and Zechariah.
Should he reconcile himself. The verb means, "to make himself pleasing," "to
commend himself." The heads of these men, pointing to the Philistine ranks. David
of whom they sang, etc. The song of the Jewish maidens seems to have been as well
known in Philistia as in the land of Israel On the former occasion it had made the
Philistines drive him away from the court of Achish (1Sa_21:11-15); here, too, it made
them drive him from their army, but he was thereby saved from the painful necessity of
making war on his own country, and returned just in time to rescue his wives and
property.
COKE, "1 Samuel 29:4. Make this fellow return— The lords of the Philistines were
suspicious of David's purposes; and, instead of placing that confidence in him which
Achish did, they insist upon his dismission. His pleasure must certainly have been great,
to find himself extricated out of so delicate a situation as he had been in, where there
29

30. might have been a struggle between his gratitude to his friend, and his love to his
country; and in which he did not possibly know what part he had to act, or was bound to
act.
TRAPP, "1 Samuel 29:4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the
princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow 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?
Ver. 4. And the princes of the Philistines were wroth.] Therefore it appeareth they were
his fellow princes, of the four other Satrapies, since they thus roughly ruffle with him: as
also did Achilles in Homer with Agamemnon, -
“ οινοβαρες, κυνος ομματ εχων, κραδιην δ ελαφοιο”
- Iliad., lib. i.
Make this fellow return.] A happy word for David, who was now in a great perplexity and
peril, either of betraying his trust or fighting against his own people: neither of which he
could have done with a good conscience. Here, therefore, God cut asunder this gordian
knot, which David knew not how to untie. It would be ill with us sometimes, were it not
for God’s good providence, and others’ malice.
Lest in the battle he be an adversary to us.] As some others have been. [1 Samuel 14:21]
He is but a reconciled enemy at best: and Reconciliationes sunt vulpinae amicitiae: he is
not to be trusted. This was military prudence in these princes, though Achish had
endeavoured to justify David against their jealousies.
GUZIK, "(4-5) The Philistine leaders reject David.
But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the
Philistines said to him, “Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place
which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest
in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to
his master, if not with the heads of these men? Is this not David, of whom they sang
to one another in dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten
thousands’?”
a. But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him: The other
Philistine leaders were not in agreement with Achish at all. They didn’t trust
David, and they feared he would turn against the Philistines in battle, to bring
himself back into Saul’s favor.
b. Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances,
saying: The faith-filled victory over Goliath seemed like a distant, distant
memory for a backslidden David, but the Philistines remembered it well! The
song of David’s victory has come back to haunt him again.
30

31. The other Philistines do not like the explanation, that Achish
has given for David and his men. Their fear that David's loyalty will
return back to Saul, is really bothering them. They insist that Achish
send David back to wait out the battle. They do not want David and his
men to turn on them in battle, and they will have to fight on both
sides. They believe that David would become an adversary to them to
win favor back with Saul. "Adversary" in this, means opponent, or
arch-enemy. They are just sure that David and his men will turn on
them, to find favor with Saul.
Deffinbaugh
What Achish regards as an “honor” is perceived as a “horror” to the other
Philistine commanders. While we are not told what David is thinking or planning to
do here, we are allowed to overhear the exchange between Achish and his four
commander colleagues as this top level military summit takes place. The other four
commanders are livid. They cannot imagine how Achish could be so nave as to take
David into battle with them, and to do so by placing him in a very strategic position.
They are not at all happy with the situation and waste no time calling Achish to
account for his folly. What in the world are David and his 600 warriors (these
Hebrews) doing in the Philistine army?
Achish has a ready explanation. Is this not David, Saul’s servant, Saul the King of
Israel? Achish sees things exactly opposite from the other four commanders. He
looks upon David as an asset, precisely because of who he is. David is a turncoat, a
man who is faithful to him rather than to Saul. Who cannot see the value in having
one of Saul’s most trusted men as an ally, after it becomes apparent that David has
indeed changed sides? David is now one of them. He cannot possibly go back to
Israel. There is absolutely nothing to worry about, he assures his colleagues. In all
the time since David has deserted Saul, Achish has found no fault in him. “Trust me,
fellows, David is one of us, and he can do us a lot of good.”
The four fellow-commanders are not impressed in the least by the confidence of
Achish or by his assurances. If anything, the answer Achish gives them makes them
even more angry with him. How can this man be so taken in by David? How can he
be so stupid? How can he fail to see what David is really up to? David is a Hebrew.
He is a Hebrew in exile. He will do anything he can to win the favor of King Saul.
How better to accomplish this than to feign loyalty to the Philistines, and then turn
against them in the heat of the battle?152 Has Achish forgotten David’s military
genius and might, and his popularity among his own people? Let him hear the poem
one more time: “Saul has killed his thousands; David his ten thousands.”
BENSON, "1 Samuel 29:4. Make this fellow return to his place — To Ziklag, which
they were content he should possess. For wherewith should he reconcile, &c. Should
it not be with the heads of these men? — That is, of the Philistines. They reasoned
wisely, according to the common maxims of prudence and true policy; for by such a
course great enemies have sometimes been reconciled together. But the Divine
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32. Providence was no doubt concerned in suggesting these prudential considerations to
their minds; for by this means David was delivered from that great strait and
difficulty into which he had brought himself, and from which no human wisdom
could have extricated him; either of being an enemy to, and fighting against his
country, (as before observed,) or being false to his friend and to his trust. And, by
the same providential incident, he was sent back time enough to recover his wives,
and the wives and children of his men, and his all, from the Amalekites, which
would have been irrecoverably lost if he had gone to this battle. And the kindness of
God to David was the greater, because it would have been most just for God to have
left him in those distresses into which his own sinful counsel had brought him.
LANGE, "1 Samuel 29:4. The twofold designation of the Philistine leaders, here
“chiefs” [Eng. A. V. “princes”], in 1 Samuel 29:2, “princes” [Eng. A. V.
“lords”] comes from the circumstantial character of the narration, not from
oversight (Then.), though the Sept. and Vulg. omit the second name. The
chiefs of the Philistines did not accept Achish’s explanation, but were angry
with him, and demanded of him that he send David back to his place, which
he (Achish) had appointed him, that Isaiah, to Ziklag. They said: He shall not
go down with us into the battle. “Go down” )‫ד‬ ֵ‫ֵר‬‫י‬ ) is a regular technical military
expression, derived from the necessity in that mountainous country of descending
into the plain to fight,[FN14] comp. 1 Samuel 26:10; 1 Samuel 30:24. To Achish’s
defence of David they reply: 1) he might become an adversary to them in
battle, though he had hitherto been an ally; 2) he might wish to recommend
himself to his lord, though he had up to this time opposed him,—with the heads of
these men. The Hithpael of the verb (‫)רצה‬ indicates zealous self-activity,
“earnestly to commend one’s self,” or, “to seek to make one’s self
acceptable” (Ew, § 124 a). “These,” they say, pointing to the Philistine
troops. By defeating a part of our force, said they, he would try to regain
Saul’s favor. Herein is a recognition of David’s bravery and military ability,
which they would be the less disposed to doubt when they recollected the
defeat he had formerly inflicted on Goliath and the Palestine army. For they
say3) Is this not David, of whom they sang in dances? &c. Comp. 1 Samuel
18:7 with 1 Samuel 16:11. It is the same argument that Achish’s servants
used against him on his first visit to Achish’s court. The Philistines’
recollection of that achievement is here to be the means of rescuing David
from the painful necessity of going into battle with the Philistines against his
own people.
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33. PETT, "1 Samuel 29:4
‘But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him, and the princes of
the Philistines said to him, “Make the man return, that he may go back to his
place where you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to
battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For by what method
should this one reconcile himself to his lord? Should it not be with the heads
of these men?” ’
The other leaders of the Philistines were, however, not impressed, and
expressed their feelings forcefully. They demanded that David and his men
return to the city that Achish had appointed him, and not go with them to
battle, because they were afraid that in the heat of battle he might suddenly
turn on them in order to win favour with Saul. They were, of course, totally
unaware of the detailed history of the antipathy that Saul had for David.
Given what had happened previously, and in the light of what they knew,
their fears were perfectly justified.
It should be noted that they appear to have had nothing personal against
David and his men (apart from viewing him with contempt as expressed by
‘the man’ and ‘this one’), and were quite content for Achish to employ them
as mercenaries under any other circumstance. They were presumably even
confident that David would not leave them and join up with Saul (what a
difference it might have made). What they were not willing to do was have
Hebrews among them when they were going to battle against Hebrews, and
especially such a one as David. And they were clearly confident of their
strength without him and his men.
5 Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances:
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34. " 'Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands'?"
GILL, "Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances,....
Long ago:
saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands; so that he is an
old sworn enemy of ours; and the more valiant and victorious he has been, the less is he
to be trusted, see 1Sa_18:7.
HENRY, "Because he had been an old enemy to the Philistines; witness what was sung
in honour of his triumphs over them: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten
thousands, 1Sa_29:5. “It will be a reproach to us to harbour and trust so noted a
destroyer of our people; nor can it be thought that he will now act heartily against Saul
who then acted so vigorously with him and for him.” Who would be fond of popular
praise or applause when, even that may, another time, be turned against a man to his
reproach?
PETT, "1 Samuel 29:5
“Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his
thousands, And David his ten thousands?”
They then reminded Achish of David’s famed prowess in battle, and especially against
Philistines. Had not the Israelite women in earlier days acclaimed him as the greatest
warrior in Israel so that his name had become proverbial? For the citation compare 1
Samuel 18:7; 1 Samuel 21:11. This is the third time that it has been cited, emphasising
the completeness of David’s superiority to Saul in the eyes of all. It brings out that his
triumphs had never been forgotten in Israel, so much so that they were also well known
in Philistia. (Had it only been said on one occasion it would not have become so
prominently remembered. But it was clearly a sore point with the Philistines). They were
thus pointing out to Achish that David was a famed slayer of Philistines. While they
acknowledged that that was in the past they did not want that to happen again.
6 So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as
the LORD lives, you have been reliable, and I would be
pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From
the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault
in you, but the rulers don't approve of you.
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