Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 25 July 2021
READ PASSAGE (NAW): 10 Then David got up and fled on that day from the presence of Saul, so he went to Akish, king of Gath. But the servants of Akish said to him, “Isn’t this David, king of the land? Wasn’t it about this guy that they were singing antiphonally during their circle-dances, saying, ‘Saul struck down his thousands, but David his multiplied tens of thousands’?” Then David sank these words into his heart and became very scared of the presence of Akish, king of Gath. So he resorted to duplicity in his presentation of himself in their eyes, and acted insanely while in their control, and banged up the doors of the gate and let his drool run down his beard. And Akish said to his servants, “Look, y’all can see the man is raving-mad! What are you bringing him to me for? Am I lacking in raving-madmen that y’all have to bring in this guy to rave for me? Is this guy going to come into my house?” [Continuing into chapter 22] So David went out from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Then his brothers and all his father’s household heard about it, and they went down there to him. Also, there assembled to him every one who was distressed and every one who had debt, and every one who was bitter in soul. So he became captain over them, and there were about 400 men with him. Then David went to Mitzpah of Moab from there and spoke to the king of Moab: “Please let my father go out with my mother to be with y’all until whenever I know what God is going to do for me.” So he led them into the presence of the king of Moab, and they settled down with him all the days of David’s being in the stronghold. But Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t settle down in the stronghold. Go and get yourself into the land of Judah.” So David went out and entered the forest of Charet.
Why did David seek asylum in Gath, a Philistine city? Surely he knew someone would recognize him as the man who had killed so many of the Philistines and would take revenge on him! Surely they would recognize that he was the one who had killed Gath’s hometown hero, Goliath, and was carrying Goliath’s own sword1.
Of course, that would probably be the last place Saul would have expected David to take asylum, so he may have been safe from Saul, anyway. David was looking for a way to get completely out of Saul’s jurisdiction.
And David might have reasoned that the “enemy of my enemy is my friend,” so if the Philistines hated Saul and the Israelite army, as much as Saul and the Israelite army hated David, maybe the Philistines would take him under their protection. Maybe they would even appreciate a champion coming over to their side. Maybe the respect they had for war champions would be enough to give him an “in.”
But no. The Philistines of Gath wanted nothing to do with David. He was too dangerous to have around. He had killed Philistines by the tens of thousands according to the pop song. And they had heard that song too!
And the Philistines considered David a “king!” Maybe the word “king” meant a regional “champion/hero” to the Philistines2, or maybe they knew he had been anointed as king, but they knew that two kings aren’t going to live peaceably side-by-side in the same city. They already had a king, and to let another king into the city would just cause trouble.
Their king’s name was Akish, although Psalm 34, which was written about this incident, calls Akish by his title, Abimelech, kinda like if you were to go to a meeting with the President of the United States, his name might be Joe, but you would show some respect by calling him by his title, “Mr. President.” Abimelech just means “My Dad was king before me,” so it’s not a different person from Akish3.
Psalms 34 and 56, which were written at this time, reveal what David was thinking…
Psalm
56 a Michtam of David When the Philistines Captured Him in
Gath.
Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me
up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all
day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. Whenever
I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to
me? All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me
for evil. They gather together, They hide, they mark my steps, When
they lie in wait for my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In
anger cast down the peoples, O God! You number my wanderings; Put
my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? When I cry
out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because
God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will
praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me? Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from
death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk
before God In the light of the living? (NKJV)
David realized he might have just gotten himself into a real pickle, so he changed tactics and acted like he was insane.
He started scratching and banging on the city gate, then falling down and gesturing wildly with his hands4 and drooling.
The Jamieson, Faussett & Brown commentary noted that “an indignity to the beard... is considered in the East an intolerable insult... whether done by another, or one’s self.”
Surprisingly, the Philistine king bought David’s ruse, and, instead of taking revenge, he dismissed David, characterizing him as an irrelevant madman and expressing annoyance that his courtiers had even considered letting David in to live in their fortified city5. The Midrash (Tillim apud Abarbinel) suggested that Akish’s wife and daughter were insane, sparking the comment about not needing any more madmen.
One reason why these pagan Philistines didn’t want a crazy man in their town was their fear of unknown gods. They had already been whupped up on by Yahweh several years earlier, and now there’s this guy outside their city possessed by who-knows-what kind of spirit, and who knows what havoc that spirit might wreak. Best not to even let him in!
So, for the second time in chapter 21, David has used deception to save himself.
Andrew Willett commented that this act of deception was justified, however, because David:
“1) put his trust in God,
2) it was not in any religious matter which tended to the deniall of his faith, but [was merely] in his civill behaviour:
3) neither did any receive hurt thereby, but he intended his own deliverance without damage to any.”
Matthew Henry likewise commented, “[I]t may in some degree be excused, for it was not a downright lie and it was like a stratagem in war, by which he imposed upon his enemies for the preservation of his own life.”
Psalm
34 {By David, concerning his being duplicitous [in] the
presentation of himself before the face of Abimelek, and when he
expelled him and he moved on.}
All the time I am going to
bless Yahweh; His praise will always be in my mouth.
Boasting
about Yahweh is what my soul will do. Lowly men will hear and be
happy.
Cause Yahweh to be great with me, and let us exalt His
name together!
Didn’t He answer me when I sought Yahweh
and He delivered me from all the things that terrified me?
Eye
him and they will beam, and their faces will not blush.
[For]
this lowly man called out, and Yahweh Himself heard and made him
safe from all his crises.
God’s angel is posted around in
support of those who respect Him, and he will rescue them.
How
good Yahweh is! Y’all taste and see! Oh the blessings of the
champion who takes refuge in Him!
Insufficiency will not be in
the experience of the one who respects Him, so respect Yahweh, you
saints of His!
Juvenile lions have experienced need and
experienced famine, but seekers of Yahweh do not experience the
insufficiency of anything good.
Kindred, come listen to me; I
will teach y’all respect for Yahweh.
Life: who is the man
so inclined, loving the days in order to see what is good?
Maintain
your tongue away from evil and your lips away from speaking
deceit.
Negate evil, and do good. Seek peace, and hunt it
down!
[Orientation of] Yahweh’s eyes is toward those who
have been made righteous, and His ears are toward their
hollering.
Presence of Yahweh is among those who do evil in
order to cut off their memory from the earth.
[Querying] ones
cried out, then Yahweh Himself heard, and from all their crises He
gave them deliverance.
Right next to those whose heart has been
broken is [where] Yahweh is, and He will make safe those whose
spirit is crushed.
Some amount of evils happen to one who is
righteous, but Yahweh will give him deliverance from all of
them.
Tending all his bones; not one from among them gets
broken.
Unrighteousness will slay an evil person, and those who
hate a righteous person will bear guilt.
Vassals of His,
Yahweh is redeeming the life of, so all those who take refuge in Him
will not bear guilt. (NAW)
This masterful alphabet acrostic is not the product of a madman.
The faith-filled words show a great confidence in God’s justice against the wicked and in God’s kindness toward His people.
May God give us like faith that we will not become overwhelmed with fear at the threats of godless men! Christians who stand up for God to obey Him have been hunted by totalitarian governments throughout history. It may around to us. Three things have to be kept in mind:
God is all -powerful. He can stop the hand of evil men even as He did for David when he fled to Samuel at Naioth of Ramah.
God is just. He not only can but will punish the evil men in the final tally.
God loves me, but I am not indispensable. So what if I die? Paul (Phil. 1:21-23) says that it would be "gain," for I will be with Jesus! In that day, God's people must fear God more than they fear man and simply obey God, no matter what. God will be more pleased with our faithfulness to Him than He would be with how long we manage to retain our possessions and our lives on earth!
The superscription in Psalm 34 adds a little detail at the end of this episode which is not found in 1 Samuel, namely that David “was expelled” by the King of Gath.
David narrowly escaped getting killed in Gath, and he escaped back up into the Judean hills to a wilderness area where there was a cave big enough to house several hundred men.
The Cave of Adullam [show photograph], which is a Hebrew word for “enclosed/refuge” was about 10 miles east of Gath, and about a dozen miles from his hometown of Bethlehem.
In this area there are “a number of pits or underground vaults, some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, in the soft limestone or chalky rocks.” ~Jamieson
It was from this hideout that David leaked word out to his family as to his whereabouts. So he kept tabs with his family, and they even came to visit him – maybe even to live with him for a time.
But, as David spent time with his brothers and their families, he realized that Saul was liable to go after them and kill them or maybe hold them for ransom, so he needed to get them out of the country to a safe place. That got him thinking about the neighboring country of Moab to the southeast, where his great grandma Ruth had grown up. To get there, he would have to travel across the wilderness of Judea, around the bottom of the Dead Sea, and up to Mitzpah6.
This is an improvement over David’s lack of concern for the safety of the priests at Nob.
Are there any people for whom God has given you a responsibility for their safety that you could take measures to make more secure? Those of us in middle age have a lot to think about when it comes to the care of aging parents; it is not an easy matter, but we need to think though this issue.
Now, how the King of Moab knew David and was willing to do him a favor, I don’t know.
Josephus suggested that it was just because the king of Moab considered Saul an enemy, since Saul had fought against Moab in chapter 14, so perhaps “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing worked with him.
Or perhaps this king, like the king of Gath, believed that David was going to be the next king and therefore was someone to patronize and not antagonize.
It’s interesting what David said to the king of Moab: “Please let my father go out with my mother to be with y’all until whenever I know what God is going to do for me.”
Here is David talking to a pagan king about his personal relationship with God! That’s exactly the king of thing God wants us to do! David trusts that God is going to fulfill the prophecy that he would become king, so he is waiting on God’s timing for it – and putting God’s reputation on the line with this pagan king, telling them about the prophecy and leading them into expectant waiting on God with him!
When you are in a tight spot and don’t know how you will get out – When you are in a financial crunch – When your heart is broken, will you follow David’s example and say, “Let’s wait and see what God is going to do for us!”
Well, the king of Moab gives the go-ahead, and David moves his parents over to Moab under the care of their king. Now, if Saul wanted to harass Jesse, he'd first have to start a war with the Moabite army, and hopefully that would be more trouble than he would want to go to!7
This is as exciting as any novel! Disenfranchised men kept coming to join David. God had already given David experience with a thousand men under his command in the Army earlier, so he was prepared to lead this group of 400 which would grow larger with time.
Three words are used to describe this outlaw band:
They were “distressed” (imagine being squeezed from different directions by people who want to get rid of you until you can’t hang in there any longer),
They were “indebted” (not able to make enough money to make ends meet - all you have to your name is debt, and your creditors – the loan sharks – are threatening you with slavery),
and they were literally “bitter of soul” – other versions translate it “discontent” (all you’ve had is hard, bitter experiences, and that has shrivelled and dried up your soul)
Apparently Saul was not that great a king, and the economy was really tanking.
And so it is that even in this David is a type of Christ in welcoming the weary and heavy laden under his yoke of lordship. “The Son of David is ready to receive distressed souls, that will appoint him their captain and be commanded by him.” ~M. Henry
The guys who joined David’s band were so fed up with Saul that they were ready to revolt.
David, however, was not interested in revolution; he may simply have been acting in self-defense to amass an army and establish a stronghold. He wanted to be ready when Saul sent out the next sortie to kill him.
Having a good self-defense is the best thing to prevent oppression. That's the basis of the second amendment to the US constitution.
When a robber or a tyrant knows you have a gun which you will use against him, he will not mess with you! Although you might never have to use the gun, its existence is important!
So after David dropped his parents off in Moab, he went to a stronghold, called Metsudah, which some think was in the Moabite capitol (Jamieson, K&D), and others think was a cave on the opposite side of the Dead Sea from Moab in the steep cliffs that drop off from the Judean hills down to the salty water.
David spoke often8 in the Psalms about God being his Metsudah-stronghold, such as in Psalm 18:2 “Yahweh is my rock-mountain, my stronghold, and my deliverer, my God, my landmark-rock. I will take refuge in Him, my shield and horn of my salvation, my high tower!” (NAW)
But this particular refuge overlooking the Dead Sea was not where God wanted David to stay, so God sent a message to a prophet in David’s camp to head back into Judah, presumably back to the cave of Adullam.
The fact that there are numerous prophets in the Bible, such as Gad, where only one – and sometimes none – of their prophecies is quoted in the Bible, indicates that not every prophecy was canonical, so nobody needs to get their knickers in a knot about prophecy still happening today after the canon of Scripture has been closed.
I believe that all the spiritual gifts and offices may still be operative today. Although I don't have any of the flashy charismatic gifts, I respect other people who genuinely have them, although I am cautious to test what they say and do by Scripture, and have found some to be false.
“[T]he Lord’s mercie appeareth to David, that leaveth him not in the midst of his affliction destitute of the word of God... whereas Saul yet flourishing in authoritie and wealth, was forsaken of God ~Willett It was the mercy of God to David to send him this prophecy.
And David moved on to a hideout in the Judean forest after the warning of Gad's prophecy.
“He went into the land of Judah as one that was confident of his own innocency, and... desirous, even in his present hard circumstances, to do some service to his tribe and country.” ~M. Henry
Notice that David does not argue with Gad. “Gad, dude, what do you know of military strategy? This stronghold is impregnable! We can stay here for years. Nobody would be able to defeat us here. This is where we’re safe, Gad. This is a nice, long distance from Saul, close to the border of a friendly foreign country. I’m not marching back into Judah to be a sitting duck next to Saul’s castle and Saul’s army; no way!” No, v.5 implies that David immediately obeyed God’s word without grumbling or arguing, just trusting that the God who took the trouble to speak a warning to him would also protect him from trouble.
Let us, too, be people who are quick to do what God says when we see His commands in the Bible, out of trust and love for Him.
It was probably during David’s sojurn in the cave of Adullam that he wrote Psalm 142 [A Contemplation Of David. A Prayer When He Was in the Cave.] I cry out to the LORD with my voice; With my voice to the LORD I make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk They have secretly set a snare for me. Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul. I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, "You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, For I am brought very low; Deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, That I may praise Your name; The righteous shall surround me, For You shall deal bountifully with me." (NKJV)
The Psalms reveal to us an example of thinking about God and praying in the midst of difficult circumstances.
I’d like to conclude our consideration of these three places David went to as a fugitive with three overview statements that I encountered in three different commentaries that gave me pause to think of applying David’s example to the life we live today:
“God's providences sometimes seem to run counter to his promises, for the trial of his people's faith, and the glorifying of his name, in the accomplishment of his counsels...” ~Matthew Henry
In other words, what God is doing in your life is purposeful – there’s a good reason for it, even when it looks, for the moment, like He is not fulfilling His promises to you.
God says in Romans 8 that He “works all things together for good for those who love Him,” but it may look to you like all things are working together for evil right now. Remember that the end game is not to indulge you with everything you want but for you to maturein faith, to glorify God, and for God to finish doing everything He said He is going to do. Faith exists only when you have to trust what is outside your control. God’s glory shines brightest when it overcomes evil, so it is pointless to wish for no evil in this life because that would reduce the exercise of faith and the brightness of God’s glory.
“In the midst of the deep trouble, David begins his psalm with the confession, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times’ (Ps. 34:1). Such is the confession of the one who trusts in the Lord regardless of the external situation.” ~David Tsumura (NICOT)
As you heard me read Psalm 18, Psalm 34, Psalm 56, and Psalm 142, did you hear how preoccupied David was with all the logistics of his travel? How anxious he was about what he would say? How carefully he was trying to control all the political intrigues? No? What was he focused on? God! His relationship with God and God’s mercy and justice in this world. That permeates every sentence he wrote, and that God-centered thought life stands as a shining example to us to be consumed with thinking about God, or as the Apostle Paul would write later in Colossians 3, “Set you minds on the things above... where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”
Will you choose to bless God, even when times are bad and things are hard?
Will you sing the Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs anyway? (Col. 3:16)
Will you gather with the people of God on the Lord’s Day anyway?
“According to the counsels of God, David was not to seek for refuge outside the land; not only that he might not be estranged from his fatherland and the people of Israel, which would have been opposed to his calling to be the king of Israel, but also that he might learn to trust entirely in the Lord as his only refuge and fortress.” ~Keil & Delitzsch
Some difficulties are part of God’s calling to be endured. Are there things in your life that God has called you to face as part of His calling on your life, but which you have thought too hard to endure and which you have tried to avoid?
Maybe it’s something physically painful that drugs could help you escape from, but that God has called you to endure with a more sound mind than drugs would allow.
Maybe it’s an intolerable relationship that you could move away from, but which God has called you to invest in.
Maybe it’s a difficult work situation or parenting situation that you can’t control, that God wants to use in your life to teach you to trust Him.
God has His ways of returning us to our calling when we try to avoid it, like Jonah, who took passage in the opposite direction when God called him to deliver his word to Nineveh, but will you follow David’s example and march right into that scary situation trusting God to help you fulfill the calling He has placed on your life?
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NASB |
NIV |
NAW |
MT |
11 [καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν αὐτῷ]· καὶ ἀνέστη Δαυιδ καὶ ἔφυγεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκ προσώπου Σαουλ. Καὶ ἦλθεν [Δαυιδ] πρὸς Αγχους βασιλέα Γεθ. |
10 [And he gave it him;] and David arose, and fled in that day from the presence of Saul: and [David] came to Anchus king of Geth. |
10 And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth: |
10
And David arose, and fled that day |
10 Then David arose and fled that day from X X Saul, and went to Achish king of Gath. |
10 X That day David X X fled from X X Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. |
10 Then David got up and fled on that day from the presence of Saul, so he went to Akish, king of Gath. |
11 וַיָּקָםC דָּוִד וַיִּבְרַחD בַּיּוֹם- הַהוּא מִפְּנֵי שָׁאוּל וַיָּבֹא אֶל-אָכִישׁ מֶלֶךְ גַּת: |
12 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ παῖδες Αγχους πρὸς αὐτόν Οὐχὶ οὗτος Δαυιδ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς γῆς; οὐχὶ τούτῳ ἐξῆρχονE αἱ χορεύουσαι λέγουσαι Ἐπάταξεν Σαουλ ἐν χιλιάσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ Δαυιδ ἐν μυριάσιν αὐτοῦ; |
11 And the servants of Anchus said to him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did not the dancing women begin the song to him, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands? |
11 And the servants of Achis, [when they saw David,] said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? |
11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? |
11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they danced, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands'?" |
11 But the servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David, the king of the land? Isn't he the one they sing about in their dances: "'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'?" |
11 But the servants of Akish said to him, “Isn’t this David, king of the land? Wasn’t it about this guy that they were singing antiphonally during their circle-dances, saying, ‘Saul struck down his thousands, but David his multiplied tens of thousands’?” |
12 וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדֵי אָכִישׁ אֵלָיו הֲלוֹא- זֶה דָוִד מֶלֶךְ הָאָרֶץ הֲלוֹא לָזֶה יַעֲנוּF בַמְּחֹלוֹת לֵאמֹר הִכָּה שָׁאוּל בַּאֲלָפָָוֹG וְדָוִד בְּרִבְבֹתוֹ בְּרִבְבֹתָיו: |
13 καὶ ἔθετο Δαυιδ τὰ ῥήματα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐφοβήθη σφόδρα ἀπὸ προσώπου Αγχους βασιλέως Γεθ. |
12 And David laid up the words in his heart, and was greatly afraid of Anchus king of Geth. |
12 But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth. |
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was soreH afraid of Achish the king of Gath. |
12 X David took these words to X heart and greatly feared Achish king of Gath. |
12 X David took these words to X heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. |
12 Then David sank these words into his heart and became very scared of the presence of Akish, king of Gath. |
13 וַיָּשֶׂם דָּוִד אֶת-הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בִּלְבָבוֹ וַיִּרָא מְאֹד מִפְּנֵי אָכִישׁ מֶלֶךְ-גַּת: |
14
καὶ ἠλλοίωσενI
τὸ πρόσωπον
αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον
αὐτοῦXJ
καὶ προσεποιήσατοK
ἐν
τῇ |
13
And he changed
his appearance
before |
13 And he changed his countenance before X them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard. |
13 And he changed his behaviourN before X them, and feigned himself madO in their hands, and scrabbledP on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fallQ down upon his beard. |
13
So he disguised
his |
13
So he pretended
to be |
13 So he resorted to duplicity in his presentation of himself in their eyes, and acted insanely while in their control, and banged up the doors of the gate and let his drool run down his beard. |
14 וַיְשַׁנּוֹR אֶת-טַעְמוֹ בְּעֵינֵיהֶםS וַיִּתְהֹלֵלT בְּיָדָם וַיְתַוU עַל-דַּלְתוֹת הַשַּׁעַר וַיּוֹרֶד רִירוֹ אֶל-זְקָנוֹ: |
15 καὶ εἶπεν Αγχους πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ Ἰδοὺ ἴδετε ἄνδρα ἐπίλημπτονV· ἵνα τί εἰσηγάγετε αὐτὸν πρός με; |
14 And Anchus said to his servants, Lo! ye see the man is mad: why have ye brought him in to me? |
14 And Achis said to his servants: X You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me? |
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? |
14 Then Achish said to his servants, "Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me? |
14 X Achish said to his servants, "Look at the man! X X He is insane! Why bring him to me? |
14 And Akish said to his servants, “Look, y’all can see the man is raving-mad! What are you bringing him to me for? |
15 וַיֹּאמֶר אָכִישׁ אֶל-עֲבָדָיו הִנֵּה תִרְאוּ אִישׁ מִשְׁתַּגֵּעַ לָמָּה תָּבִיאוּ אֹתוֹ אֵלָי: |
16
ἦ ἐλαττοῦμαι
ἐπιλήμπτων ἐγώ,
ὅτι εἰσαγειόχατε
αὐτὸν ἐπιλημπτεύεσθαι
πρός με; οὗτος
|
15
Am I in want of madmen, that ye have brought him in to me to play
the madman? He shall |
15
Have |
15 Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? |
15 "Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house?" |
15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow [here] to carry on [like this] in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" |
15 Am I lacking in raving-madmen that y’all have to bring in this guy to rave for me? Is this guy going to come in to my house?” |
16 חֲסַר מְשֻׁגָּעִים אָנִי כִּי-הֲבֵאתֶם אֶת-זֶה לְהִשְׁתַּגֵּעַ עָלָי הֲזֶה יָבוֹא אֶל-בֵּיתִי: ס |
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NASB |
NIV |
NAW |
MT |
1 Καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἐκεῖθεν Δαυιδ καὶ διεσώθη [καὶ ἔρχεται] εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον τὸ Οδολλαμ. καὶ ἀκούουσιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ XX ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ καταβαίνουσιν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ. |
1 And David departed thence, and escaped; [and he comes] to the cave of Odollam, and his brethren hear, and X the house of his father, and they go down to him there. |
1 David therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father's house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither. |
1 David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. |
1 So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's household heard of it, they went down there to him. |
1
X
David
left X
|
1 So David went out from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Then his brothers and all his father’s household heard about it, and they went down there to him. |
1 וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד מִשָּׁם וַיִּמָּלֵט אֶל-מְעָרַת עֲדֻלָּם וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶחָיו וְכָל-בֵּית אָבִיו וַיֵּרְדוּ אֵלָיו שָׁמָּה: |
2 καὶ συνήγοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶς X ἐν ἀνάγκῃY καὶ πᾶς X X ὑπόχρεως X X καὶ πᾶς X κατώδυνοςZ ψυχῇ, καὶ ἦν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἡγούμενος· καὶ ἦσαν μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὡς τετρακόσιοι ἄνδρες. |
2 And there gathered to him every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was troubled in mind; and he was a leader over them, and there were with him about four hundred men. |
2
And all that were in distress, and |
2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented X, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. |
2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented X gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him. |
2 All those who were in distress or X X X in debt or X X discontented X gathered around him, and he became X their leader. X About four hundred men were with him. |
2 Also, there assembled to him every one who was distressed and every one who had debt, and every one who was bitter in soul. So he became captain over them, and there were about 400 men with him. |
2 וַיִּתְקַבְּצוּ אֵלָיו כָּל-אִישׁ מָצוֹק וְכָל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר- לוֹ נֹשֶׁא וְכָל- אִישׁ מַר-נֶפֶשׁ וַיְהִי עֲלֵיהֶם לְשָׂר וַיִּהְיוּ עִמּוֹ כְּאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אִישׁ: |
3
καὶ ἀπῆλθεν
Δαυιδ ἐκεῖθεν
εἰς Μασσηφα
τῆς Μωαβ καὶ
εἶπεν πρὸς βασιλέα
Μωαβ |
3
And David departed thence to Massephath of Moab, and said to the
king of Moab, |
3
And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to
the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother |
3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. |
3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me." |
3 X From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come [and stay] with you until I learn what God will do for me?" |
3 Then David went to Mitzpah of Moab from there and spoke to the king of Moab: “Please let my father go out with my mother to be with y’all until whenever I know what God is going to do for me.” |
3 וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד מִשָּׁם מִצְפֵּה מוֹאָב וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל-מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב יֵצֵא-נָא אָבִי וְאִמִּי אִתְּכֶם עַד אֲשֶׁר אֵדַע מַה-יַּעֲשֶׂה-לִּי אֱלֹהִים: |
4
καὶ |
4
And he |
4
And he |
4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the whileX that David was in the hold. |
4
Then he |
4
So he |
4 So he led them into the presence of the king of Moab, and they settled down with him all the days of David’s being in the stronghold. |
4 וַיַּנְחֵם אֶת-פְּנֵי מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב וַיֵּשְׁבוּ עִמּוֹ כָּל- יְמֵי הֱיוֹת-דָּוִד בַּמְּצוּדָה: ס |
5
καὶ εἶπεν Γαδ
ὁ προφήτης πρὸς
Δαυιδ Μὴ κάθου
ἐν τῇ περιοχῇ,
πορεύου καὶ
ἥξεις εἰς γῆν
Ιουδα. καὶ
ἐπορεύθη Δαυιδ
καὶ ἦλθεν [καὶ
ἐκάθισεν]
ἐν |
5
And Gad the prophet said to David, Dwell
not in the hold: go, and thou shalt enter the land of Juda. So
David went, and came [and
dwelt]
in the |
5 And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David departed, and came into the forest of Haret. |
5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. |
5 X The prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. |
5 But the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold. X X Go into the land of Judah." So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. |
5 But Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t settle down in the stronghold. Go and get yourself into the land of Judah.” So David went out and entered the forest of Charet. |
5 וַיֹּאמֶר גָּד הַנָּבִיא אֶל-דָּוִד לֹא תֵשֵׁב בַּמְּצוּדָה לֵךְAD וּבָאתָ-לְּךָ אֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיָּבֹא יַעַר חָרֶת: ס |
1Matthew Henry, after admitting he knew not what would induce David to flee to Gath, suggested that perhaps Goliath had been a problem for Akish, so Akish might have appreciated rather than resenting David’s elimination of Goliath.
2Akish was king over only one city. Rainey theorized, however, that Akish was the senior of the five Philistine city-state governors.
3In contradiction to Gill, K&D and others, Tsumura put it the other way around in NICOT: “Achish could be a title or a common name for a Philistine ruler [noting other incidences of the name Ikausu in Akkadian king lists, and an inscription in Ekron], like ‘Pharaoh’ for an Egyptian king… Note that ‘Abimelech’ in the title of Psalm 34 may be the Semitic name of Achish...”
4This is added in the Septuagint.
5Matthew Henry suggested that perhaps Akish had an appreciation for David and saw through David’s deceptive behavior, but judged that it would be dangerous for David to stay in Gath, and thus dismissed him for his own safety.
6Keil & Delitzsch suggested that it was further north and therefore accessed by crossing the Jordan River. Who knows?
7Bemnidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 212. 1. Tanchuma apud Jarchium says that the king of Moab killed David’s parents as soon as he left the stronghold, but other commentators, such as Hertzberg and Klein maintained that David’s parents survived and returned to Judah.
8See also Psalms 31:4; 71:3; 91:2; and 144:2.
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scroll containing any part of 1 Samuel 21 is 4Q52 Samuela,
which contains fragments of vs. 1-10, and which has been dated
around 250 B.C. Where the DSS and MT agree, the MT is colored
purple. Where the DSS supports the LXX with omissions or text not in
the MT, I have highlighted with
yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I
have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with
{pointed brackets}.
BThe Greek and Hebrew read “from the presence/face of Saul” and so do other English versions, although many omit the “presence/face”
CInchoative verb (NICOT)
D This is the 4th and final repetition of this verb in the narrative of David fleeing (1 Sam. 19:12, 18; 20:1; 21:11).
ESymmmachus’ translation was katelegon “speak against”
FLit. “answer” – Goldman noted that this is a “frequentative” imperfect “did they not use to sing?”
GThe original Masoretic spelling here could be singular or it could be an abbreviated plural, but it’s plural in the LXX, Syriac, Targums, and Vulgate. Masorite scribes suggested adding a yod between the last two letters (בַּאֲלָפָיו) to make it more clear that it is plural. They did the same the first time this quote was printed in 18:7. The only difference between the quote of 18:7 and here is that here, there is an extra “tens of thousands” added to David, that is to say the last word is repeated.
HNASB = “greatly,” NIV = very,” ESV = “much”
IAquila: enhllaxen (“went in the opposite direction”), S. metebalen (“changed his mind”)
JThe Syriac also has a singular direct object “him.” I suspect that here (and later in the verse where the LXX renders “in that day” instead of the MT “in their hands” – and at the end, where the LXX renders “city” instead of the MT “gates” – in both cases the difference of only one letter in Hebrew), the LXX translators were looking at a different text than the MT, but no such ancient text has survived for comparison (The DSS is obliterated here). However, it does not significantly change the story whether David was feigning insanity before King Akish or before Akish’s courtiers (or whether the timing of the incident is referenced by a particular day or by a particular set of persons in control – or whether the doors were to the city or to the gate – which would be the same thing).
KThe LXX word has more to do with “acting;” Aq. translated more like the MT with parieto (“was negligent/listless”).
LAquila corrected the LXX to the MT with en ceiri autwn (“in their hands”).
MAq. prosekrouen (“knocked at”), S.,Q. eyofei (“made noise”) – all the Greek reading as though the Hebrew were וָיָּתָף
NNASB = “disguised his sanity,” NIV = “pretended to be insane”
OThe concept of “feigning/pretending” is not really in the meaning of this Hebrew word, even though the story indicates that David was acting. cf. NASB = “acted insanely,” NIV = “acted like a madman,” ESV = “pretended to be insane”
PNASB = “scribbled,” NIV, ESV = “made marks”
QNASB, NIV = “saliva run”
RK&D and Driver took the final vav as “circumstance of conversation” and “anticipatory pronomial suffix” that is, a 3ms object, translating “and he changed it, that is his understanding” Tsumura, on the other hand, commented that “the [vav] should be taken as part of the verbal root… as a shortened form [of]… wayyešannaw (*šnw, Pi.),” but there is no such root in my Hebrew lexicons.
SThere are a couple of Hebrew manuscripts with a different preposition before this word (ל = “before” rather than “in”), and the LXX, Vulgate, and some Targum manuscripts support this.
TThis Hithpolel is uncommon, but it is also found in Jer. 25:16; 46:9; 50:38; 51:7; and Nah. 2:5, all describing out-of-control behavior.
UThis verb תוה only occurs two other times in the Hebrew Bible: Ps. 78:41 (where it is translated “limited, pained, vexed, provoked” the LORD) and Ezek. 9:4 (where it is translated “make a mark” on foreheads). The spelling in the MT is slightly abbreviated, so Masoretic scribes noted in the margin that a yod should be inserted before the last letter (וַיְתָיו ), a practice followed by several Hebrew manuscripts, and no different in meaning. (A couple of Hebrew manuscripts, however inserted an aleph as the last letter, rendering an unintelligible word awtyw. And Tsumura claimed that the Qere was from a different root, תיו, but that root is not in BDB or Davidson’s Hebrew lexicons, so I’m skeptical.) The LXX adds an interesting insertion which further describes David’s crazy act, but the source of its extra words is not known. (The DSS text type might possibly be a source, but no legible copies of this verse have survived among the Dead Sea Scrolls.)
Vcf. synonymns: Aq. paraplhkteuomenon (“troubled”), S. parafrona (“out of his mind” - in the next verse, Symmachus switches to μαινομαι/insane).
WMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing 1 Samuel 22 are 4Q51Samuela (dated
between 50-25 B.C.), which contains fragments of vs. 10-11, and 4Q52
(dated 250BC), which has fragments of vs. 8 & 9. I have colored
in purple the text in the MT which corroborates with the DSS. Where
the DSS supports the LXX with omissions or text not in the MT, I
have highlighted with
yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I
have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with
{pointed brackets}.
XThe “all” is also missing in the Targum (and the NIV). It doesn’t change the story, though.
YAq., Q. sunecomenoV (“under compulsion/hard-pressed/distressed/incarcerated?”), S. stenocwroumenoV (“confined/restricted”)
Z Aq. translated more literally pikroV (“bitter”).
AAAq. and others changed the LXX to eqeto autouV pro (“put them before the presence”), to be more in line with the MT.
ABcf. synonyms in later Greek versions: Aq. ocurwmati (“fortress”), S. eqiboulh (“throw-place/where one is accustomed to be flung?”), Q. (eiV) katafughn (“place that one flees down to”).
ACThe Hebrew word for “forest” (יער) and the word for “city” (עיר) contain the same three letters, so the confusion between them is easier to see, but the LXX Sarich (שרח) only has two of the same letters as the MT Hebrew חרת, both the starting and ending letters being different, so it’s hard to imagine where the LXX reading came from.
ADTsumura explained this awkward grammar, “‘to you’ functions as something like an Akkadian ventive… a directional element that denotes motion or activity in the direction of, or to a point near, the speaker...”