Albert Barnes

So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

“The plain - The Arabah, the desert tract which extends along the valley of the Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Lake of Gennesareth, now called El-Ghor.”

And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.

“En-gedi (the fountain of the kid), anciently called Hazezon-Tamar Gen 14:7 from the palm-trees which used to grow there, still preserves its name in Ain-Djedy. It is about 200 yards from the Dead Sea, about the center of its western shore.”

Soon Saul came to the sheepfolds along the road, where there was a cave, and he went in to relieve himself.

“Remained in the sides - Rather, “were in the sides of the cave dwelling or abiding there.” Some of these caverns are very deep and spacious.”

and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?

“David was quite aware that there were flatterers at Saul’s court who were continually inflaming the King’s mind by their false accusations against him. This explains the language of many of the Psalms, e. g. Ps. 10; Psa 11:1-7; Psa 12:1-8; 35; and many more.”

So now, swear to me by the LORD that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s house.”

“Swear now ... - The same request which Jonathan made 1Sa 20:15. The deep, genealogical feeling of the Israelites breaks out here as so often elsewhere.”

When Samuel died, all Israel gathered to mourn for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.

“In his house at Ramah - Probably in the court or garden attached to his dwelling-house. (Compare 2Ch 33:20; 2Ki 21:18; Joh 19:41.) The wilderness of Paran - The Septuagint has the far more probable reading “Maon.””

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing…

“Carmel - Not Mount Carmel on the west of the plain of Esdraelon, but the Carmel close to Maon (marginal references). Shearing his sheep - Which was always a time of open-handed hospitality among flock-masters Gen 38:12-13; 2Sa 13:23-24.”

Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

“The mention of water indicates a country where water was scarce (compare Jos 15:19). Or “bread and water” may be equivalent to “meat and drink.””

They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.

“A wall - To protect them from the attacks of the Bedouins, etc. They had been as safe with David’s men around them as if they had been dwelling in a walled town.”

Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand.

“The passage should be rendered as follows: “And now my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth,” it is “the Lord” that “hath withholden thee from coming” into blood-guiltiness (as in 1Sa 25:33), “and from saving thyself with thine own hand;” and…”

Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles.

“For the Lord will make ... a sure house - Compare 1Sa 2:35, and 2Sa 7:16; 1Ki 11:38. Abigail’s firm persuasion of David’s kingdom stands upon the same footing as Rahab’s conviction of God’s gift of Canaan to the Israelites Jos 2:9-13.”

And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living.

“In the bundle - Rather, “the bag,” in which anything precious, or important to be preserved, was put, and the bag was then tied up (compare Gen 42:35). The souls ...”

In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.

“He became as a stone - Probably his violent anger at hearing it brought on a fit of apoplexy to which he was disposed by the drunken revel of the night before. After lying senseless for ten days he died.”

When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

“There is no note of the exact interval that elapsed between Nabal’s death and David’s hearing of it, or, again, between David’s hearing of it and his message to Abigail; nor is there any reason to suppose that the marriage took place with unbecoming haste.”

David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

“In the list of David’s wives Ahinoam is mentioned first 2Sa 3:2; 1Ch 3:1. But this may be only because her son was the first-born. David’s now taking two wives was an indication of his growing power and importance as a chieftain.”

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

“The incident related in this chapter of the meeting between Saul and David bears a strong general resemblance to that recorded in 1 Sam. 24, and is of a nature unlikely to have occurred more than once.”

And David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?”

“Ahimelech the Hittite - Only mentioned here. Uriah was also a Hittite. Abishai - He was son of Zeruiah, David’s sister, but probably about the same age as David.”

So David said to Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And who in Israel is your equal?

“This incidental testimony to Abner’s great eminence as a warrior is fully borne out by David’s dirge at Abner’s death 2Sa 3:31-34, 2Sa 3:38, as well as by his whole history.”

Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering.

“If the Lord have stirred thee up - The meaning is clear from the preceding history. “An evil spirit from God troubling him” was the beginning of the persecution. And this evil spirit was sent in punishment of Saul’s sin 1Sa 16:1, 1Sa 16:14.”

Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there.

“David, with characteristic Oriental subtlety (compare 1Sa 21:2), suggests as a reason for leaving Gath that his presence was burdensome and expensive to the king.”

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

“The Geshurites bordered upon the Philistines, and lived in the mountainous district which terminates the desert on the northeast (marginal reference).”

David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’”

“Tidings - The word is not in the original. The sense rather is “to bring them to Gath,” as captives and slaves.”

Now by this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city.

“It does not appear when Saul had suppressed witchcraft; it was probably in the early part of his reign. Familiar spirits ... wizards - i. e. ventriloquists ... wise or cunning men. See Lev 19:31 note.”

The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.

“Gilboa - Now called Jebel Fukuak. But the ancient name is preserved in the village of Jelbon, situated on the south side of the mountain. It was separated from Shunem (see the marginal reference) by the deep valley of Jezreel.”

Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” “There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.

“Enquire - A different word from that in 1Sa 28:6, though nearly synonymous with it. It is more frequently applied to inquiry of a false god, as e. g. 2Ki 1:2; Isa 8:19; Isa 19:3.”