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1 Samuel 23:13

in 1 Samuel 23

Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.

KJV

Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 23

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul

on 1 Samuel 23:12-13

The second answer closes the matter, and David does not wait to test whether Keilah would actually go through with it. His band has grown to about six hundred men. Keilah's leaders were ready to hand over the man who had just broken the siege and saved their grain.

This site's exposition

moving from place to place

Barnes compares Keilah to the men of Judah who bound Samson, their own deliverer, and handed him over at Judges 15:10-13. Gill places the choice with the town's leading men. David leaves before they can act, and Saul calls off his march.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

David therefore arose, etc. Woe, however, to that soul, woe to the city, which the word of God, leaving behind, wanders here and there, uncertain where, in whose heart to settle and find rest. "Foxes," he says, "have dens, and birds of the air have …

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Samuel · Written before 735.

proposed

It was announced to Saul that David had fled from Ceila, etc. The enemies of the faith pretend to burden those with persecutions whom they see willingly abandoning the faith. But the adversary himself of old tires out with the more severe lashes of temptations …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then David and his men, which were about six hundred,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Wherever they could go. In a place where it is proper to go, in a place where they would be saved.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 23:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיָּקָם֩and he arose

    vaiyakamH6965 →628 times

  • דָּוִ֨דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַאֲנָשָׁ֜יוand men his

    vaanashavH582 →566 times

  • כְּשֵׁשׁ־about six

    keshesh-H8337 →216 times

  • מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967 →581 times

  • אִ֗ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וַיֵּצְאוּ֙and they went out

    vaiyetzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • מִקְּעִלָ֔הfrom Keilah

    mikeilahH7084 →18 times

  • וַיִּֽתְהַלְּכ֖וּand they went about

    vaiyithalekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • בַּאֲשֶׁ֣רat where

    baasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִתְהַלָּ֑כוּthey went about

    yithalakhuH1980 →1546 times

  • וּלְשָׁא֣וּלand to Saul

    uleshaulH7586 →402 times

  • הֻגַּ֗דit was told

    hugadH5046 →370 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • נִמְלַ֤טhe had escaped

    nimlatH4422 →95 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • מִקְּעִילָ֔הfrom Keilah

    mikeilahH7084 →18 times

  • וַיֶּחְדַּ֖לand he ceased

    vaiyechdalH2308 →58 times

  • לָצֵֽאת׃to go forth

    latzetH3318 →1067 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Samuel 15:20In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.”6 works1 Samuel 22:2And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.5 works1 Samuel 25:13And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.5 works1 Samuel 30:9–10So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 22:2

    And all who were distressed or indebted or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 11:28

      Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

    • Psalms 72:12–14

      For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have no helper.

    • 1 Samuel 25:13

      And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

    • 1 Samuel 1:10

      In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

    • 1 Samuel 30:6

      And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 15:20

    In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the…

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 2:6

      Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.

    • Hebrews 11:37–38

      They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.

    • John 1:17

      For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
Anointing of David by Samuel, Félix-Joseph Barrias, 1842, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris. Public domain.
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Samuel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 23 →