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1 Samuel 27:1

in 1 Samuel 27

David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

KJV

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 27

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Cassiodorus

EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 55.1 · Written before 585.

"When the Philistines held him in Gath"; this is recounted in the text of the book of Kings [Samuel]. David was terrorized by attacks of Saul and thought that he would be hidden in the city of Gath among the Philistines. But we have said …

This site's exposition

One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul

on 1 Samuel 27:1-2

David concludes, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul,” after escaping Saul's spear. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call the resolution wrong, and Blaikie reads it as a lapse of faith. David crosses with six hundred men to Achish at Gath.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And David said in his heart,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But unbelief is a sin that easily besets even good men. When without are fightings, within are fears, and it is a hard matter to get over them. Lord, increase our faith!

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul - This was a very hasty conclusion: God had so often interposed in behalf of his life, that he was authorized to believe the reverse. God had hitherto confounded all Saul’s stratagems, and it was not at all likely that he would now abandon him: there was now no additional reason why he should withdraw from David his helping hand.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

David said in his heart, . . . there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines--This resolution of David's was, in every respect, wrong: (1) It was removing him from the place where the divine oracle intimated him to remain (1Sa 22:5);
We might conclude it to be false upon the very face of it, because there certainly was no evidence to prove it. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted His servant. He had been placed in perilous positions very often, but not one single instance had occurred in which God's strength was not sufficient for him. The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied—they had not assumed one form, only, but many. Yet in every case He who sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

We might conclude it to be false upon the very face of it, because there certainly was no evidence to prove it. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted His servant. He had been placed in perilous positions very often, but not one single instance had occurred in which God's strength was not sufficient for him. The trials to which he had been exposed had been varied—they had not assumed one form, only, but many. Yet in every case He who sent the trial had also graciously ordained a way of escape. David could not put his finger upon any entry in his diary and say of it, "Here is evidence that God will forsake me." In looking back through his whole life, from the time when he kept his father's sheep, and slew the lion and the bear, onward to the day when he challenged the Philistine, and upward to this moment—when he had just escaped from his bloodthirsty pursuer—he could not find a solitary fact which should be proof that God had changed His mind and would leave His anointed to fall into the hand of his cruel enemy. Now, mark—when you and I doubt God's Word there is this to be said of it—we mistrust it without a cause. I bear my willing testimony that I have no reason to doubt my Lord, nor even the shadow of a reason—and I think that you who were in Christ many years before I knew Him can say that since you have trusted in Him you have never once had any reason to suspect His faithfulness, or to imagine that He would cast you away. Brethren, we condemn not a man without evidence. Shall we condemn our loving Lord without evidence? I challenge Heaven and earth and Hell this morning to bring any proof that God is untrue.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Now I might perish one day. Perhaps he will ambush me and suddenly attack me. 1 Dovid did not trust Shaul and was convinced that he was laying a trap for him by asking him to remain.—Metzudas Dovid
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 27:1:1, 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

29 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִד֙David

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • לִבּ֔וֹheart his

    liboH3820 →595 times

  • עַתָּ֛הnow

    ʾatahH6258 →433 times

  • אֶסָּפֶ֥הI will be swept away

    ʾesapehH5595 →19 times

  • יוֹם־a day

    yom-H3117 →2304 times

  • אֶחָ֖דone

    ʾechadH259 →971 times

  • בְּיַד־by [the] hand of

    beyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • שָׁא֑וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • אֵֽין־not

    ʾein-H369 →789 times

  • לִ֨י[belongs] to <the> me

    li

  • ט֜וֹבgood

    tovH2896 →538 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • הִמָּלֵ֥טreally <escape>

    himaletH4422 →95 times

  • אִמָּלֵ֣ט׀I will escape

    ʾimaletH4422 →95 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • פְּלִשְׁתִּ֗ים[the] Philistines

    pelishtimH6430 →287 times

  • וְנוֹאַ֨שׁand he will desist

    venoashH2976 →

  • מִמֶּ֤נִּיfrom me

    mimeniH4480 →1188 times

  • שָׁאוּל֙Saul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • לְבַקְשֵׁ֤נִיto seek me

    levaksheniH1245 →225 times

  • עוֹד֙again

    ʾodH5750 →490 times

  • בְּכָל־in all

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • גְּב֣וּל[the] territory of

    gevulH1366 →240 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְנִמְלַטְתִּ֖יand I will be delivered

    venimlatiH4422 →95 times

  • מִיָּדֽוֹ׃from hand his

    miyadoH3027 →1618 times

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

Related verses

18 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.

Psalms 34:4I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.19 worksProverbs 24:10If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!19 worksProverbs 29:25The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.6 worksPsalms 56:8You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?6 worksIsaiah 40:27–31Why do you say, O Jacob, and why do you assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my claim is ignored by my God”?5 worksPsalms 31:22In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Psalms 116:11In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”5 worksIsaiah 51:12“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?4 works1 Samuel 20:3But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”4 worksPsalms 142:4Look to my right and see; no one attends to me. There is no refuge for me; no one cares for my soul.4 works2 Corinthians 1:8We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.4 works1 Samuel 16:13So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.3 works1 Samuel 23:17saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.”3 worksIsaiah 30:15–16For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence—but you were not willing.”3 works1 Samuel 27:10–11who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”3 works1 Samuel 28:1–2Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for warfare against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out to battle with me.”3 works1 Samuel 21:10–15That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.3 worksPsalms 55:7How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah3 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

    Isaiah 51:12

    “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?

    it leads to

    • Psalms 118:6

      The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

    • 1 Peter 1:24

      For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

    • Isaiah 2:22

      Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

    • John 14:26–27

      But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.

    • John 14:18

      I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 16:13

    So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 10:6

      Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

    • Hebrews 1:9

      You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

    • John 3:34

      For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.

Where this verse is studied

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On this verse

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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 27 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 55.1; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 439: “The Danger Of Doubting” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and W. G. Blaikie, The First Book of Samuel (Expositor's Bible).

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