1 Samuel 23:1
in 1 Samuel 23Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing-floors.
KJV
Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
David’s growing importance, fugitive as he was, is marked by this appeal to him for deliverance from the Philistines. The “threshing floors” were the natural objects of plunder Jdg 6:11. Keilah was in the Shephelah (marginal reference), probably close to the Philistine border, but its site is uncertain. Jos 2:11 Samuel Jos 23:1 PP1
This site's exposition
rob the threshingfloors
on 1 Samuel 23:1-2
Keilah is exposed to Philistine raiders while David is himself an outlaw with no crown and no army of his own, yet he moves to defend it. Before he acts he enquires of the Lord, opening a pattern that recurs across both books at 23:4, 28:6, 2 Samuel 2:1, 5:19, 5:23 and 21:1, set against Saul's one recorded enquiry as king, which gets silence at 28:6. Albert Barnes notes that David's growing importance as a fugitive is marked by Keilah's own appeal to him for rescue.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
The way for any country to be quiet is to let God's church be quiet in it. If Saul fight against David, the Philistines shall fight against his country. David is forward enough to come in for their relief, but is willing to enquire of the Lord concerning it.
The Philistines, &c. - Probably it was the departure of God and David from Saul, that encouraged the Philistines to make this inroad. When princes begin to persecute God's people and ministers, let them expect nothing but vexation on all sides.
Then they told David,....
The danger he was thereby brought into from the malice of the prince he served and the treachery of the city he saved, and his deliverance, by divine direction, from that danger,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The Philistines fight against Keilah - Keilah was a fortified town in the tribe of Judah near to Eleutheropolis, on the road to Hebron. Rob the threshing-floors - This was an ancient custom of the Philistines, Midianites, and others. See Jdg 6:4. When the corn was ripe and fit to be threshed, and they had collected it at the threshing-floors, which were always in the open field, then their enemies came upon them and spoiled them of the fruits of their harvest.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּגִּ֥דוּ | vaiyagidu | and people told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְדָוִ֖ד | ledavid | to David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| פְלִשְׁתִּים֙ | felishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| נִלְחָמִ֣ים | nilchamim | [are] fighting | H3898 → | 177 times |
| בִּקְעִילָ֔ה | bikilah | against Keilah | H7084 → | 18 times |
| וְהֵ֖מָּה | vehemah | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| שֹׁסִ֥ים | shosim | [are] plundering | H8154 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַגֳּרָנֽוֹת׃ | hagoranot | the threshing floors | H1637 → |
וַיַּגִּ֥דוּand people told
vaiyagiduH5046 →370 times
לְדָוִ֖דto David
ledavidH1732 →999 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֤הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
פְלִשְׁתִּים֙[the] Philistines
felishtimH6430 →287 times
נִלְחָמִ֣ים[are] fighting
nilchamimH3898 →177 times
בִּקְעִילָ֔הagainst Keilah
bikilahH7084 →18 times
וְהֵ֖מָּהand they
vehemahH1992 →553 times
שֹׁסִ֥ים[are] plundering
shosimH8154 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַגֳּרָנֽוֹת׃the threshing floors
hagoranotH1637 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Micah 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 1:13
Their wealth will be plundered and their houses laid waste. They will build houses but not inhabit them, and plant vineyards but never drink their wine.
- Amos 5:11
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
- Jeremiah 12:13
They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Deuteronomy 28:38–40
You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it.
- Zephaniah 1:13
Through
Deuteronomy 28:51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which…
- Deuteronomy 28:33
Through
Deuteronomy 28:33A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword…
- Jeremiah 5:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.