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1 Samuel 23:12

in 1 Samuel 23

So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the LORD.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up.

KJV

Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 23

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
Then said David, will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?.... That is, the lords and great men of the place, the governor of the city, and the heads of it, the chief magistrates in it: and the Lord said, they will deliver thee up: that is, provided he stayed there; for the Lord knew the dispositions and affections of their minds, that they were inclined to do it, and would do it, if he continues among them till Saul came down; which showed the great ingratitude of this people to their deliverer.

This site's exposition

they will deliver thee up

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, the number that holds through the rest of the outlaw years at chapters 27 and 30. Keilah's leaders were ready to hand over the man who had just broken the siege and saved their grain, and the narrator records it without a word of comment.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The conduct of the men of Keilah would be like that of the men of Judah to Samson their deliverer Jdg 15:10-13.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Will Keilah's residents hand me over… This teaches us that one who consults regarding two matters, receives a reply concerning only one, and that reply concerns the first one.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Samuel 23:11:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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

13 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִ֔דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • הֲיַסְגִּ֜רוּ¿ will they deliver up

    hayasgiruH5462 →91 times

  • בַּעֲלֵ֧י[the] citizens of

    baaleiH1167 →

  • קְעִילָ֛הKeilah

    keilahH7084 →18 times

  • אֹתִ֥י<obj.> me

    ʾotiH853 →10935 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲנָשַׁ֖יmen my

    ʾanashaiH582 →566 times

  • בְּיַד־in [the] hand of

    beyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • שָׁא֑וּלSaul

    shaulH7586 →402 times

  • וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • יַסְגִּֽירוּ׃ סthey will deliver [you] up

    yasgiruH5462 →91 times

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

Related verses

12 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.

1 Samuel 23:20Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”5 worksPsalms 31:8You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.4 worksPsalms 62:1In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.4 worksPsalms 38:20Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.4 worksPsalms 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.4 worksEcclesiastes 9:14–15There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 29:15Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”2 works1 Samuel 23:7When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”2 worksHebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.2 worksPsalms 118:8It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.2 works1 Samuel 22:10Ahimelech inquired of the LORD for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”2 works1 Samuel 24:18And you have shown this day how well you have dealt with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me.2 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

    Psalms 62:1

    In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.

    it leads to

    • Lamentations 3:25

      The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

    • Psalms 62:2

      He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress; I will never be shaken.

    • Isaiah 40:31

      But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

    • Psalms 33:20

      Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.

    • Psalms 37:7

      Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

  • Through

    Isaiah 29:15

    Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 8:12

      “Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are…

    • Isaiah 47:10

      You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

  • Through

    Psalms 31:8

    You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.

    it leads to

    • Job 36:16

      Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Slays Goliath, Gustave Doré, 1866. 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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 23 →