1 Samuel 23:15
in 1 Samuel 23While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the wood.
KJV
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNo, he makes no such attempt; he keeps God's way, waits God's time, and is content to secure himself in woods and wildernesses, though with some it might seem a reproach to that courage for which he had been famous.
This site's exposition
but God delivered him not into his hand
on 1 Samuel 23:14-15
The two conditional answers of the ephod prove true here without David ever testing them: Saul seeks him every day, and God delivered him not into his hand, exactly as the oracle implied he need not stay to find out. The wilderness of Ziph, a mountain district between Hebron and En-gedi, becomes the next hiding ground, and verse 15 has David watching his own pursuer come out to take his life. John Gill compares the daily persistence of the search to Goliath's forty daily defiances in chapter 17, one persecution measured out in days like the other.
This site's exposition
he saw that Saul had come out
Older translations render Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph as a wood, and Barnes reports Conder's view that it is a place name, found today at Khoreisa. Henry reads David's hiding from Saul as waiting on God's time. He compares Galatians 4:29, where the son born by the flesh persecutes the son born by the Spirit.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Moreover, David was in the wilderness of Ziph in the forest. The Lord saw, whose eyes see all things naked and open (Hebrews IV), that he had gone forth from the inner guard of the assembly of traitors, to seek and persecute the church of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
As it had been from the beginning, so it was now, and will be, he that is born after the flesh persecuteth him that is born after the spirit, Gal. iv.
And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life,....
They had reason to think themselves happy that they had an opportunity of serving one who was the ornament of their tribe and was likely to be much more so, who was so far from plundering the country, or giving it any disturbance with his troops, that he was ready to protect it and to them all the good offices that there was occasion for.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֣רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| דָוִ֔ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָצָ֥א | yatza' | he had come forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| שָׁא֖וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| לְבַקֵּ֣שׁ | levakesh | to seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַפְשׁ֑וֹ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְדָוִ֥ד | vedavid | and David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| בְּמִדְבַּר־ | bemidbar- | [was] in [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| זִ֖יף | zif | Ziph | H2128 → | 10 times |
| בַּחֹֽרְשָׁה׃ ס | bachoreshah | at <the> Horesh | H2793 → | 7 times |
וַיַּ֣רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
דָוִ֔דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָצָ֥אhe had come forth
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
שָׁא֖וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
לְבַקֵּ֣שׁto seek
levakeshH1245 →225 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַפְשׁ֑וֹlife his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
וְדָוִ֥דand David
vedavidH1732 →999 times
בְּמִדְבַּר־[was] in [the] wilderness of
bemidbar-H4057 →270 times
זִ֖יףZiph
zifH2128 →10 times
בַּחֹֽרְשָׁה׃ סat <the> Horesh
bachoreshahH2793 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonUnited MonarchyDavidSecond king of united Israel, shepherd-turned-monarch, ancestor of the Messiah, and traditional author of many Psalms.
- PersonUnited monarchySaulIsrael's first king, head and shoulders above the people; began in humility, ended in rejection — sparing what God devoted, consul…
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.