1 Samuel 23:28
in 1 Samuel 23So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.
KJV
Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela–hammahlekoth.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 23
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThey called that place Sela-hammah-lekoth - That is, the rock of divisions; because, says the Targum, the heart of the king was divided to go hither and thither. Here Saul was obliged to separate himself from David, in order to go and oppose the invading Philistines.
This site's exposition
the Philistines have invaded the land
on 1 Samuel 23:27-29
The rescue comes from outside the story entirely, a Philistine raid elsewhere in the land arriving at the one moment it could matter, and Adam Clarke calls it plainly the workings of providence: deliverance without a battle, a sign, or an answer from the ephod. The place keeps the memory of it in its name, the rock of divisions, because there Saul's pursuit was split off from David by circumstance rather than by choice or defeat. David goes up from there to the strongholds of En-gedi, where the seventeenth-century scholar John Lightfoot placed the writing of Psalm 63, a tradition both Gill and Henry record.
This site's exposition
broke off his pursuit of David
Clarke reports the Targum's reading of the name, that the king's heart was divided over which way to go. Barnes gives Conder's identification of the place with a narrow gorge called Malaky, between El Kolah and Maon. The Philistines David fought at Keilah now draw Saul away.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
This is what happened to Paul. For the potency of the light suddenly surprised his feeble eyes and injured them. But the greatness of the voice brought low his strength and entered his ears and opened them. For they had been closed up by Jewish …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It was that, since Saul neglected the public safety, he might take care of it, notwithstanding the ill treatment that was given him; for he must render good for evil, and therein be a type of him who not only ventured his life, but laid down his life, for those that were his enemies.
): Selah-hammah-lekoth--the rock of division, because it divided between Saul and David. The deliverance of David out of this danger. Providence gave Saul a diversion, when he was just ready to lay hold of David; notice was brought him that the Philistines were invading the land (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
), and by this means David was delivered when he was on the brink of destruction. Saul was disappointed of his prey, and God was glorified as David's wonderful protector.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Called, &c. - That is, The rock of divisions, because there Saul was separated, and in a manner pulled asunder from David, who was now almost within his reach.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore Saul returned from pursuing after David,.... Stopped short at once, as soon as ever he received the message: and went against the Philistines; to stop them in their progress, and drive them out of his country: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth, which signifies the rock of divisions.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Sela-hammahlekoth - See the margin. (Identified by Conder with a narrow and impassable gorge between El Kolah and Maon, called Malaky).
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֣שָׁב | vaiyashov | and he turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| שָׁא֗וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| מִרְדֹף֙ | mirdof | from pursuing | H7291 → | 143 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| דָוִ֔ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִקְרַ֣את | likrat | to meet | H7122 → | 139 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| קָֽרְאוּ֙ | kareu | people called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לַמָּק֣וֹם | lamakom | <to> the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַה֔וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| סֶ֖לַע | sela' | Sela | H5555 → | |
| הַֽמַּחְלְקֽוֹת׃ | hamachlekot | Hammahlekoth | H5555 → |
וַיָּ֣שָׁבand he turned back
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
שָׁא֗וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
מִרְדֹף֙from pursuing
mirdofH7291 →143 times
אַחֲרֵ֣יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
דָוִ֔דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיֵּ֖לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
לִקְרַ֣אתto meet
likratH7122 →139 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
קָֽרְאוּ֙people called
kareuH7121 →733 times
לַמָּק֣וֹם<to> the place
lamakomH4725 →401 times
הַה֔וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
סֶ֖לַעSela
sela'H5555 →
הַֽמַּחְלְקֽוֹת׃Hammahlekoth
hamachlekotH5555 →
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, Homily - On Our Lord, 32; John Gill, Exposition of 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.