1 Samuel 23:29
in 1 Samuel 23And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of En-gedi.
KJV
And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En–gedi.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd David went up from thence,.... From the wilderness of Maon, having had a narrow escape for his life: and dwelt in strong holds in Engedi; another place in the tribe of Judah, and which lay in the wilderness of Judah, and from whence that is called the wilderness of Engedi; and here Dr. Lightfoot (w) thinks he penned the sixty third psalm, Psa 63:1, the wilderness about Engedi being the most desert of all other places, that being upon the borders of the dead sea; of this place; see Gill on Jos 15:62. (w) Works, vol. 1. p. 58.
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
lived in the strongholds of En-gedi
David went up from Maon to the strongholds of En-gedi, above the Dead Sea. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain the name as the spring of the wild goats, and Barnes identifies the place with Hazazon-tamar of Genesis 14:7. Its caves are where Saul comes looking for David in chapter 24.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 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.
And this Dr. Lightfoot thinks was the wilderness of Judah, in which David was when he penned Psalm 63 , which breathes as much pious and devout affection as almost any of his psalms; for in all places and in all conditions he still kept up his communion with God.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
En-gedi (the fountain of the kid), anciently called Hazezon-Tamar Gen 14:7 from the palm-trees which used to grow there, still preserves its name in Ain-Djedy. It is about 200 yards from the Dead Sea, about the center of its western shore. It is marked by great luxuriance of vegetation, though the approach to it is through most dangerous and precipitous passes. The country is full of caverns, which serve as lurking places for outlaws at the present day.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi--that is, "the spring of the wild goats or gazelles"--a name given to it from the vast number of ibexes or Syrian chamois which inhabit these cliffs on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Jos 15:62). It is now called Ain Jiddy.
Strong holds at En-gedi - En-gedi was situated near to the western coast of the Dead Sea, not far from Jeshimon: it literally signifies the kid’s well, and was celebrated for its vineyards, Son 1:14. It was also celebrated for its balm. It is reported to be a mountainous territory, filled with caverns; and consequently proper for David in his present circumstances. How threshing-floors were made among the ancients, we learn from Cato, De Re Rustica, chap. 91, and 129. And as I believe it would be an excellent method to make the most durable and efficient barn-floors, I will set it down: - Aream sic facito. Locum ubi facies confodito; postea amurca conspergito bene, sinitoque combibat. Postea comminuito glebas bene. Deinde coaequato, et paviculis verberato. Postea denuo amurca conspergito, sinitoque arescat. Si ita feceris neque formicae nocebunt, neque herbae nascentur: et cum pluerit, lutum non erit. “Make a threshing-floor thus: dig the place thoroughly; afterwards sprinkle it well with the lees of oil, and give it time to soak in. Then beat the clods very fine, make it level, and beat it well down with a paver’s rammer. When this is done, sprinkle it afresh with the oil lees, and let it dry. This being done, the mice cannot burrow in it, no grass can grow through it, nor will the rain dissolve the surface to raise mud.” The directions of Columella are nearly the same; but as there as some differences of importance, I will subjoin his account: - Area quoque si terrena erit, ut sit ad trituram satis habilis, primum radatur, deinde confodiatur, permixtis paleis cum amurca, quae salem non accepit, extergatur; nam ea res a populatione murium formicarumque frumenta defendit. Tum aequate paviculis, vel molari lapide condensetur, et rursus subjectis paleis inculcetur, atque ita solibus siccanda relinquatur. De Re Rustica, lib. ii., c. […]
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַל | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| דָּוִ֖ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| מִשָּׁ֑ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בִּמְצָד֥וֹת | bimtzadot | in [the] strongholds of | H4679 → | 11 times |
| עֵֽין־ | ʾein- | En | H5872 → | 12 times |
| גֶּֽדִי׃ | gedi | Gedi | H5872 → | 12 times |
וַיַּ֥עַלand he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
דָּוִ֖דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
מִשָּׁ֑םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
וַיֵּ֖שֶׁבand he dwelt
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
בִּמְצָד֥וֹתin [the] strongholds of
bimtzadotH4679 →11 times
עֵֽין־En
ʾein-H5872 →12 times
גֶּֽדִי׃Gedi
gediH5872 →12 times
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
Genesis 14:7Then they turned back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 20:2
Then some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Sea; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Chronicles 20:2
Through
Song of Solomon 1:14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-gedi.
it leads to
- Joshua 15:62
Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi—six cities, along with their villages.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 15:62
Through
Ezekiel 47:10Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
it leads to
- Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
- Psalms 104:25
Here is the sea, vast and wide, teeming with creatures beyond number, living things both great and small.
- Numbers 34:6
Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
- Ezekiel 47:15
This shall be the boundary of the land:
- Matthew 13:47–50
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
- Matthew 4:19
Through
2 Chronicles 20:2Then some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the Sea; they are already in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, En-gedi).
it leads to
- Genesis 14:7
Then they turned back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
- Genesis 14:7
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.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.