1 Samuel 27:12
in 1 Samuel 27So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
KJV
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseHe hath made his people - utterly to abhor him - This deception, which Dr. Delaney says “did harm to nobody, and to the account of which he is at an utter loss what degree of guilt to charge,” imposed upon Achish, had the most direct tendency to make him imagine himself secure, while in the utmost danger; and to have a faithful friend and able ally in David, while he was the veriest enemy he could possibly have. Shame on him who becomes the apologist of such conduct!
This site's exposition
Whither have ye made a road to day
on 1 Samuel 27:10-12
Achish asks Whither have ye made a road to day, and David names Judah, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites, all of them Achish's own allies rather than the tribes actually struck. Wesley calls the answer ambiguous and beneath David's usual candor, and reads his later prayer at Psalm 119:29, remove from me the way of lying, as David's own reflection on this deceit; the narrative itself passes no verdict and simply records that Achish believed him. David spares no one who might carry the true report back to Gath, and Achish concludes that David has made his own people utterly abhor him and so will serve the Philistines forever, a trust the coming chapters will show was entirely misplaced.
This site's exposition
So Achish trusted David
Achish trusted David and at 28:2 made him his bodyguard. Adam Clarke rejects the defense of David's deceit offered by Delaney. He argues that the lie left Achish at ease in Gath while David raided the peoples allied to the Philistines.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Therefore Achish believed in David, etc. The entire fraternity of the nations believes in Christ, saying that the people in which He was born He abandoned due to their infidelity; and because of this infidelity, threw down so many branches of the good olive tree, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
4 And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. 5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And Achish believed David,....
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּאֲמֵ֥ן | vaiyaamen | and he trusted | H539 → | 106 times |
| אָכִ֖ישׁ | ʾakhish | Achish | H397 → | 21 times |
| בְּדָוִ֣ד | bedavid | in David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַבְאֵ֤שׁ | havesh | certainly <to become odious> | H887 → | 17 times |
| הִבְאִישׁ֙ | hivish | he has become odious | H887 → | 17 times |
| בְּעַמּ֣וֹ | beamo | among people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | veyisrael | among Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְהָ֥יָה | vehayah | and he will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִ֖י | li | of me | ||
| לְעֶ֥בֶד | leeved | <into> a servant of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| עוֹלָֽם׃ פ | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
וַיַּאֲמֵ֥ןand he trusted
vaiyaamenH539 →106 times
אָכִ֖ישׁAchish
ʾakhishH397 →21 times
בְּדָוִ֣דin David
bedavidH1732 →999 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הַבְאֵ֤שׁcertainly <to become odious>
haveshH887 →17 times
הִבְאִישׁ֙he has become odious
hivishH887 →17 times
בְּעַמּ֣וֹamong people his
beamoH5971 →1873 times
בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לamong Israel
veyisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְהָ֥יָהand he will become
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
לִ֖יof me
li
לְעֶ֥בֶד<into> a servant of
leevedH5650 →799 times
עוֹלָֽם׃ פperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 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 34:30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…
it leads to
- Exodus 5:21
“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 7:25
“Why have you brought this trouble upon us?” said Joshua. “Today the LORD will bring trouble upon you!” And all Israel stoned him to death. Then they stoned the others and burned their bodies.
- Psalms 105:12
When they were few in number, few indeed, and strangers in the land,
- 1 Samuel 13:4
And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
- Genesis 28:13–14
And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the…
- Exodus 5:21
Through
1 Samuel 13:4And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
it leads to
- Genesis 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if…
- Genesis 46:34
you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable…
- 1 Samuel 11:14–15
Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
- Genesis 34:30
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; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; 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.