1 Samuel 22:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 22:6
When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
David
דָּוִ֔דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
discovered
נוֹדַ֣עno.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
men
וַאֲנָשִׁ֖יםva.'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Saul
וְשָׁאוּל֩ve.sha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
abode
יוֹשֵׁ֨בyo.Shev
H3427
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Gibeah
בַּגִּבְעָ֜הba.giv.'Ah
H1390
Gibah · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
tree
הָאֶ֤שֶׁלha.'E.shel
H815
a tamarisk tree · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Ramah
רָמָהRâmâh
H7414
Ramah
spear
וַחֲנִית֣וֹva.cha.ni.To
H2595
a lance (for thrusting · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand
בְיָד֔וֹve.ya.Do
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
servants
עֲבָדָ֖יו'a.va.Dav
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
standing
נִצָּבִ֥יםni.tza.Vim
H5324
to station · verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Judges 4:5 And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgm…
1 Samuel 18:10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David play…
1 Samuel 19:9 And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.
1 Samuel 20:33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 22:6-19
We have seen the progress of David's troubles; now here we have the progress of Saul's wickedness. He seems to have laid aside the thoughts of all other business and to have devoted himself wholly to the pursuit of David. He heard at length, by the common fame of the country, that David was discovered (that is, that he appeared publicly and enlisted men into his service); and hereupon he called all his servants about him, and sat down under a tree, or grove, in the high place at Gibeah, with his spear in his hand for a sceptre, intimating the force by which he designed to rule, and the present temper of his spirit, or its distemper rather, which was to kill all that stood in his way. In this…
Saul abode . . . under a tree in Ramah--literally, "under a grove on a hill." Oriental princes frequently sit with their court under some shady canopy in the open air. A spear was the early scepter.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 22:6
Saul abode in Gibeah - Saul and his men were in pursuit of David, and had here, as is the general custom in the East, encamped on a height, for so Ramah should be translated, as in the margin. His spear, the ensign of power (see on Sa1 18:11 (note)), was at hand, that is stuck in the ground where he rested, which was the mark to the soldiers that there was their general's tent.
And all his servants were standing about him - That is, they were encamped around him, or perhaps here there is a reference to a sort of council of war called by Saul for the purpose of delivering the speech recorded in the following verses.
John Gill on 1 Samuel 22:6
When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him,.... That it was known where David was, and what number of men were gathered to him, and that they now openly appeared in the tribe of Judah; for some time Saul had heard nothing of him, but now a report had reached his ears that David was in arms, and at the head of a number of men; which now greatly alarmed Saul, and possessed him with fears and jealousies of his people, and all about him:
now Saul abode in Gibeah, under a tree in Ramah; this was Gibeah of Saul, and in or near which was a place called Ramah, or an high place, as the word signifies, on which was a remarkable tree, and under that Saul abode, being a p…
The Church Fathers
But Saul, while he remained in Gibeah, etc. The people, persecutors from the Jews, when they remained at that time in Gibeah, that is, on the hill of prophecy, not evidently of understanding, but of reading only, and were delighted in the shadowy eloquence of the law and the prophets, which is in Ramah, that is, in the high place of spiritual sense, incomparable to other Scriptures, lifted up from the glory of an earthly kingdom, which in those times of the Antichrist is not doubted to be future, and all his associates in the same persecution surrounded him, watching, standing in perfidy, acting strongly to overthrow all the defenses of faith and charity. Encouraged by these words of this sort, he will stir them up to assault faith and the constancy of the good: Hear, children of Jemini, that is, of my right hand, evidently to be blessed with a better life and joy with me. For by the name of the left hand I mean to mark those who, although they may prefer to be condemned with the Nazarenes rather than to reign and live with Christ, who appeared to us. Indeed, can Jesus, who is not doubted to have come from the root of Jesse, give to all of you in this world the fruits of perfected works and the wine of saving wisdom, which gladdens the heart of man (Psalm 103), and in the future make you all sit upon the seats to judge, as he often promised, the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 15), understand, like I do? Who can also teach perfect wisdom with good works, and reward those who act rightly and wisely with blessed reward, because you have all conspired in the faith of his name; nor is there anyone who shows me where his faithful worshippers worthy of punishment are hidden, especially since, even educated by me in the law no less, he has made a greater covenant with Jesus the Nazarene, believing and confessing him to be the Son of God, who, deformed in servile habit, appeared much more vile to me, and taught him to worship God to my injury, who has strived to corrupt his own legal decrees by insidiously spreading his Gospel, which he in no way ceases to do through his ministers to this day. These and countless things of this sort do not escape the notice of the ministers of the Antichrist, to blaspheme against the brave hearts of Christ, to prevent whom from persistently remaining in faith, the host of impious men will soon reveal what they harbor within. For…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abiathar — Father of abundance, or my father excels, the son of Ahimelech the high priest. He was the tenth high priest, and the fourth in descent from Eli. When his father was slain with the priests of Nob, he…
Grove — (1.) Heb. ‘asherah, properly a wooden image, or a pillar representing Ashtoreth, a sensual Canaanitish goddess, probably usually set up in a grove (2 Kings 21:7; 23:4). In the Revised Version the…
Hareth — Thicket, a wood in the mountains of Judah where David hid when pursued by Saul (1 Sam. 22:5). It was possibly while he was here that the memorable incident narrated in 2 Sam. 23:14-17, 1 Chr.…
Ramah — (a hill). This is the name of several places in the holy land.
Tamarisk — Heb. ‘eshel (Gen. 21:33; 1 Sam. 22:6; 31:13, in the R.V.; but in A.V., “grove,” “tree”); Arab. asal. Seven species of this tree are found in Palestine. It is a “very graceful tree, with long feathery…
Abiathar · in the City of Nob — in the City of Nob
Gibeah · .The city of Saul — .The city of Saul
Groves · Often used as resting places — Often used as resting places
Trees · The Jews: Often pitched their tents under — The Jews: Often pitched their tents under
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Murder of the Priests by Saul. - Sa1 22:6. When Saul heard that David and the men with him were known, i.e., that information had been received as to their abode or hiding-place, he said to his servants when they were gathered round him, "Hear," etc. The words, "and Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height," etc., show that what follows took place in a solemn conclave of all the servants of Saul, who were gathered round their king to deliberate upon the more important affairs of the kingdom. This sitting took place at Gibeah, the residence of Saul, and in the open air "under the tamarisk." בּרמה, upon the height, not "under a grove at Ramah" (Luther); for Ramah is an app…
The prophet Gad was David’s special adviser (2 Sam 24:11). God was no longer communicating with Saul but was guiding David.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 22:6
That Dovid…had been discovered. That he realized to beware of him.
Beneath the tamarisk tree in Romoh. On one [hill], which was within Binyomin's border.3Not to be confused with the Romoh where Shmuel lived. Our Rabbis said4Maseches Taanis 5b. that this was Shmuel's Romoh, and these are two different places. It is expounded thus: 'Shaul was sitting in Givoh in the merit of the great tamarisk tree [i.e., Shmuel] who was in Romoh, and who was praying for him.'5Were it not for Shmuel’s prayers, Shaul would have had to relinquish the throne immediately after the incident with Amoleik. Shmuel prayed for Shaul’s reign to remain intact as long as he was alive.
