1 Samuel 23:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 23:13
Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
six
כְּשֵׁשׁke.shesh-
H8337
six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the h… · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
hundred
מֵא֣וֹתme.'ot
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine plural absolute
arose
וַיָּקָם֩vai.ya.Kam
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
departed
וַיֵּצְאוּ֙vai.ye.tze.'U
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Keilah
מִקְּעִלָ֔הmi.ke.'i.Lah
H7084
Keilah · preposition + proper noun, a place name
went
וַיִּֽתְהַלְּכ֖וּvai.yit.ha.le.Khu
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
whithersoever
בַּאֲשֶׁ֣רba.'a.Sher
H834
who · preposition + relative particle
go
יִתְהַלָּ֑כוּyit.ha.La.khu
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
told
הֻגַּ֗דhu.Gad
H5046
properly · verb, hophal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Saul
וּלְשָׁא֣וּלu.le.sha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · conjunction + preposition + proper noun, a man's name
David
דָּוִד֙da.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
escaped
נִמְלַ֤טnim.Lat
H4422
properly · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Keilah
מִקְּעִילָ֔הmi.ke.'i.Lah
H7084
Keilah · preposition + proper noun, a place name
forbare
וַיֶּחְדַּ֖לvai.yech.Dal
H2308
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forth
לָצֵֽאתla.Tzet
H3318
to go (causatively · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
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
1 Samuel 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and h…
1 Samuel 25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and…
1 Samuel 30:9-10 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
2 Samuel 15:20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:7-13
Here is, I. Saul contriving within himself the destruction of David (Sa1 23:7, Sa1 23:8): He heard that he had come to Keilah; and did he not hear what brought him thither? Was it not told him that he had bravely relieved Keilah and delivered it out of the hands of the Philistines? This, one would think, should have put Saul upon considering what honour and dignity should be done to David for this. But, instead of that, he catches at it as an opportunity of doing David a mischief. An ungrateful wretch he was, and for ever unworthy to have any service or kindness done him. Well might David complain of his enemies that they rewarded him evil for good, and that for his love they ere his adversa…
he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod--The consultation was made, and the prayer uttered, by means of the priest. The alternative conditions here described have often been referred to as illustrating the doctrine of God's foreknowledge and preordination of events.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 23:11
In these verses we find the following questions and answers: - David said, Will Saul come down to Keilah? And the Lord said, He will come down. Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. In this short history we find an ample proof that there is such a thing as contingency in human affairs; that is, God has poised many things between a possibility of being and not being, leaving it to the will of the creature to turn the scale. In the above answers of the Lord the following conditions were evidently implied: - If thou continue in Keilah, Saul will certainly come down; and If Saul come down, the men of Keilah will deliver…
Then David and his men, which were about six hundred,.... Having had an increase of two hundred since he was at the cave of Adullam, 1 Samuel 22:1, and upon his relief of Keilah, 1 Samuel 23:5; so that he sustained no loss of men by fighting with the Philistines, but had an addition to his small forces:
arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go; not knowing whither they should go, having no particular place in view; but went where they thought they could be safest, or that appeared the most proper place for them; so the Targum,"they went to a place which was fit to go unto;''which was fittest for their purpose, and most for their safety and security, be it where…
The Church Fathers
It was announced to Saul that David had fled from Ceila, etc. The enemies of the faith pretend to burden those with persecutions whom they see willingly abandoning the faith. But the adversary himself of old tires out with the more severe lashes of temptations those whom he sees strong in faith and action, or whom he sees either inert in faith, or utterly faithless or apostates, he possesses as his own quite contentedly and subject in all things, often with no, or certainly very few, temptations of wrath, pride, fornication, and envy, and other such passions.
David therefore arose, etc. Woe, however, to that soul, woe to the city, which the word of God, leaving behind, wanders here and there, uncertain where, in whose heart to settle and find rest. "Foxes," he says, "have dens, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew VIII); and this is what he says elsewhere: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke XVIII). It is certainly to be noted that these things, generally, refer to all times of the Church, to which false brethren are never lacking, but especially to the last times, during which they will abound more, and can be typically referred, whose levity and perfidy even the name of Ceila fits. For it is said of a sling, cast forth, or stirring up, or lifting itself. And indeed why the soul of a false Christian, unstable and certainly wandering, is called cast to a sling, the wise woman explains, who in the type of the Church speaks with a strong and desirable hand saying, "But the soul of your enemies shall be whirled about in the impetus and circle of a sling" (1 Samuel XXV). But why a believer with infidelity, stirring it up, doubtlessly rightly calls it persecution, is proved by that traitor, who, from the number of Christ's disciples, added to the number of persecutors, thus far in the Church does not cease to have heirs of his depravity. Moreover, why it is called lifting itself, those manifest who usurp the knowledge of the faith for themselves specially, and do not fear to separate from the Catholic unity.
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
Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Foreknowledge of God — Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29; 11:2; 1 Pet. 1:2), one of those high attributes essentially appertaining to him the full import of which we cannot comprehend. In the most absolute sense his knowledge is…
Ittai — Near; timely; or, with the Lord. (1.) A Benjamite, one of David’s thirty heroes (2 Sam. 23:29). (2.) A native of Gath, a Philistine, who had apparently the command of the six hundred heroes who…
Keilah — Citadel, a city in the lowlands of Judah (Josh. 15:44). David rescued it from the attack of the Philistines (1 Sam. 23:1-8); but the inhabitants proving unfaithful to him, in that they sought to…
Rephaim, The Valley Of — (1 Samuel 5:18,22; 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15; 14:9; Isaiah 17:5) also in (Joshua 15:8) and Josh 18:16 It is translated in the Authorized Version “the valley of the giants,” a spot which was the scene…
Keilah · .David rescues — .David rescues
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).
Sa1 23:1-14
Rescue of Keilah. - After his return to the mountains of Judah, David received intelligence that Philistines, i.e., a marauding company of these enemies of Israel, were fighting against Keilah, and plundering the threshing-floors, upon which the corn that had been reaped was lying ready for threshing. Keilah belonged to the towns of the lowlands of Judah (Jos 15:44); and although it has not yet been discovered, was certainly very close to the Philistian frontier.
Sa1 23:2
After receiving this information, David inquired of the Lord (through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest) whether he should go and smite these Philistines, and received an affirmative answer.
Sa1 23:3-6
But…
