1 Samuel 23:14

And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
David	דָּוִ֤ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
abode	וַיֵּ֨שֶׁב vai.Ye.shev	H3427	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wilderness	בַּמִּדְבָּר֙ ba.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
holds	בַּמְּצָד֔וֹת ba.me.tza.Dot	H4679	a fastness (as a covert of ambush) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
remained	וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב vai.Ye.shev	H3427	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mountain	בָּהָ֖ר ba.Har	H2022	a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wilderness	בְּמִדְבַּר be.mid.bar-	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Ziph	זִ֑יף Zif	H2128	Ziph · proper noun, a place name
Saul	שָׁאוּל֙ sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
sought	וַיְבַקְשֵׁ֤הוּ vay.vak.She.hu	H1245	to search out (by any method · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
day	הַיָּמִ֔ים hai.ya.Mim	H3117	a day (as the warm hours) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
God	אֱלֹהִ֖ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
delivered	נְתָנ֥וֹ ne.ta.No	H5414	to give · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand	בְּיָדֽוֹ be.ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Psalms 54:3-4 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
Joshua 15:55 Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,
Psalms 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Joshua 15:24 Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
2 Timothy 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord d…
1 Samuel 23:7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering int…
1 Samuel 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily esca…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:14-18

Here is, I. David absconding. He abode in a wilderness, in a mountain (Sa1 23:14), in a wood, Sa1 23:15. We must here, 1. Commend his eminent virtues, his humility, modesty, fidelity to his prince, and patient attendance on the providence of his God, that he did not draw up his forces against Saul, fight him in the field, or surprise him by some stratagem or other, and so avenge his own quarrel and that of the Lord's priests upon him, and put an end to his own troubles and the calamities of the country under Saul's tyrannical government. No, he makes no such attempt; he keeps God's way, waits God's time, and is content to secure himself in woods and wildernesses, though with some it might se…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 23:14

DAVID ESCAPES TO ZIPH. (Sa1 23:14-18) David abode in the wilderness . . . of Ziph--A mountainous and sequestered region was generally called a wilderness, and took its name from some large town in the district. Two miles southeast of Hebron, and in the midst of a level plain, is Tell-ziph, an isolated and conical hillock, about a hundred feet high, probably the acropolis [VAN DE VELDE], or the ruins [ROBINSON] of the ancient city of Ziph, from which the surrounding wilderness was called. It seems, anciently, to have been covered by an extensive woods. The country has for centuries lost its woods and forests, owing to the devastations caused by man.

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 23:14

Wilderness of Ziph - Ziph was a city in the southern part of Judea, not far from Carmel.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 23:14

And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds,.... In the wilderness of Ziph, in high and strong rocks there, as it seems to be explained by what follows: and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph; which had its name from a city in the tribe of Judah, of which See Gill on Joshua 15:55, and Saul sought him every day; for though he did not go forth from the place where he was to Keilah, yet hearing which way he went, and whereabout he lurked, he sought after him continually, if haply he might find him: but God delivered him not into his hand: which suggests, that it was only the providence of God that secured him, or, in all probability, such was the diligence of Saul, that h…

The Church Fathers

Yet Saul sought him every day, etc. From the beginning of time until the end, the wicked strive to remove Christ from the hearts of the pious, but He himself defends the pious so that they might never be overcome by the wicked, as He promised to remain with them all days even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28). And elsewhere it says: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43).
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

David, however, stayed in the desert, etc. Christ, having dismissed those who receive faith only in word, rather takes up residence in the hearts of those who, in the aridity of the present age, thirst for God, the living fountain, awaiting the moment they may come and appear before the face of the Lord. He gladly remains in those whose high hearts are removed from worldly temptations and blissfully secluded in solitude, finding joy in the deficient germ and flower of virtues. For Ziph means flower or germ.
— Bede, Commentary on Samuel

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

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.…
Hachilah, The Hill — a hill apparently situated in a wood in the wilderness or waste land in the neighborhood of Ziph, in Judah, in the fastnesses or passes of which David and his six hundred followers were lurking when…
Wilderness — (1.) Heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps. 65:12; Isa. 42:11; Jer. 23:10; Joel 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word…
Ziph — Flowing. (1.) A son of Jehaleleel (1 Chr. 4:16). (2.) A city in the south of Judah (Josh. 15:24), probably at the pass of Sufah. (3.) A city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:55), identified with…
Deserts · Mentioned in scripture: Ziph — Mentioned in scripture: Ziph

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).

1 Samuel 23:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:14-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 23:14

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 23:14

John Gill on 1 Samuel 23:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 23:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:14-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 23:14

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 23:14

John Gill on 1 Samuel 23:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 23:1-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 23:14

Rashi on 1 Samuel 23:13