Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
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 23:4 Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines…
2 Samuel 5:19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto Davi…
2 Samuel 5:23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mul…
Joshua 9:14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
1 Samuel 23:6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
1 Samuel 23:9-12 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
1 Samuel 30:8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt…
Jeremiah 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:1-6
Now we find why the prophet Gad (by divine direction, no doubt) ordered David to go into the land of Judah, Sa1 22:5. 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.
I. Tidings are brought to David, as to the patron and protector of his country's liberties, that the Philistines had made a descent upon the city of Keilah and plundered the country thereabouts, Sa1 23:1. Probably it was the departure both of God and David from Saul that encouraged the Philistine…
David inquired of the Lord--most probably through Gad (Sa2 24:11; Ch1 21:9), who was present in David's camp (Sa1 22:5), probably by the recommendation of Samuel. To repel unprovoked assaults on unoffending people who were engaged in their harvest operations, was a humane and benevolent service. But it was doubtful how far it was David's duty to go against a public enemy without the royal commission; and on that account he asked, and obtained, the divine counsel. A demur on the part of his men led David to renew the consultation for their satisfaction; after which, being fully assured of his duty, he encountered the aggressors and, by a signal victory, delivered the people of Keilah from fur…
Therefore David inquired of the Lord - In what way David made this inquiry we are not told, but it was probably by means of Abiathar; and therefore I think, with Houbigant that the sixth verse should be read immediately after the first. The adventure mentioned here was truly noble. Had not David loved his country, and been above all motives of private and personal revenge, he would have rejoiced in this invasion of Judah as producing a strong diversion in his favor, and embroiling his inveterate enemy. In most cases a man with David's wrongs would have joined with the enemies of his country, and avenged himself on the author of his adversities; but he thinks of nothing but succouring Keilah,…
The Church Fathers
Shall I go and strike these Philistines? etc. Because David almost always in the Scriptures, when taken mystically, signifies the Lord Christ, but sometimes in his members, sometimes in himself; rightly at this place, where he consulted the Lord whether he should attack and conquer the enemies, it is understood to be referred to the person of his members, that is, his faithful ones, who sometimes, sorrowful over the known destruction of the faithless by those close to them, consulting the oracles of divine Scripture, inquire what should be done about these things. For also above, where it is announced to the same David that Keilah is being attacked by the Philistines, it can not unreasonably signify that any of the faithful often show the dangers of temptations in the world to equally more perfect faithful ones of Christ, perceiving that they themselves are not sufficient to overcome them. Indeed, those more perfect and strong-handed teachers of the Churches, immediately scrutinizing the testimonies of the Scriptures, find that they must have compassion and succor the oppressed, and by breaking the effort of the malign spirits, discover that the crowd suffering from long temptation is to be saved; but to the often fearful weaker ones due to imminent persecution, the reading of divine words, once consulted, promptly reveals that they should not fear those who kill the body (Matt. X), but rise from their sloth by doing the right, going to the oppressed by preaching useful things, and conquering the oppressors by exorcizing. For there are those who, under the threat of persecutions, scarcely dare to openly profess the faith with which they have been imbued; how much less do they presume to undertake the war against the legions of malign spirits by calling others to the faith or by solidifying them in the faith? And what does it signify, typically, when the men of David say to him: Behold, here in Judea we are afraid, how much more if we go to Keilah against the legions of the Philistines? unless it is the fearful response of the weak listeners to the spiritual teachers preparing themselves for the work of the word: Behold, within the domestic walls of the Church we fear to freely defend the confession of the paternal faith, which Judea signifies; how much more, if we go to those who have either never known the way of truth, or have deserted it having known it,…
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.…
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…
Urim And Thummim — (light and perfection). When the Jewish exiles were met on their return from Babylon by a question which they had no data for answering, they agreed to postpone the settlement of the difficulty till…
Keilah · .David rescues — .David rescues
Philistines · David: Often defeated during Saul’s reign — David: Often defeated during Saul’s reign
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).
Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go and smite these Philistines?.... For though David was well disposed to serve his country, and was desirous of freeing them from their enemies the Philistines, he might have some doubts in his mind whether it would be right for him to engage with them now; partly because he could not act under a commission from his prince, Saul the king; and partly because he had such a small number of forces with him, that it might be hazardous for him to attack the armies of the Philistines with them, and attempt to raise the siege of Keilah; and therefore he thought it advisable, as doubtless it was, to inquire of the Lord what was his mind and will…
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…
Thanks to informants (23:7, 13), Saul was able to stay on David’s trail. David also had informants, allowing him to keep one step ahead of Saul (23:1, 9, 15, 25). David’s chief advantage was access to divine guidance and resources (23:2, 4, 12), which Saul lacked.
23:1 Keilah was near Adullam (22:1) at the western edge of Judah, not far from the Philistine border (see Josh 15:44; Neh 3:17-18).
