to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
went
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
Ziph
זִ֖יפָהZi.fah
H2128
Ziph · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Saul
שָׁא֑וּלsha.'Ul
H7586
Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
David
וְדָוִ֨דve.da.Vid
H1732
David · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
men
וַאֲנָשָׁ֜יוva.'a.na.Shav
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
wilderness
בְּמִדְבַּ֤רbe.mid.Bar
H4057
a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Maon
מָעוֹן֙ma.'On
H4584
Maon · proper noun, a place name
plain
בָּעֲרָבָ֔הba.'a.ra.Vah
H6160
a desert · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
south
יְמִ֥יןye.Min
H3225
the right hand or side (leg · noun, common feminine singular construct
Jeshimon
הַיְשִׁימֽוֹןhay.shi.Mon
H3452
a desolation · definite article + proper noun, a place name
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).
1 Samuel 25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand g…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 23:19–end
Here, 1. The Ziphites offer their service to Saul, to betray David to him, Sa1 23:19, Sa1 23:20. He was sheltering himself in the wilderness of Ziph (Sa1 23:14, Sa1 23:15), putting the more confidence in the people of that country because they were of his own tribe. They had reason to think themselves happy that they had an opportunity of serving one who was the ornament of their tribe and was likely to be much more so, who was so far from plundering the country, or giving it any disturbance with his troops, that he was ready to protect it and to them all the good offices that there was occasion for. But, to ingratiate themselves with Saul, they went to him, and not only informed him very pa…
SAUL PURSUES HIM. (Sa1 23:19-29)
Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us?--From the tell of Ziph a panorama of the whole surrounding district is to be seen. No wonder, then, that the Ziphites saw David and his men passing to and fro in the mountains of the wilderness. Spying him at a distance when he ventured to show himself on the hill of Hachilah, "on the right hand of the wilderness," that is, the south side of Ziph, they sent in haste to Saul, to tell him of the lurking place of his enemy [VAN DE VELDE].
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 23:16
And Jonathan - strengthened his hand in God - It is probable that there was always a secret intercourse between David and Jonathan, and that by this most trusty friend he was apprised of the various designs of Saul to take away his life. As Jonathan well knew that God had appointed David to the kingdom, he came now to encourage him to trust in the Most High, and to assure him that the hand of Saul should not prevail against him; and at this interview they renewed their covenant of friendship. Now all this Jonathan could do, consistently with his duty to his father and his king. He knew that David had delivered the kingdom; he saw that his father was ruling unconstitutionally; and he knew tha…
But they rising up went to Ziph before Saul. Rightly the Ziphites who lay in wait for David are said to have gone to Ziph before Saul, because indeed the schismatics or heretics, the closer they are to Jews or pagans, having been admitted inside, the more wickedly and as if earlier they deprive the Church of its fruit. Which too in the times of the Antichrist, with the Jews raising greater persecutions than others, it will mainly happen in the Church, and daily it continues happening, would that we did not know. Finally, Judas, where he was received more inwardly, where he became the leader and known to the Lord, together with Him was taking sweet food, there he more mightily raised his heel against Him.
But David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, etc. Maon is interpreted as dwelling. Jeshimon means bringing death. Generally, however, the faithful, having obtained Christ as their leader, rejoice to thirst for the eternal homeland, which the waterless places of the desert signify; they long with burning desire for the dwelling of heavenly blessedness, which the name Maon, that is Hab, suggests; they know to hope for eternal life from death endured for God, which the name Jeshimon figuratively expresses. But they cannot yet perfectly transcend the vast fields of earthly thoughts. Yet when the storm of persecution arises, the mind at once, humbling itself by casting aside all things of this world, gathers itself to the most fortified rock of faith, and with its feet secured upon this rock, and its steps directed, it now joyfully moves more sweetly in the heavenlies and burns to sing the song of new hope and joy more fervently, which is, after having taken to the refuge of the rock, David and his companions dwelling in the wilderness of Maon. For the same desert of Maon, the same dwelling, not only signifies the desire for the perpetual mansion because of the height burned by heat; but also because the desert takes its name from desertion, it indicates the very dwelling of heavenly rest, which man once deserted. Finally, in the parable of the Gospel, the Good Shepherd, having left the ninety-nine sheep in the desert, goes to seek the one that had wandered (Luke 15). In this very desert David moves as a leader, and those endowed with the grace of Christ can say: "But our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3).
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
Jeshimon — The waste, probably some high waste land to the south of the Dead Sea (Num. 21:20; 23:28; 1 Sam. 23:19, 24); or rather not a proper name at all, but simply “the waste” or “wilderness,” the district…
Judah, Tribe of — Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into Egypt (Gen. 46:12; Ex. 1:2). At the time of the Exodus, when we meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the number of…
Maon — Habitation, a town in the tribe of Judah, about 7 miles south of Hebron, which gave its name to the wilderness, the district round the conical hill on which the town stood. Here David hid from Saul,…
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: Maon — Mentioned in scripture: Maon
Jeshimon · 2. A place in the — 2. A place in the
Maon · David (with his insurgents) en — David (with his insurgents) en
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).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 23:24
And they arose, and went to Ziph, before Saul,.... Not before his person, as if he went with them, and they before him leading the way; but they went thither before he went, to prepare things more exactly, and with more certainty, before he came, and in order to return to him again and go with him:
but David and his men were in the wilderness at Maon; for by the time the Ziphites returned home, David had intelligence of their design, and therefore removed from the wilderness of Ziph to the wilderness of Maon; which, though in the same tribe, was a distinct place; See Gill on Joshua 15:55,
in the plain on the south of Jeshimon; the same as in 1 Samuel 23:19; only David was now farther to th…
With this answer the Ziphites arose and "went to Ziph before Saul" (who would speedily follow with his warriors); but David had gone farther in the meantime, and was with his men "in the desert of Maon, in the steppe to the south of the wilderness." Maon, now Man, is about three hours and three-quarters S.S.E. of Hebron (see at Jos 15:55), and therefore only two hours from Ziph, from which it is visible. "The table-land appears to terminate here; nevertheless the principal ridge of the southern mountains runs for a considerable distance towards the south-west, whereas towards the south-east the land falls off more and more into a lower table-land." This is the Arabah or steppe on the right o…
Maon was about three miles directly south of the wilderness of Ziph (23:14), approximately ten miles south of Hebron. • The Arabah Valley is a deep rift stretching from above the Sea of Galilee down both sides of the Jordan River to the Dead Sea.
Rashi on 1 Samuel 23:24
Ahead of Shaul. For Shaul was destined to go after them, and they went before him, to search exactly [where Dovid was].