1 Samuel 24:1

And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saul	שָׁא֔וּל sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
returned	שָׁ֣ב shav	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
following	מֵאַחֲרֵ֖י me.'a.cha.Rei	H310	properly · preposition + cardinal number, masculine plural construct
Philistines	פְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים pe.lish.Tim	H6430	a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth · noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
told	וַיַּגִּ֤דוּ vai.ya.Gi.du	H5046	properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
saying	לֵאמֹ֔ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
David	דָוִ֔ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
wilderness	בְּמִדְבַּ֖ר be.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
En-gedi	עֵ֥ין 'ein	H5872	En-Gedi · 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).

Cross-references

1 Samuel 23:28-29 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.
1 Samuel 23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachila…
Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
Ezekiel 22:9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
Hosea 7:3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 24:1-8

Here, I. Saul renews his pursuit of David, Sa1 24:1, Sa1 24:2. No sooner had he come home safely from chasing the Philistines, in which it should seem he had good success, than he enquired after David to do him a mischief, and resolved to have another thrust at him, as if he had been delivered to do all these abominations, Jer 7:10. By the frequent incursions of the Philistines, he might have seen how necessary it was to recall David from his banishment and restore him to his place in the army again; but so far is he from doing this that now more than ever he is exasperated against him, and, hearing that he is in the wilderness of En-gedi, he draws out 3000 choice men, and goes with them at…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 24:1

Saul was returned - It is very probable that it was only a small marauding party that had made an excursion in the Israelitish borders, and this invasion was soon suppressed.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 24:1

And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines,.... Having, as it should seem, got the victory over them, and driven them out of his country, and pursued them to their own: that it was told him, saying, behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi; in the strong holds of it, the high rocks and mountains in it, 1 Samuel 23:29.

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 24:1-7

Whilst Saul had gone against the Philistines, David left this dangerous place, and went to the mountain heights of Engedi, i.e., the present Ain-jidy (goat-fountain), in the middle of the western coats of the Dead Sea (see at Jos 15:62), which he could reach from Maon in six or seven hours. The soil of the neighbourhood consists entirely of limestone; but the rocks contain a considerable admixture of chalk and flint. Round about there rise bare conical mountains, and even ridges of from two to four hundred feet in height, which mostly run down to the sea. The steep mountains are intersected by wadys running down in deep ravines to the sea. "On all sides the country is full of caverns, which…

The Church Fathers

And when Saul had returned, etc. Saul, having stopped pursuing the Philistines, is suddenly recalled with a sinister mind to hunt down and kill David; he turns his weapons from the just conflict against the enemies to the unjust one in which he strikes a fellow citizen. Thus indeed, unbelieving Jews, while being equipped with the word of Holy Scripture, often dispute various errors of the nations against idols, miserably turn the missiles of unbelieving words against Christ and the Christian religion. And when they know that publicans and sinners have been cleansed through the washing of the saving water and admitted unto themselves, now separated from the enticements of the world, which is typified by David staying in the desert of Engaddi, they immediately set traps against the innocent in vain, seeking to swallow him alive, as hell does, as one whole, descending into the pit. Hence it is aptly added:
— 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.…
Engedi Or Engedi — (fount of the kid), a town in the wilderness of Judah, (Joshua 15:62) on the western shore of the Dead Sea. (Ezekiel 47:10) Its original name was Hazezon-tamar, on account of the palm groves which…
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…
Caves · Mentioned in scripture: Engedi — Mentioned in scripture: Engedi
Deserts · Mentioned in scripture: Engedi — Mentioned in scripture: Engedi
Rocks · Mentioned in scripture: Engedi — Mentioned in scripture: Engedi
Self-Control · Of David — Of David

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).