1 Samuel 26:2

Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Saul	שָׁא֗וּל sha.'Ul	H7586	Shaul · proper noun, a man's name
arose	וַיָּ֣קָם vai.Ya.kom	H6965	to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
down	וַיֵּ֙רֶד֙ vai.Ye.red	H3381	to descend (literally · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wilderness	מִדְבַּר mid.bar-	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · noun, common masculine singular construct
Ziph	זִ֔יף Zif	H2128	Ziph · proper noun, a place name
three	שְׁלֹֽשֶׁת she.lo.shet-	H7969	three · noun, common both genders singular construct
thousand	אֲלָפִ֥ים 'a.la.Fim	H505	hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders plural absolute
chosen	בְּחוּרֵ֣י be.chu.Rei	H977	properly · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural construct
men	אִ֖ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
seek	לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ le.va.Kesh	H1245	to search out (by any method · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
David	דָּוִ֖ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
wilderness	בְּמִדְבַּר be.mid.bar-	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Ziph	זִֽיף Zif	H2128	Ziph · 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 24:2 Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
1 Samuel 13:2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with…
1 Samuel 23:23-25 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will…
1 Samuel 24:17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.
Psalms 38:12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day lo…
Psalms 140:4-9 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 26:1-5

Here, 1. Saul gets information of David's movements and acts offensively. The Ziphites came to him and told him where David now was, in the same place where he was when they formerly betrayed him, Sa1 23:19. Perhaps (though it is not mentioned) Saul had given them intimation, under-hand, that he continued his design against David, and would be glad of their assistance. If not, they were very officious to Saul, aware of what would please him, and very malicious against David, to whom they despaired of ever reconciling themselves, and therefore they stirred up Saul (who needed no such spur) against him, Sa1 26:1. For aught we know, Saul would have continued in the same good mind that he was in…

Read the whole note in the console

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 26:2

Three thousand chosen men - Though they knew that David was but six hundred strong, yet Saul thought it was not safe to pursue such an able general with a less force than that mentioned in the text; and, that he might the better depend on them, they were all elect or picked men out of the whole of his army.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 26:2

Then Saul arose,.... Immediately, glad of an opportunity to seize on David, having the same disposition towards him as ever; and perhaps had repented he had not laid hold on him when he followed him out of the cave: and went down to the wilderness of Ziph: or towards it: having three thousand chosen men of Israel; young men, so called, because usually chosen for business, and for war particularly, rather than old men; the same number he took with him when he sought him at Engedi, 1 Samuel 24:2, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph; where or whereabouts he was informed by the Ziphites he was.

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 26:1-12

The repetition not only of the treachery of the Ziphites, but also of the sparing of Saul by David, furnishes no proof in itself that the account contained in this chapter is only another legend of the occurrences already related in 1 Samuel 23:19-24:22. As the pursuit of David by Saul lasted for several years, in so small a district as the desert of Judah, there is nothing strange in the repetition of the same scenes. And the assertion made by Thenius, that "Saul would have been a moral monster, which he evidently was not, if he had pursued David with quiet deliberation, and through the medium of the same persons, and had sought his life again, after his own life had been so magnanimously s…

The Church Fathers

And Saul arose and went down to the desert of Ziph, etc. Understand Gabaa of Achila, not the city of Saul, but the hill of Achila, which is called Gabaa in Hebrew. Therefore, incited by perverse teachers, the kingdom of the Jews was stirred up to persecute the Lord, having in the army of impiety those who were prepared to fight against faith, hope, and charity, advancing to war as if in a triple line: of infidelity, despair, and hatred. With this armed force, the camps of iniquity hastened to encamp in the midst of the crowd that had received Christ in their hearts, in the hope that they might either find and kill him bodily, or spiritually repel him from the love of his faithful. Therefore, with David dwelling in the desert, Saul came after him into the desert; because once Christ as a dweller was received in the hearts of those who strove to desert the world, persecution immediately followed, which tested the believers, and provided with the struggle an occasion for earning the palm of victory. This same thing happens now and continues to happen at all times in the history of the Church. But let us see what David did when Saul followed him.
— 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.…
Desert — (1.) Heb. midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the desert” (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the…
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…
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).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 26:1-5

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 26:2

John Gill on 1 Samuel 26:2

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 26:1-12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 26:1-5

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 26:2

John Gill on 1 Samuel 26:2

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 26:1-12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 26:1-25