1 Samuel 27:8

And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
David	דָּוִד֙ da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
men	וַֽאֲנָשָׁ֔יו va.'a.na.Shav	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
up	וַיַּ֤עַל vai.Ya.'al	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
invaded	וַֽיִּפְשְׁט֛וּ vai.yif.she.Tu	H6584	to spread out (i.e. deploy in hostile array) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Geshurites	הַגְּשׁוּרִ֥י ha.ge.shu.Ri	H1651	a Geshurite (also collectively) or inhabitants of Geshur · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
Gezrites	וְהַגִּזְרִ֖י ve.ha.gir.zi	H1511	a Grizite (collectively) or member of a native tribe in… · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
Amalekites	וְהָעֲמָלֵקִ֑י ve.ha.'a.mal.Ki	H6003	an Amalekite (or collectively the Amalekites) or descen… · conjunction + definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
those	הֵ֜נָּה He.nah	H2007	themselves (often used emphatic for the copula · personal pronoun, 3rd person feminine plural
old	מֵֽעוֹלָ֔ם me.'o.Lam	H5769	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
inhabitants	יֹשְׁב֤וֹת yo.she.Vot	H3427	properly · verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
land	הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
goest	בּוֹאֲךָ֥ bo.'a.Kha	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Shur	שׁ֖וּרָה Shu.rah	H7793	Shur · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
land	אֶ֥רֶץ 'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct
Egypt	מִצְרָֽיִם mitz.Ra.yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · 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

Joshua 13:2 This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines, and all Geshuri,
1 Samuel 15:7-8 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
Joshua 13:13 Nevertheless the children of Israel expelled not the Geshurites, nor the Maachathites: but the Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among t…
Joshua 16:10 And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tri…
Judges 1:29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them.
Exodus 15:22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and fou…
Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Exodus 17:14-16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the rem…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 27:8–end

Here is an account of David's actions while he was in the land of the Philistines, a fierce attack he made upon some remains of the devoted nations, his success in it, and the representation he gave of it to Achish. 1. We may acquit him of injustice and cruelty in this action because those people whom he cut off were such as heaven had long since doomed to destruction, and he that did it was one whom heaven had ordained to dominion; so that the thing was very fit to be done, and he was very fit to do it. It was not for him that was anointed to fight the Lord's battles to sit still in sloth, however he might think fit, in modesty, to retire. He desired to be safe from Saul only that he might…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 27:8

David . . . went up, and invaded the Geshurites--(See Jos 13:2). and the Gezrites--or the Gerizi [GESENIUS], (Jos 12:12), some Arab horde which had once encamped there. and the Amalekites--Part of the district occupied by them lay on the south of the land of Israel (Jdg 5:14; Jdg 12:15).

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 27:6

Achish gave him Ziklag - Ziklag was at first given to the tribe of Judah, but afterwards it was ceded to that of Simeon, Jos 15:31; Jos 19:5. The Philistines had, however, made themselves masters of it, and held it to the time here mentioned; it then fell into the tribe of Judah again, and continued to be the property of the kings of Judah. This verse is a proof that this book was written long after the days of Samuel, and that it was formed by a later hand, out of materials which had been collected by a contemporary author. See the preface.

John Gill on 1 Samuel 27:8

And David and his men went up,.... From Ziklag, where they dwelt: and invaded the Geshurites; some of the old inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the remains of the Amorites, whose land was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, but could never be expelled; and therefore David had a just right to invade them, and, if he could, either expel or destroy them; see Deuteronomy 3:14; these are the Geshurites which are joined with the Philistines, Joshua 13:2, and the Gezrites; the inhabitants of Gezer, which place fell to the tribe of Ephraim; but that tribe could not drive out the inhabitants of it, and therefore David now fell upon them as the enemies of Israel, and seized on their country, as be…

The Church Fathers

And David and his men went up, etc. Upon the rock, Egypt sounds darkness. Therefore, the Church was growing through the steadfastness of Christ's disciples, and was rescuing souls from pagan rites, which, following the examples of not new but ancient men, had clung to earthly desires, with all going to the hardness of heart, and arriving as far as the dark land, covered with the gloom of death, the land of the misery of darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, and eternal horror dwells.
— 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

Achish — Angry, perhaps only a general title of royalty applicable to the Philistine kings. (1.) The king with whom David sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Sam. 21:10-15). He is called Abimelech in the…
Amalekites — a nomadic tribe of uncertain origin, which occupied the peninsula of Sinai and the wilderness intervening between the southern hill-ranges of Palestine and the border of Egypt. (Numbers 13:29; 1…
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.…
Gerizites — (1 Samuel 27:8) [Gerzites]
Gerzites — (dwellers in the desert), The, a tribe who with the Geshurites and the Amalekites occupied the land between the south of Palestine and Egypt in the time of Saul. (1 Samuel 27:8) In the name of Mount…
Geshurites — (1.) The inhabitants of Geshur. They maintained friendly relations with the Israelites on the east of Jordan (Josh. 12:5; 13:11, 13). (2.) Another aboriginal people of Palestine who inhabited the…
Gezrites The — The word which the Jewish critics have substituted in the margin of the Bible for the ancient reading, “the Gerizite.” (1 Samuel 27:8) [Gerizites, THE]
Robbery — Practised by the Ishmaelites (Gen. 16:12), the Chaldeans and Sabeans (Job 1:15, 17), and the men of Shechem (Judg. 9:25. See also 1 Sam. 27:6-10; 30; Hos. 4:2; 6:9). Robbers infested Judea in our…
Amalekites · Red Sea — Red Sea
Amalekites, The · COUNTRY of: In the south of Canaan — COUNTRY of: In the south of Canaan
Geshur · spoils taken by David — spoils taken by David

1 Samuel 27:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 27:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 27:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 27:6

John Gill on 1 Samuel 27:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Samuel 27:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 27:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 27:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 27:6

John Gill on 1 Samuel 27:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 27:8-9

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Samuel 27:8

Rashi on 1 Samuel 27:8