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1 Samuel 27
Worn down, David concludes in his heart that one day Saul will catch him, and defects to enemy territory: he and his 600 men take refuge with Achish, king of Gath. Saul stops hunting him. Achish grants David the town of Ziklag, which the narrator notes has belonged to Judah's kings "to this day." For sixteen months David plays a double game. Read closely how he raids the desert peoples while reporting to Achish that he struck the south of Judah.
- 1
David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So I will escape out of his hand.”
- 2
David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
- 3
David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
- 4
Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped looking for him.
- 5
David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
- 6
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
- 7
The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
- 8
David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those were the inhabitants of the land who were of old, on the way to Shur, even to the land of Egypt.
- 9
David struck the land, and saved no man or woman alive, and took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned, and came to Achish.
- 10
Achish said, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David said, “Against the South of Judah, against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites.”
- 11
David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring them to Gath, saying, “Lest they should tell about us, saying, ‘David did this, and this has been his way all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’”
- 12
Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.”
- 1
Y DIJO David en su corazón: Al fin seré muerto algún día por la mano de Saúl: nada por tanto me será mejor que fugarme á la tierra de los Filisteos, para que Saúl se deje de mí, y no me ande buscando más por todos los términos de Israel, y así me escaparé de sus manos.
- 2
Levantóse pues David, y con los seiscientos hombres que tenía consigo pasóse á Achîs hijo de Maoch, rey de Gath.
- 3
Y moró David con Achîs en Gath, él y los suyos, cada uno con su familia: David con sus dos mujeres, Ahinoam Jezreelita, y Abigail, la que fué mujer de Nabal el del Carmelo.
- 4
Y vino la nueva á Saúl que David se había huído á Gath, y no lo buscó más.
- 5
Y David dijo á Achîs: Si he hallado ahora gracia en tus ojos, séame dado lugar en algunas de las ciudades de la tierra, donde habite: porque ¿ha de morar tu siervo contigo en la ciudad real?
- 6
Y Achîs le dió aquel día á Siclag. De aquí fué Siclag de los reyes de Judá hasta hoy.
- 7
Y fué el número de los días que David habitó en la tierra de los Filisteos, cuatro meses y algunos días.
- 8
Y subía David con los suyos, y hacían entradas en los Gesureos, y en los Gerzeos, y en los Amalecitas: porque estos habitaban de largo tiempo la tierra, desde como se va á Shur hasta la tierra de Egipto.
- 9
Y hería David el país, y no dejaba á vida hombre ni mujer: y llevábase las ovejas y las vacas y los asnos y los camellos y las ropas; y volvía, y veníase á Achîs.
- 10
Y decía Achîs: ¿Dónde habéis corrido hoy? Y David decía: Al mediodía de Judá, y al mediodía de Jerameel, ó contra el mediodía de Ceni.
- 11
Ni hombre ni mujer dejaba á vida David, que viniese á Gath; diciendo: Porque no den aviso de nosotros, diciendo, Esto hizo David. Y esta era su costumbre todo el tiempo que moró en tierra de los Filisteos.
- 12
Y Achîs creía á David, diciendo así: El se hace abominable en su pueblo de Israel, y será siempre mi siervo.
A deception that buys survival
David raids the Geshurites, Girzites and Amalekites, leaving no survivors precisely so no witness can betray him, then claims to Achish he attacked Judah's own territory. The killing is brutal book-keeping for a lie.
Achish is fooled completely: he believes David has made Israel "abhor him" and will be his servant forever. The reader knows otherwise, and the irony of this misplaced trust will detonate two chapters later when the Philistine commanders refuse to march with David.
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