I Samuel 23:24

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 of the wilderness (v. de Velde, ii. pp. 107-8).

Saul, having made himself drunk with the blood of the priests of the Lord, is here, in this chapter, seeking David's life, who appears here doing good, and suffering ill, at the same time. Here is, I. The good service he did to his king and country, in rescuing the city of Keilah out of the hands of the Philistines (Sa1 23:1-6). II. The danger he was thereby brought into from the malice of the prince he served and the treachery of the city he saved, and his deliverance, by divine direction, from that danger (Sa1 23:7-13). III. David in a wood and his friend Jonathan visiting him there and encouraging him (Sa1 23:14-18). IV. The information which the Ziphites brought to Saul of David's haunts, and the expedition Saul made, in pursuit of him (Sa1 23:19-25). The narrow escape David had of falling into his hands (Sa1 23:26-29). "Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all."

23:24 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.