I Samuel 23:26
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Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
"And David was anxiously concerned to escape from Saul, and Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to seize them; but a messenger came to Saul ... . Then Saul turned from pursuing David." The two clauses, "for Saul and his men" (Sa1 23:26), and "there came a messenger" (Sa1 23:27), are the circumstantial clauses by which the situation is more clearly defined: the apodosis to דּוד ויהי does not follow till ויּשׁב in Sa1 23:28. The apodosis cannot begin with וּמלאך because the verb does not stand at the head. David had thus almost inextricably fallen into the hands of Saul; but God saved him by the fact that at that very moment a messenger arrived with the intelligence, "Hasten and go (come), for Philistines have fallen into the land," and thus called Saul away from any further pursuit of David.
Open source ↗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."
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.
And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
They have tracked us down, and now surround us; their eyes are set to cast us to the ground,
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”
Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.
Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” But You heard my plea for mercy when I called to You for help.