6 And Achish calleth unto David, and saith unto him, `Jehovah liveth, surely thou `art' upright, and good in mine eyes is thy going out, and thy coming in, with me in the camp, for I have not found in thee evil from the day of thy coming in unto me till this day; and in the eyes of the princes thou art not good;
And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thine anger towards Me;
Thou hast known Abner son of Ner, that to deceive thee he came, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou art doing.'
And David sweareth again, and saith, `Thy father hath certainly known that I have found grace in thine eyes, and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved; and yet, Jehovah liveth, and thy soul liveth, but -- as a step between me and death.'
So that he who is blessing himself in the earth, Doth bless himself In the God of faithfulness, And he who is swearing in the earth, Doth swear by the God of faithfulness, Because the former distresses have been forgotten, And because they have been hid from Mine eyes.
having your behaviour among the nations right, that in that which they speak against you as evil-doers, of the good works having beheld, they may glorify God in a day of inspection.
so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father who `is' in the heavens.
And Abram saith unto Sarai, `Lo, thine handmaid `is' in thine hand, do to her that which is good in thine eyes;' and Sarai afflicted her, and she fleeth from her presence.
And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thy anger towards Me.
And the heads of the Philistines say, `What `are' these Hebrews?' and Achish saith unto the heads of the Philistines, `Is not this David servant of Saul king of Israel, who hath been with me these days or these years, and I have not found in him anything `wrong' from the day of his falling away till this day.'
And Saul sweareth to her by Jehovah, saying, `Jehovah liveth, punishment doth not meet thee for this thing.'
and David goeth up and his men, and they push unto the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite, (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as thou comest in to Shur and unto the land of Egypt, and David hath smitten the land, and doth not keep alive man and woman, and hath taken sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and garments, and turneth back, and cometh in unto Achish. And Achish saith, `Whither have ye pushed to-day?' and David saith, `Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and unto the south of the Kenite.' Neither man nor woman doth David keep alive, to bring in `word' to Gath, saying, `Lest they declare `it' against us, saying, Thus hath David done, and thus `is' his custom all the days that he hath dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.' And Achish believeth in David, saying, `He hath made himself utterly abhorred among his people, in Israel, and hath been to me for a servant age-during.'
`Jehovah thy God thou dost fear, Him thou dost serve, and to Him thou dost cleave, and by His name thou dost swear.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Samuel 29
Commentary on 1 Samuel 29 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 29
1Sa 29:1-5. David Marching with the Philistines to Fight with Israel.
1. Aphek—(Jos 12:8), in the tribe of Issachar, and in the plain of Esdraelon. A person who compares the Bible account of Saul's last battle with the Philistines, with the region around Gilboa, has the same sort of evidence that the account relates what is true, that a person would have that such a battle as Waterloo really took place. Gilboa, Jezreel, Shunem, En-dor, are all found, still bearing the same names. They lie within sight of each other. Aphek is the only one of the cluster not yet identified. Jezreel on the northern slope of Gilboa, and at the distance of twenty minutes to the east, is a large fountain, and a smaller one still nearer; just the position which a chieftain would select, both on account of its elevation and the supply of water needed for his troops [Hackett, Scripture Illustrated].
2. David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish—as the commander of the lifeguards of Achish, who was general of this invading army of the Philistines.
3. these days, or these years—He had now been with the Philistines a full year and four months (1Sa 27:7), and also some years before. It has been thought that David kept up a private correspondence with this Philistine prince, either on account of his native generosity, or in the anticipation that an asylum in his territories would sooner or later be needed.
4. the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him—It must be considered a happy circumstance in the overruling providence of God to rescue David out of the dangerous dilemma in which he was now placed. But David is not free from censure in his professions to Achish (1Sa 29:8), to do what he probably had not the smallest purpose of doing—of fighting with Achish against his enemies. It is just an instance of the unhappy consequences into which a false step—a departure from the straight course of duty—will betray everyone who commits it.
9. notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said—The Philistine government had constitutional checks—or at least the king was not an absolute sovereign; but his authority was limited—his proceedings liable to be controlled by "the powerful barons of that rude and early period—much as the kings of Europe in the Middle Ages were by the proud and lawless aristocracy which surrounded them" [Chalmers].