Bible Commentaries
1 Samuel 27

Verses 1-2

The War with the Philistines (27:1-31:13)

David at Gath (27:1-28:2)

David now openly joined himself with the Philistines. We have suggested that 1 Samuel 21:10-15 was probably a later version of the story to which we now turn our attention.

Achish of Gath, aware of the trouble between Saul and David, welcomed the latter as an ally and allowed him and his band to dwell at Ziklag. An outlaw from his own land, David was yet loyal to his own people and was careful not to raid Judah. He seems to have played a double game by raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. The first two groups are difficult to identify, but the Amalekites were inveterate enemies of Judah. By this means, David actually placated the Judahites. At the same time, he pretended to the Philistines that he was attacking various groups of the tribe of Judah such as the Jerahmeelites or the Kenites or other inhabitants of the Negeb, the steppeland bordering the desert in the south of Judah. Thereby he pleased Achish. To carry the last subterfuge through, David exterminated totally the groups he attacked, so that none should survive to tell the story. So successful was David that Achish really believed that the Israelite hero was now abhorred by his own people. In consequence, the king of Gath sought to make him his bodyguard for life, and David appears guardedly to have accepted. He was soon to be tested, for the Philistines decided on a major attack on Israel.