Bible Dictionaries
Achish

Holman Bible Dictionary

(ay' chissh) Philistine personal name. 1. King of Gath, a Philistine city, to whom David fled in fear of Saul (1 Samuel 21:10 ). David played the madman to escape from Achish (1 Samuel 21:13 ). Later David became a soldier for Achish, but cunningly expanded his own influence around Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:1 ). David joined Achish to fight Saul (1 Samuel 28:1-2 ), but the Philistine leaders forced him to leave without fighting (1 Samuel 29:1-11 ). Saul and his sons, including Jonathan, died in the battle (1 Samuel 31:1-6 ). 2 . King of Gath to whom Shimei went to retrieve his servants but in so doing violated his agreement with Solomon and lost his life (1 Kings 2:36-46 ).