Commentaria in I Regum (I Samuelis)
Chapter Twenty-seven. Synopsis of the Chapter
David flees to the king of Geth, and obtains from him the city Siceleg, from which he continually sallies forth to plunder the enemies of Israel, killing all, that no one may accuse him to the king.
1. And David said in his heart: One day or other I shall fall into the hands of Saul; is it not better for me to flee and be saved in the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair, and cease to seek me in all the coasts of Israel? let me flee therefore out of his hands. 2. And David arose, and went away, he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achis the son of Maoch king of Geth. 3. And David dwelt with Achis in Geth, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel. 4. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after him. 5. And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy eyes, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant stay in the city of the king with thee? 6. Then Achis gave him that day Siceleg: for which cause Siceleg hath belonged to the kings of Juda unto this day. 7. And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was four months. 8. And David went up with his men, and made spoils of Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these villages of old were inhabited in the land, as one goeth from Sur as far as the land of Egypt. 9. And David smote all the land, and left neither man nor woman alive: and taking away the sheep and oxen and asses and camels and garments, he returned and came to Achis. 10. And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou invaded today? And David answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni. 11. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, nor brought them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us: thus did David, and this was his custom all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. 12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much evil against his people Israel; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
1. ONE DAY OR OTHER I SHALL FALL INTO THE HANDS OF SAUL.—Although he had been anointed by God through Samuel, yet that was only in the case that he should survive King Saul. Or David thought that by his sins he could altogether fall from this anointing and promise of God, so that by God’s permission he would fall into Saul’s hands, and fall from kingdom and life, as Saul fell. So Abulensis. David is now not afraid of what he formerly feared, the accusations of the Philistines, feigning himself a fool in their presence, by which he had escaped free. For he did not now fear this, because now
2. AND DAVID AROSE AND WENT AWAY, HE AND THE SIX HUNDRED MEN THAT WERE WITH HIM, TO ACHIS THE SON OF MAOCH KING OF GETH,—which was one of the five cities and satrapies of the Philistines. This is the Achis to whom David had formerly fled, chapter 21; for it was now established everywhere, even in Philistia, that Saul’s hatred of David was inveterate and continual: wherefore Achis, though David was now known to him, feared nothing from him, nay hoped to use him as a faithful leader against Saul his enemy.
3. AND DAVID DWELT WITH ACHIS IN GETH, HE AND HIS MEN, EVERY MAN WITH HIS HOUSEHOLD,—that is, each with his wife and family. From Geth the Gethites were named, David’s most faithful and valiant soldiers, because namely they had followed him fleeing into Geth, and dwelt there with him, and thence went out to plunder;
David’s soldiers, so called not from the place of birth; for it is expressly said, verse 2, that these six hundred men fled with David from Judea into Geth. They were therefore Jews by origin, not Gethites and Philistines, as Abulensis will have it. For who would believe that David, a faithful and holy king, summoned to guard him Philistine Gethites, who were unbelievers and sworn enemies of Israel? These Jews, then, are called Gethites because they followed David fleeing from Judea into Geth, and dwelt there with him until the death of Saul, after which they returned with David from Geth into Judea, and advanced him to the kingdom and fought his wars, as is sufficiently indicated in 2 Kings 15:18.
5. FOR WHY SHOULD THY SERVANT STAY IN THE CITY OF THE KING WITH THEE?—David desired to be separated from Achis and his court for many reasons. The first was, that he might more freely sally out against the Philistines and Amalecites, and make spoils of them, by which he might sustain himself and his six hundred soldiers with their wives: for he could not make these spoils from Geth; for Achis would have learned it, and have expelled or killed David as an enemy of his nation; the second, to consult the modesty of his wives and his soldiers: for courtiers, unfaithful and luxurious, such as the Philistines were, often lie in wait for these. The third, lest his soldiers be infected by the pride and envy of courtiers, by gluttony, luxury and the other vices, and especially by infidelity and idolatry. But David dared not allege these reasons to King Achis; he pretended therefore another; namely that it was not fitting for a foreigner and stranger, nay one sprung from the nation of the Jews, which was exceedingly hostile and hateful to the Philistines and Gethites, to dwell in the royal city of the Gethites; especially since quarrels and fights might easily arise between the king’s soldiers and David’s, and it would be hard for David to provide food for himself and his men in Geth, where the king’s court drew all provisions to itself. Moved by these reasons, Achis gave David Siceleg, which thenceforth passed to the tribe of Juda as a hereditary and perpetual possession.
6. THEN ACHIS GAVE HIM THAT DAY SICELEG.—“Siceleg,” or “Sicelech,” was a city which fell first by lot to the tribe of Juda, Josue chapter 15, verse 31; then was taken from it and given to the tribe of Simeon, Josue chapter 19, verse 5; afterwards, being on the border of the Philistines, it was occupied by them, namely by the Gethites and Achis their king, who therefore here gave it again to David, and ceded it. Moreover Siceleg in Hebrew is the same as “the straitness of the sextarius (pint measure),” says Pagninus in the Hebrew Names, and that fits this place. For in it David dwelt with his soldiers, labouring under straitness of food and drink.
7. AND THE NUMBER OF THE DAYS THAT DAVID DWELT IN THE COUNTRY OF THE PHILISTINES WAS FOUR MONTHS,—In Hebrew it is said he remained days and four months, that is, for a year and four months.
For yamim, that is “days,” in the plural often signifies a year, say Lyranus, Pagninus, Cajetan and the Innovators. But others commonly say that David remained with Achis only four months and some days. For the Latin Vulgate requires this, and so Abulensis, Serarius, Salianus, Adrichomius, Sanchez, Tornielli and others hold; on which matter I shall speak again at chapter 29, verse 3.
OF THE AMALECITES.—Gessur was a city in a valley (for ge is a valley) beyond the Jordan, from which the whole neighbouring region was called “Gessuri” or “Jessuri”: which region was the boundary of the Israelite land beyond the Jordan toward the north; and although it was given in possession to the half-tribe of the sons of Manasses, yet the former inhabitants of the land seem never to have been driven out from it, Josue chapter 13, verse 13. The inhabitants of “Gessuri,” then, as also “Gerzi” and the “Amalecites,” were enemies of Israel, and therefore David justly made spoils of them. Our Salianus, however, thinks this “Gessuri” to be different from the “Gessuri” of the Manassites: for this, he says, was neighbouring Amalec and outside the borders of the Israelites toward the south, of which no mention is made in Scripture except in this place, as neither of “Gerzi.”
9. AND LEFT NEITHER MAN NOR WOMAN ALIVE.—You will ask by what right David did this? for he was not an absolute prince or king, and consequently had not the right of declaring or waging war. I answer that David was anointed king by Samuel, and appointed by Saul leader against the enemies of Israel; wherefore he had authority to wage war. For although Saul now persecuted David from private hatred, yet both he himself and the whole people held it acceptable and approved that David should suppress and crush the Philistines and other enemies, whom Saul himself ought to have subdued with great labour and danger. But by what right did he kill all utterly? I answer that he had the right from the law of Deuteronomy chapter 20, verses 17 and 25, which commands all the inhabitants of the land promised by God to the Hebrews, even little ones and women, to be slain, and their goods plundered: now the Gessurites and Gerzites (who in Josue chapter 13, verse 13, are called Machati, says Abulensis, though Salianus denies it) dwelt in the land promised to the Jews, as is plain from Josue chapter 13, verse 13. As to the Amalecites, though they lived outside it, yet God had commanded them all to be slain, as we heard in chapter 15. David, therefore, as leader of Israel’s war authorised by Saul, had public authority to do all this, and to carry out the commands of God. So Abulensis, Cajetan and others.
10. WHOM HAST THOU INVADED TODAY? AND DAVID ANSWERED: AGAINST THE SOUTH OF JUDA,—that is, against the southern Jews, or those who dwelt toward the south. David lies, saying that he had attacked the Jews, enemies of Achis, whereas he had attacked the Philistines, Chanaanites and Amalecites, allies of Achis. Unless you explain thus, as though David said: I attacked the Philistines, who were to the south of Juda. This was a dutiful lie, which David thought necessary to protect his life.
JERAMEEL—was a city in the tribe of Juda, looking south.
11. DAVID SAVED NEITHER MAN NOR WOMAN ALIVE,—that is, he did not keep them in life, did not let them live, but killed all, lest any survivor accuse him to Achis and the Gethites, and reveal what he did. It is wonderful that, of so many slaughters and defeats of the Philistines wrought by David, none reached the ears of King Achis: humanly this could hardly happen; but God, who directed all David’s works, directed this likewise so that Achis learned nothing. For as he sent sleep upon the whole camp of Saul to save David, chapter 26, verse 12; so here he sent as it were inadvertence and blindness upon Achis and all the courtiers, that they should not know that David had raided their allies.
12. SO ACHIS BELIEVED DAVID.—It was wonderful