Outline of Chapter 22:

       vv.    1–5        David in the Cave of Adullam

       vv.    6–10      Saul Finds Out that David Had Been in Nob

       vv.   11–15      Saul Brings the Priests to Gibeah and Interrogates Them

       vv.   16–19      Saul Orders the Deaths of the Priests and Their Families

       vv.   20–23      Abiathar Ben Ahimelech Escapes and Tells David

Charts and Maps:

       v.      2           The Parallels Between Our Lord and David

       v.      5           Did David Stay in Primarily in the Cave of Adullam or Did He Have Several Hideouts?

       v       8           David and Saul—a Literary Contrast

       v.     10           The Reasons Why We Know Doeg is Embellishing his Story to Saul

       v.     14           The Varied Perceptions of David

       v.     20           The Relationship between Ahijah and Abiathar

I ntroduction: 1Sam. 22 marks an important turning point in the life of David. In this chapter, David begins to become a true leader. In this chapter, we cut back and forth between David and Saul. First, David hides in the cave of Adullam and takes steps to protect his family, who, simply because they are related to him, are subject to Saul’s vengeful wrath. David will then take the advice of Gad the prophet and he will go back to Judah. Then we go to Saul. You will recall in the previous chapter, David used the priest to get weapons and food, without regard as to how this would affect the priest (or the entire city of Nob, city of the priests). In this chapter, we will see how David’s disregard for their safety resulted in the deaths of 200–300 innocent men, women and children. At the very end of this chapter, Abiathar, the last surviving priest from this city of priests, will run to David and David will both give him protection and express regrets over the deaths of his family, apparently taking responsibility for his previous actions.

David first goes to the famous Cave of Adullam, from whence he wrote two psalms, and his family comes to him. David sees to the security of his parents, one of the first acts of leadership which he displays. He also takes charge of about 400 malcontents who come to him. Finally, in the first five verses, he listens to the advice of a prophet. All of these situations move David more toward being the great leader that he will become. He is no longer completely self-involved.

Saul, meanwhile, is pumping his troops for information. David has eluded him and Saul knows that someone in his outfit must have some information about David. Doeg the Edomite steps forward, telling Saul that he saw David in Nob being helped by the priests.

Saul calls for Ahimelech and all of the other priests to come to him. Then he rails against them for helping David and orders their deaths. Only Doeg the Edomite is willing to do the actual killing of these men. Then Saul goes to Nob and kills the entire population of Nob in his anger (which is apparently done by his soldiers, who at first declined to kill the priests). Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, escapes this slaughter and goes to David, and David takes responsibility for the deaths of the population of Nob and he takes responsibility for Abiathar.

This is one of the few times where a chapter division appears to be truly inspired. In the previous chapter, David was completely self-centered. He was looking out for #1. He would lie, if necessary, to save his sorry ass. This approach reveals a complete lack of faith in God. If God has named David king over all Israel and he is not king over Israel yet, then that means that David must live at least long enough to be crowned king. It is simply a matter of faith. In our present chapter, we see David as a man who is a leader, who is willing to look after the needs of someone besides himself; and, most importantly, we see David as a man willing to take responsibility for his bad decisions.

David in the Cave of Adullam

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so goes David from there and so he is delivered unto a cave of Adullam. And hear his brothers and all a house of his father and so they go down unto him there.

Septuagint                             And David departed from there and escaped; and he comes to the cave of Odollam and his brothers hear, and the house of his father, and they go down to him there.

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       When David escaped from the town of Gath, he went to Adullam Cave. His brothers and the rest of his family found out where he was, and they followed him there.

NLT                                        So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and other relatives joined him there.

TEV                                       David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         So David escaped from that place and fled to the cave at Adullam. When his brothers and all └the rest┘ of his family heard about it, they went to him.

JPS (Tanakh)                        David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s house heard, they joined him down there.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.

Young's Updated LT              And David goes from there, and is escaped unto the cave of Adullam, and his brothers hear, and all the house of his father, and go down unto him there;...

What is the gist of this verse? David left Gath and went to the cave of Adullam. When his family hears that is where he is, they join him there.

Translation: So David departed from there... There are no chapter divisions in the original Bible. David had been at Nob. He obtained a sword and some food from Ahimelech, the priest at Nob, and he left him. David was still more or less directionless. From Nob, he went to Gath; when he realized that the king of Gath might have him put to death, David feigned insanity and left Gath.

Translation: ...and he escaped to the cave of Adullam. The verb escaped refers to David being delivered from the Philistines at Gath. Although the king of Gath was willing to let David go, his underlings obviously were ready to execute David.

One modern description of this cave comes from William M. Thompson: Leaving our horses in charge of some Arabs, and taking one for our guide, we started for the cave now known as Mughâret Khureitûn, which is believed to be the cave Adullam, having a fearful gorge below, gigantic cliffs above, and the path winding along a narrow shelf of the rock. At length, from a great rock hanging on the edge of the shelf, we entered by a long leap a low window which opened into the perpendicular face of the cliff. We were then within the traditional hold of David, and, creeping half doubled through a narrow crevice for a few rods, we stood beneath the dark vault of the first grand chamber of this mysterious and oppressive cavern, 1Sam. 22:1–2; 2Sam. 23:13-17. Our whole collection of lights did little more than make the damp darkness visible. After groping about as long as we had time to spare, we returned to the light of day, fully convinced that, with David and his lion-hearted followers inside, all the strength of Israel under Saul could not have forced an entrance - would not have even attempted it.

The word adullam means refuge, retreat. We do not know if this meaning came out of this incident or whether this was the original meaning; however, the fact that Adullam is found in the book of Genesis would indicate that this name had been associated with the place for a long time. ZPEB tells us that Adullam was situated on the route via Azegah and Soko, that controlled one of the principal passes into the hill-country of Judah from the northern Shephelah. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown give us this description: Adullam, now called Deir-Dubban, [is] a number of pits or underground vaults, some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides, in the soft limestone or chalky rocks. They are on the borders of the Philistine plain at the base of the Judea mountains, six miles southwest from Beth-lehem, and well adapted for concealing a number of refugees. Barnes says of Adullam: Innumerable caverns, one nearly 100 feet long, are excavated in the soft limestone hills in the neighborhood of Beit-Jibrin. (The cave is placed by Ganneau and Conder on the hill (500 feet high) over ‘Aid el Ma or Miyeh.). The city of Adullam is first mentioned back in Gen. 38. It is from this city of Canaanites that Judah took his wife (Gen. 38:1–5). It is one of the royal cities named in Joshua 12:15 and it was given over to Judah in Joshua 15:35. If you drew a line between Jerusalem and Gath (which line would run southwest), Adullam would be about 5 miles south of this line, somewhat closer to Gath. The Open Bible (NLT) describes its location as being in the lowland country of Judah some 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Jerusalem and about 12  miles (19 km) northeast of Gath. David will again use this cave as a hideout in a later campaign against the Philistines in 2Sam. 23:13.

We will not hear of this city again (apart from its mention in the psalms) until we come to the time of King Rehoboam, David’s grandson, who fortifies the city in 2Chron. 11:7 as a part of his westward fortification project. Micah foretells the invasion of Sennacherib and one of the cities that Sennacherib will invade is Adullam (Micah 1:15). Its final mention is in Neh. 11:30, where Adullam is one of the villages inhabited in Judah when the Jews returned to the land.

David wrote two psalms from the cave of Adullam: Psalms 57 and 142; so we ought to examine those two psalms now (Psalm 142 should be examined first).

Translation: His brothers and his father’s house heard... This is an interesting development. Given this and the next sentence, the animosity that Saul feels for David has obviously become more apparent and more public. Saul’s desire to kill David has become known throughout Israel. Given that this has been revealed to the general public, David’s family both knows this and are in danger themselves. It will become apparent that Saul is willing to do anything to capture and kill David. He will terrorize and polarize the nation over this. So David’s family hear what Saul is doing and they are also aware that they are in danger. Like all underground movements, there is information known to certain ones; and David’s family will be able to ascertain where David is, even though Saul will not.

Translation: ...and they went down to him there. David’s family determined where David was and they went down to him there. This represents a serious shift in the thinking of this family. At one time, they considered David as a young man barely able to take care of the sheep (1Sam. 17:28) and now they go to him for refuge. It is apparent that David had continued to see his family (1Sam. 20:6) and the public opinion of David (1Sam. 18:7, 16) along with his character gradually changed his family’s view of him. Furthermore, as Gordon so aptly observed, If Saul would attack his own family (20:33), there was no telling what he might do to David’s.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so gather [themselves] unto him every man a distressed one and every man who to him a creditor and every man bitter of soul. And so he is over them a chief. And so they are with him about four hundreds a man.

Septuagint                             And there gathered to him every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was troubled in mind; and he was a leader over them and there were with him about 400 men.

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       A lot of other people joined him too. Some were in trouble, others were angry or in debt, and David was soon the leader of four hundred men.

NLT                                        Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented until David was the leader of about four hundred men.

TEV                                       People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Then everyone who was in trouble, in debt, or bitter about life joined him, and he became their commander. There were about four hundred men with him.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Everyone who was in straits and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was desperate joined him, and he became their leader; there were about four hundred men with him..

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt [lit., had a creditor], and everyone who was discontented [lit., bitter of soul], gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.

Young's Updated LT              ...and gather themselves unto him do every man in distress, and every man who has an exactor, and every man bitter in soul, and he is over them for head, and there are with him about four hundred men.

What is the gist of this verse? God will put together a rag tag force of men for David to command, w™hich will include those who are distressed, those who are in debt and those who are bitter (about 400 men in all).

Translation: And so allied [lit., gathered] [themselves] to him every distressed man... There were three categories of men who gathered themselves or allied themselves with David. The first are men who were distressed. Obviously, most men in Israel were under stress of some sort. Either their jobs, their businesses or their wives and kids caused them some sort of stress (although I would suppose that the vast majority of these men were not married because in coming to David, a married man would have effectively left his family). When it comes to those who are distressed, here we are dealing with the more severe cases.

You will note again that these men are able to locate David and join up with him, whereas Saul has no idea where David is.

Translation: ...and every man who is in debt [lit., to him a creditor]... There are people who are successful and there are people who are not. In the United States, almost everyone is in debt. Some are in debt for things which equal or exceed the debt (a house, for instance) and others are in debt for things which are called depreciating assets, whose value often falls far below the debt incurred to purchase them (e.g., cars, furniture). In our society, some debt is acceptable and debt for appreciating assets (at lease for a house) is encouraged. There is also the important relationship between debt and income: a college student in debt $3000 who only makes $300/month is in serious debt. An adult who makes $6000/month and has a $3000 balance on credit cards is not considered to be in serious debt. However, during the time of Israel, debt was not encouraged and, unlike today’s approaches to debt, in the ancient world, you paid your debts, often through indentured servitude if you were unable to scratch up the capital to pay them. Furthermore, the percentage of debtors in Israel is going to be much smaller than the percentage here in the United States.

Here, we are not speaking of every man who owes any money, but we are speaking of men who really owe more than they are able to pay back. Today, this would be the college student with $3000 credit card debt or the adult with $10,000 in credit card debt.

In the ancient world, debt was not simply swept under the carpet. When a man was far enough in debt, then he could become a slave to pay these debts off (which, in many ways, is not a bad approach to indebtedness). In the Mosaic Law, even if you lost your property and went into slavery, every 49 years, your property was to be returned to you and you were manumitted. However, obviously, slavery could be a life sentence for many men. Also, although the Law did provide for this restoration (which parallels God’s restoration of Israel in the end times), we do not have any example of this ever having been followed in Israel’s history.

Now, I don’t want you to misinterpret the kind of men who have flocked to David. These are not necessarily men who have had a bad break, or have been persecuted unjustly—we have no verbiage which suggests that—these are men who wish to vent their grievances, avoid their responsibilities and shake up the system. During the infamous Watts riots, hundreds of men roamed the streets and broke into various businesses, stealing whatever they could carry, and torching whatever they left behind. It is like David suddenly hooked up with about 400 of these malcontents. David’s men weren’t quite that antisocial, but that is simply because they would have been summarily executed (had police gone into the streets of the riot and begun to shoot random rioters, then most of the remaining rioters would have quickly returned home). In other words, if you attend church regularly, you probably don’t know anyone like the men who hooked up with David. However, if you collected several hundred men who don’t work and hang out on the streets, that would similar to the men who came to David.

I am certain that, in my previous remarks, I probably seemed a tad too judgmental. Recognize that these men who come to David are generally unsavory types. However, to set up a parallelism, they are not near as unsavory as we must be before God. Apart from Christ, we bring nothing to God. We are sinful, rebellious, men with whom God cannot have fellowship. However, without relaxing His own character, God through Christ Jesus, allows us to come to Him, despite our complete and utter unworthiness. We are completely abhorrent to God, yet He will in no way cast us out, as we come to Him clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I would hope that the parallel should be obvious here—and I will develop it to a greater extent later on in this verse.

Translation: ...and every man [who is] bitter of soul. There are those who every time you see them, they are complaining about this or that. They complain about their wives, their kids, their jobs, their car—whatever they come into contact with, it upsets them. They are bitter and angry and disappointed with life. In this life, without God’s promises and assurances, there is a lot to be bitter and angry about. In fact, if we are simply an accident—a lucky combination of elements and energy which took on life, then we face a very distressing world indeed, where there is no true justice, there is no right and wrong, where each and every law is arbitrary. This would be a life without hope.

For those in David’s time, these are men who are bitter as to how their life has turned out thus far; they have been victims of injustice or simply of a string of bad luck. They recognize that David is both a leader and a man who is also a victim of terrible injustices. David is a man like they are, except in him, they see hope and promise. There is a parallel here to our Lord, Who is a man as are we; a victim of terrible injustices; except in Him, we see hope and promise.

Translation: And he is a captain over them... Now recall, David has already been a leader. He has led a 1000 men and more into war. However, the military was an honorable profession and the very best men became military in those times (often hand-picked by Saul—1Sam. 14:52 16:22). However, David had just the opposite experience—every malcontent and borderline criminal came to him; they didn’t like Saul, they didn’t like their lives, and they didn’t mind stirring things up a bit. God placed in David’s care the worst group of 400 able-bodied men that were in Israel. Now we will get to see what sort of a leader David can be with the very worst that his society had to offer.

Gill makes the following outstanding observation: [David] meant not to shelter them from paying their just debts if able, nor to encourage them in disloyalty to their king, only to make use of them for his own preservation for the present. In this he was a type of Christ, who receives sinners distressed with a sense of sin, discontented in their present state, and in debt, and, unable to pay their debts. Matt. 11:28: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” John 10:10b: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Translation: ...and they with him are about 400 men. Altogether, David was put in charge of about 400 difficult and unsavory men. Although Barnes refers to these men as simply exasperated with Saul’s tyranny (which would be true of some of them), the Open Bible more accurately notes that many were probably refugees from Saul’s misguided and erratic rule, but others were merely discontented.

Clarke makes an excellent observation concerning these men: It is very possible that these several disaffected and exceptionable characters might at first have supposed that David, unjustly persecuted, would be glad to avail himself of their assistance that he might revenge himself upon Saul, and so they in the mean time might profit by plunder, etc. But if this were their design they were greatly disappointed, for David never made any improper use of them. They are never found plundering or murdering; on the contrary, they always appear under good discipline, and are only employed in services of a beneficent nature, and in defense of their country. Whatever they were before they came to David, we find that he succeeded in civilizing them, and making profitable to the state those who were before unprofitable. It is not necessary to strain the words of the original in order to prove that these were oppressed people, and not exceptionable characters, as some have done. David, with these men, becomes a great leader.

Because of David’s greatness, these men will also become great. At the point of joining up with David, they are malcontents, men who are living outside the law or on the edge. Through their association with David they will become his power base, his honorable men, his deservedly high-ranking generals. David doesn’t continue to promote these men simply because they were with him at the beginning. They became great because of being under David’s authority and guidance; and David appropriately advanced them. The obvious parallel here is to Jesus Christ and His followers. We could go back to His first disciples, who were are a rag tag bunch of loosers who became great; to even us. I certainly wouldn’t call myself great; but I am in a better place than I would have been outside of Christ.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so goes David from there [to] Mizpeh of Moab and so he says unto a king of Moab, “Let come out please my father and my mother with you as far as when I know what does for me God.”

Septuagint                             And David departed from there to Massephath of Moab, and said to the king of Moab, “Let, I pray you, my father and my mother be with you until I know what God will do to me.”

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       David left Adullam Cave and went to the town of Mizpeh in Moab, where he talked with the king of Moab. “Please,” David said, “let my father and mother stay with you until I find out what God will do with me.”

NLT                                        Later David went to Mizpeh in Moab, where he asked the king, “Would you let my father and mother live here under royal protection until I know what God is going to do for me?”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         From there David went to Mizpah in Moab. He asked the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God is going to do for me.”

JPS (Tanakh)                        David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, “Let my father and mother come [and stay] with you, until I know what God will do for me.”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, Let my father [or Moabite descent] and my mother, I pray, come out [of Judah] and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.

NASB                                     And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”

Young's Updated LT              And David goes from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and says unto the king of Moab, “Let, I pray you, my father and my mother go out with you, till that I know what God does for me;...”

What is the gist of this verse? David’s first thought is to see that his parents are protected from Saul’s wrath. He takes them to the king of Moab for protection.

Translation: Then David went from there [to] Mizpeh in Moab... There are about 6 different Mizpah’s mentioned in Scripture, which we studied back in 1Sam. 7:5 in the Doctrine of the Cities of Mizpah. This one is in Moab, which is east of the Dead Sea. Mizpeh means lookout point, watchtower, and, since many of the cities of the ancient world were build upon hills, this was a very common name for a city. Building a city on a mountaintop gave the Moabites a vantage point from which they could observe much of what occurred around them. It also gave them preparation time and provided them with a relatively safe place to defend. Keil and Delitzsch identify this as the mountains of Abarim or Pisgah (see Deut. 34:1).

Now, you may think that it is odd for David to again go to a traditional enemy of Israel (Joshua 24:9 Judges 3:12–14 1Sam. 14:47), but Moab and Israel were not always at odds; although there were wars between these two nations, there were longer periods of time of peace between them. Furthermore, David had a reason for going to Moab, which will be discussed.

Translation: ...he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come [here] to you... Like anywhere else, there are groups of people who would ally themselves with Israel and others who might not necessarily ally themselves with Israel, but with David, who is a fugitive from Israel. Given that 400 malcontents were able to find David, when Saul was unable to, and given that they would want to find David, tells us that the schism between David and Saul had become known throughout the Palestine area.

David realized that he could not expect his parents to travel with him and be subject to the rigors and privation of military life. So, rather than run off to the first place that came to mind (like Gath), David determined where he might find some outside support, where his family would be safe, and he entrusts his parents to the king of Moab. Why exactly did David choose Moab? Boaz, a Jew, is the grandfather of Jesse (David’s father). Jesse’s grandmother is Ruth, who is a Moabite. So, even though Ruth accepted the religion of the Jews, she was a Moabite by birth, making their son, Obed, half-Moabite, and making his son, Jesse, at least a quarter Moabite (see Ruth 1:4–5, 14–16 4:13, 21–22). David knew his origins and he knew that the king of Moab would protect David’s parents from Saul, who had already fought against the Moabites (1Sam. 14:47). Since Saul had declared himself both the enemy of the Moabites and of David, that also allowed for there to be an alliance of sorts between David and the Moabites (again, the enemy of my enemy is my friend). David’s relationship with the Moabites was therefore generally friendly. However, David later did war against the Moabites, and he forced them to pay tribute to him (2Sam. 8:2–12 1Chron. 18:2–11). We are not given any details as to why there was a rift in David’s relations with Moab.

Translation: ...until I know what God will do for me.” Note, here David also expresses the ability to wait on God. Prior to this, he seemed to be strictly a man of action, which did not always work out to everyone’s benefit.

Now, you may wonder: now that David seems like he’s on the right path, everything will be hunky dory, right? Unfortunately, David has made some bad decisions prior to this time and the actions of our life all have results—and rebound does not necessarily wipe out the natural results of our actions.

Application: No matter what you do, when you rebound, God has forgiven you for that sin. However, that does not mean that sin will no longer have any effect upon you. Yes, you can murder someone, confess it, and God will forgive you that sin. However, this does not mean that you will not spend the rest of your life in jail. This does not mean that you will not be executed. We had a woman on death row here in Texas (I have since forgotten her name), and she was involved in a grisly, ghastly murder; but in jail, away from drugs, she had the opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ and she apparently did. God forgave her for this heinous sin. She was still executed and she is now absent from the body and face to face with the Lord.

Murder, obviously, is an extreme example. One act of adultery, although forgiven by God, can ruin your life and the lives of your family. One act of dishonesty, although forgiven by God, can taint an important relationship forever with distrust. The sin you commit, even though God will forgive it, can have effects which last a lifetime. God doesn’t designate something sin so that you can’t have any fun in this life. He designates something as a sin (1) because it is wrong and against His laws and (2) because the negative results often far outweigh the enjoyment or satisfaction of committing that sin. As a parent, you don’t want your kids involved in pre-marital sex; you don’t want them to take drugs; and you don’t want them to go on drinking binges. This is not because you are dedicated to seeing that your children live their adolescent years without fun. You simply know the lifelong ruinous results of those kinds of actions. God is fully aware of the lifelong, ruinous results of the actions of sin, and therefore forbids it. However, because Christ died for our sins and paid the price for our sins, God will not allow sin to stand in the way of our fellowship with Him. For this reason, God has provided for us rebound, the naming of our sins to God, so that we can have fellowship with Him, despite our multifarious failures.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he leaves [them] to faces of a king of Moab and so they remain with him all days is David in the stronghold.

Septuagint                             And he persuaded the face of the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him continually, while David was in the hold.

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       So he brought his parents to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him while David was in hiding.

NLT                                        The king agreed, and David’s parents stayed in Moab while David was living in his stronghold.

TEV                                       So David left his parents with the king of Moab, and they stayed there as long as David was hiding out in the cave.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         He brought them to the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was living in his fortified camp.

JPS (Tanakh)                        So he led them to [left them with in the Targum and Syriac] the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David remained in the stronghold.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the mountain-fastness [in Moab].

Updated Emphasized Bible   So he set them before the king of Moab, —and they lived with him, all the days that David was in the fortress.

NASB                                     Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

Young's Updated LT              ...and he leads them before the king of Moab, and they dwell with him all the days of David's being in the fortress.

What is the gist of this verse? David then brings his parents before the king Moab and entrusts them to him. They remain there all the time that David is in hiding from Saul.

Translation: Then he left [them] before the king of Moab... After speaking with the king of Moab and being assured of his sincerity (there was probably either a deal or an alliance struck between them), David left his parents with this man. Notice, David is not thinking only of himself, but he is thinking of his parents, which is a step in the right direction.

I would speculate that David did not bring his parents into the Moab place but that he had his parents outside the perimeter of Mizpah in a safe place with his most trusted men. They no doubt had instructions as to what to do if David did not return.

Jewish tradition has it that the king of Moab killed David’s parents, but we have no Scriptural indication of that.

Translation: ...and they stayed with him all the time [that] David was in [his] stronghold [or, on Masada]. This phrase indicates two things: (1) this sentence was probably written after David had become king over Israel and (2) his choice for a hiding place for his parents was an intelligent choice.

Stronghold here probably refers to both to the cave of Adullam, where David spent a great deal of time; as well as to other places where he hid out (see v. 5). The use of the singular does not indicate that this is a reference to only one stronghold; it simply indicates that David could stay at one stronghold at a time (he didn’t spread his forces out to different areas).

Some suggest that David hid out in Moab, on the southern border of Israel. This would indicate that David took all of his allies with him to Moab at the same time that he took his parents there. He may have left his men at a secure location just north of Moab, and went with a very few men and his parents to the king of Moab. I will discuss this issue in the next verse’s exegesis.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Gad the prophet unto David, “You will not remain in the stronghold; depart and you have gone [into] a land of Judah.” And so departs David and so he goes [into] a forest of Hereth

Septuagint                             And Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not stay in the hold; go and you will enter the land of Juda.” So David went and came and lived in the city of Saric.

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       One day the prophet Gad told David, “Don't stay here! Go back to Judah.” David then left and went to Hereth Forest.

NLT                                        One day, the prophet Gad told David, “Leave the stronghold and return to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         “Don't live in your fortified camp,” the prophet Gad told David. “Go to the land of Judah.” So David went to the forest of Hereth.

JPS (Tanakh)                        But the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; go at once to the territory of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     And the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Young's Updated LT              And Gad the prophet says unto David, “You do not abide in a fortress, go, and you have entered for you the land of Judah;” and David goes and enters the forest of Hareth..

What is the gist of this verse? Then David receives some guidance from Gad the prophet (who simply seems to pop up out of nowhere)—he tells David to leave his stronghold and go to Judah, and David obeys him.

Translation: So Gad the prophet said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold [or, on Masada];... Recall that I have already presented evidence that these few chapters were written sometime after they occurred. However, the way that Gad the prophet is introduced seems to indicate that he needs no introduction. This would indicate that at least the original author wrote this very soon after these events occurred. An author who came along later might be tempted to add some information about this Gad fellow (and the writer may have been Gad—see 1Sam. 29:29). However, here we are simply told that he is Gad the prophet. This would suggest that the author, who is possibly David (and it may possibly be Gad), is very familiar with Gad and takes this familiarity for granted when recording this history.

We don’t know what inspired Gad to come to David. It is not clear whether God spoke to Gad directly or whether Samuel sent Gad to David. In any case, he arrives with a message from God. This would suggest to us (along with what has already taken place) that David, despite his faith and devotion, had no direct contact with God. This may be one reason that David is called a man after God’s heart (1Sam. 13:14 Acts 13:22).

Gad is called David’s seer in 1Chron. 21:9 and he speaks with David on at least two other occasions (2Sam. 24:11 1Chron. 29:29). We will examine him in more depth in 2Sam. 24. Several exegetes suggest that Gad is from the Samuel’s School of Prophets (1Sam. 19:20). David was also advised by Nathan the prophet (e.g., 2Sam. 7).

We also know that Gad composed a history of David (1Chron. 29:29). We don’t know if what we are reading is what Gad wrote (prophets Samuel and Nathan are also said to be authors of that time period in the same passage). It is possible that Gad and Nathan also assisted David with the musical arranging of his psalms (2Chron. 29:25).

David has deposited his parents in Moab with the king of Moab and he is now in his stronghold, which location could be the cave of Adullam or a secure location north of Moab, near the border of Israel and Moab. If Gad was from the tribe of Gad, then he would have been right there near David if David was in Moab. If Gad was a member of the school ot prophets, then he would have been in Benjamin, just north of Judah (which is also where David may have been).

There is another alternative: this could be a reference to the famous Masada, a natural fortress in the eastern Judæan Desert along the western shores of the Dead Sea. The known history of Masada only goes back to about 100 b.c., during which time Jonathan the High Priest fortified it, according to Josephus. Herod later took this fortress and kept his family there for safety reasons while he attempted to consolidate his power in Judæa. Herod, after his control of Judæa was certain, built a tremendous fortress there, both to protect himself from enemies without and from within Judæa. About 60 years after Herod’s death, when Israel was rebelling against Roman rule, a group of Jewish Zealots seized the fortress, as well as the weapons which Herod had kept there. They enjoyed nearly 6 years of relatively peaceful existence on Masada. However, Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 a.d. and two years later, there was a vicious and bloody attack against Masada. When the Romans finally breached the fortress walls, there were only 7 people who were still alive; the other 960 had taken their own lives and had burned their belongings. Again, we don’t know if this is where David stayed for awhile, just across the Dead Sea from the peninsula which led into Moab. However, this would be a reasonable place for him to have stayed after depositing his parents in Moab.

Translation: ...depart and go [lit., you have gone] [into] the land of Judah.” Wherever David is, Gad’s marching orders are to leave and go to the land of Judah. This introduces a minor problem. We are not completely certain as to where David actually is at this time. He may be at the cave of Adullam, also called the stronghold, which is in Judah. If this is where David is, then Gad’s marching orders, “Go to Judah” are somewhat confusing. Therefore, let’s examine our three possibilities: (1) the cave Adullam is not David’s present stronghold; (2) this Adullam is not located in Judah (which is the least likely); or (3) David is in the cave of Adullam when Gad comes to him. What initially makes the most sense is that Adullam is on the edge of Judah (it would be reasonably near the border of Philistia and Judah) and the implication of Gad’s orders is that David needs to take a more visible stance before Israel. The verb means to go in, to come in and the preposition is the lâmed preposition, which, with regards to direction, means toward. So David is on the outskirts of Judah, and he is to enter into Judah, traveling towards the land of Judah; or, the heart of Judah, if you will. In fact, it is even possible for this stronghold to be in the midst of Judah, and that Gad is directing David to a more public area.

Another possibility is that David had established a stronghold near Moab; however, that is not really documented anywhere, and this narrative seems to follow each of David’s moves fairly carefully. They key word, here is seems. We don’t have the verbiage that David returned to his stronghold. We are simply told that David remained in his stronghold while his parents were in Moab. On the other hand, stronghold is in the singular; and all references to David’s stronghold appear to point to the cave of Adullam. (from which two psalms were written—Psalm 57 142).

Keil and Delitzsch point out that David must learn to trust in the Lord as his only refuge and fortress. David has already learned how to hide quite well. Now he must stand out as a leader. Furthermore, if his cause is just, then he needs to put himself out there, before the people, rather than to lurk about like some criminal.

Translation: So David departed and went [into] the forest of Hereth. You will recall how I mentioned that this chapter is a turning point in David’s life; here is another instance indicating just that. A prophet tells David what he is to do and David does it.

Hereth is found only here. According to ZPEB, the forest of Hereth is located in Judah, between Adullam and Giloh and they suggest that this is near Kharas, a village near Khirbet Qila. Because of the more visible position that David takes, others will eventually find out where David is and some will go to him (see 1Sam. 23:13 27:2 30:9). Because of this, Saul will hear that David and his small army are on the move in Judah. However, Saul will essentially remain clueless with regards to David’s exact position; in fact, he will only find out where David has been.

Saul Finds out That David Had Been in Nob

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so hears Saul that has been known David and men who [are] with him. Saul was sitting in the Gibeah under the tree in the height and his spear [is] in his hand and all his servants are standing above him.

Septuagint                             And Saul heard that David was discovered, and his men with him. How Saul dwelt in the hill below the field that is in Rama, and his spear [was] in his hand, and all his servants stood near him.

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Saul was sitting under a small tree on top of the hill at Gibeah when he heard that David and his men had been seen. Saul was holding his spear, and his officers were standing in front of him.

NLT                                        The news of his arrival in Judah soon reached Saul. At the time, the king was sitting beneath a tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, holding his spear and surrounded by his officers.

REB                                       News that the whereabouts of David and his men was known reached Saul while he was in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the hilltop with his spear in his hand and all his retainers standing about him.

TEV                                       One day Saul was in Gibeah, sitting under a tamarisk tree on a hill, with his spear in his hand, and all his officers were standing around him. He was told that David and his men had been located...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Saul heard that David and his men had been found. Saul was staying in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at the worship site with his spear in his hand and all his officials standing around him.

JPS (Tanakh)                        When Saul heard that David and the men with him had been located—Saul was then in Gibeah, sitting under the tamarisk tree on the height, spear in hand, with all his courtiers in attendance upon him—...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

NASB                                     Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him.

Young's Updated LT              And Saul hears that David has become known, and the men who are with him, and Saul is abiding in Gibeah, under the grove in Ramah, and his spear is in his hand, and all his servants standing by him.

What is the gist of this verse? Saul, while in Gibeah, hears that David has been seen in Judah.

This is a meanwhile, back at the ranch verse, which takes us to where Saul is located.

Translation: Saul also hears that [the whereabouts of] David and his men are known. There are obviously a lot of people who know where David is. 400 men came to David directly to join him. At some point, someone loyal to Saul will find out David’s general whereabouts and this will be reported to the palace. Now, you may think that those who are loyal to Saul make up a small percentage; however, recall that Saul, at first, was a great king and a greater man of war, which is one of the primary reasons the people of Israel desired a king. Therefore, there is going to be an ultra-conservative faction who support Saul.

Now, you might recall that a gathering of men—particularly malcontents—can be seen as a threat to the established government. Although it will become clear that David will not kill Saul, God’s anointed, this is not something which everyone will know about. Therefore, when there is a gathering of malcontents with David as leader, and David is known to be estranged from Saul, and Saul is known to have declared David an enemy of the state, then some would consider it their patriotic duty to report that they know where David is.

However, at this point, Saul has only heard that David’s general whereabouts are known—and possibly by some of his men. He himself does not know himself where David is. What is likely, is that it is reported to him that David and his small army was sighted somewhere in Judah; or that he is known to be somewhere in Judah. Recall that God, through Gad, told David to get to Judah, which involved making his presence known to more. It is this guidance by God which probably resulted in David’s general movement being known by Saul. The following verses will make it clear that not much more is known—not by Saul and not by any of his men.

Translation: Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tree in a high place [or, on a hill, under a tree in Ramah] and his spear [is] in his hand... Although the alternate reading sounds better in the English, we must recognize that Gibeah is really Saul’s city, whereas Ramah is the city of Samuel. Therefore, we would expect this scene to occur in Gibeah. On the other hand, Saul may have gathered up some servants and gone to Samuel again; and here we find Saul stewing because he has not found David.

What we should recognize at this point is that this verse introduces a literary contrast. David is in his place of hiding, yet people come to him (his family, the 400 misfits, Gad). Saul is in his place as well, which is not a hideout, but a place where he has gathered his men, which is apparently on a hill in Gibeah. I’ll give a more detailed comparison later on.

Saul is sitting on a hill under a tree with his spear. Saul appears to have liked sitting under trees in the outdoors (1Sam. 14:2). We have observed Saul on several occasions sitting or standing with his spear in hand (e.g., 1Sam. 18:10 19:9 20:33). Although Saul apparently did not participate in any battles, he certainly liked to carry around this weapon. Saul’s sword, along with his men who surrounded him, were his only security. Saul was fully aware that God had taken the kingdom from him, but he hung onto this life with every human resource that he could muster. Although our president does not personally carry around a gun wherever he goes, we have seen pictures in the news of various mid-eastern leaders who carry guns in public as a part of their ensemble. This is not unlike Saul.

Translation: ...and all of his servants are standing around him. Saul is tired and frustrated and desires to kill David. He is sitting in the shade with his spear, and his servant-soldiers are standing around him. He is aware that there might even be someone among his own soldiers who might know more precisely where David is. Now what he needs to do is coax the information from them.

Clarke reasonably suggests that Saul assembled all of these men here so that he could deliver the speech which follows. Barnes adds that a high place, where Saul waits under a tamarisk tree, would be a very reasonable place for Saul to gather his men in order to quiz them. Why was there not a place in the palace for such a gathering? Let me speculate that Saul thought that he may have to kill a few men, and better to kill them here where he could leave them, rather than within the palace walls. Or, it is possible that Saul gathered a rather large group—too large for the palace. This would be his open air parliament.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so says Saul to his servants, the stationed ones above him, “Listen please, Benjamites, even to all of you, gives the son of Jesse fields and vineyards? To all of you, he places chiefs of thousands and chiefs of hundreds,...”

Septuagint                             And Saul said to his servants that stood by him, “Hear now, you sons of Benjamin: will the son of Jessæ indeed give all of you fields and vineyards, and will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands?

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       He told them: Listen to me! You belong to the Benjamin tribe, so if that son of Jesse ever becomes king, he won't give you fields or vineyards. He won't make you officers in charge of thousands or hundreds as I have done.

NJB                                        ‘Listen, Benjamites’ said Saul to them, ‘Is the son of Jesse going to give you all fields and vineyards and make all of you commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds...

NLT                                        “Listen here, you men of Benjamin,” Saul shouted when he heard the news. “Has David promised you fields and vineyards has he promised to make you commanders in his army?

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         He said to his officials, “Listen here, men of Benjamin! Will Jesse's son give every one of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all officers over a regiment or a battalion of soldiers?

JPS (Tanakh)                        Saul said to the courtiers standing about him, “Listen, men of Benjamin will the son of Jesse gives fields and vineyards to every one of you? And will he make all of you captains of thousands or captains of hundreds?

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds,...

NASB                                     And Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Here now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds?

Young's Updated LT              And Saul says to his servants who are standing by him, “Hear, I pray you, you Benjamites; also to all of you does the son of Jesse give fields and vineyards! All of you he does appoint heads of thousands and heads of hundreds!

What is the gist of this verse? Saul begins his speech by noting that supporting him over David is in the self-interest of those listening. David does not have the power to give them fields or vineyards; and David is unable to make them commandeers over military units.

Although the structure of these next two verses is really one long question, I have broken this up into more mouth sized pieces. However, at the end of this, I will go back and reassemble this passage and present it as it should be presented.

Translation: Then Saul said to his servants, those stationed around him, “Listen, please, Benjamites, even all of you:... Saul is uncertain as to how to deal with this situation. He knows that someone in his group must know something about where David is. He is certain of that. Therefore, he must reason with these men to get this information from them. So, while they are gathered around him, Saul asks them to listen to him. He uses the particle of entreaty, which is unusual for a king to use.

His officers and heads of various organizations are all Benjamites. Saul, for the most part, functioned under the good ole boy system of politics. He is a Benjamite (1Sam. 9:1–2 10:21 1Chron. 8:1, 33); so he has appointed relatives and friends to positions of power; and, if he ran out of names, then friends of friends. There was no campaign to go throughout the land and gather up the top men from every tribe, even though he did collect men for the army in that way. Saul was a Benjamite, therefore, most of those who held high positions were also Benjamites. Although it will be obvious that not all of his men are Benjamites, the vast majority were (this explains the additional phrase ...even all of you...). This helps to explain why 400+ men are able to locate David and join up with him, whereas none of Saul’s officers have a clue as to where David is. Since these are almost all Benjamites, their contacts are limited. Officers Bob and Charley, who are both Benjamites, have a limited and overlapping set of contacts. Their families and former associates are all to be found in Benjamin. Had Saul’s officers been a bit more heterogenous, Saul would have had a better chance of locating David. Furthermore, Saul surrounds himself with yes-men. Only Jonathan stood up to Saul with regards to David (1Sam. 19:2–6 20:27–34) Therefore, Saul could get these men to pursue David, even though David was an honorable man (1Sam. 19:11, 20). On the other hand, these men were ineffective when it came to actually finding and capturing David.

Application: If you find yourself in a place of authority, do not surround yourself with yes-men and with your own good-old-boys. There are two results of doing this: (1) those under you become fractured into two groups: an in-group and an out-group. Those who are a part of the in-group will tell you whatever it is that you want to hear in order to remain a part of this in-group. Those on the out-group will barely tolerate your authority, if at all. (2) You will never be given a clear picture of that over which you have authority. Those in the out-group will quickly learn that you do not want to hear opposing views and they will cease to contribute. Those in the in-group will agree with whatever it is that you propose, without criticism. However, those in the in-group will not be able to help you with those in the out-group.

Translation: ...[Has] the son of Jesse given [you] fields and vineyards;... We interpret this phrase as a question, as did most translators. We do not find an actual particle which indicates that this is a question. We may therefore reasonably assume that tone of voice also could indicate that a question was being posed.

Saul first asks whether David can give them fields and vineyards. Obviously, since David is on the run, and without any real political power, the expected answer is no. Saul is ruler of Israel and can seize whatever land he deems necessary by his inherent power of eminent domain. If Saul determines that he needs a particular tract of land, he can either pay for it, through tax monies; or, he can simply seize it for the state. I have mentioned that Saul has to be concerned about feeding his vast army; he therefore has appointed Doeg as a chief of the king’s shepherds; these animals over which these men have control, didn’t come out of Saul’s personal flocks. They come from taxation, so to speak. Saul has a large army and a large staff of men for whom he is responsible. Saul, although he doesn’t really look upon it as a responsibility, here deals with this more like a bribe. He seizes property and animals from his people, and then he gives them to his own officers and their underlings in order to insure their loyalty. Many of his actions might be very similar to those of a king who takes responsibility for his minions; however, Saul’s purpose is altogether different. These are rewards and bribes; not remuneration. Recall what Samuel warned the people of Israel: "These are the rights of a king: He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots. He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake. He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials. He will take your male and female slaves, your best cattle, and your donkeys for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks. In addition, you will be his servants.” (1Sam. 8:11b–17 God’s Word™).

What is even more reprehensible than Saul’s blatant bribery, is the fact that he is not going to give most of those men present fields and vineyards. He has the power to, but this does not mean that he will actually do it. What he seizes is for the state (read, Saul); and few of these things will be actually given to those under him (although, they may act as temporary guardians of his flocks or fields).

Translation: ...to all of you, [has] he made [you] chiefs of thousands and chiefs of hundreds...” These men who work for Saul also have aspirations. They want a higher position, a better salary, greater prestige. Saul asks them if David is in a position to grant these things to them. The implication is, of course, is that he is able to give these things to them. He is able to make them a commander over a thousand men or over a hundred men. Quite obviously, there are only so many chiefs for large groups of Indians, so Saul cannot promote everyone. However, the idea here is not necessarily that he is going to promote everyone, but that he is the one who promotes them and David is not.

Wesley loosely translates (interprets) this verse: “You Benjamites — You that are of my own tribe and kindred, from whom David designs to translate the kingdom to another tribe. Will he distribute profits and preferments among you Benjamites, as I have done? Will he not rather prefer those of his own tribe before you?” 

Saul’s warning to these men is, David is from the tribe of Judah; just like Saul has enlisted hundreds of Benjamites as his cabinet and as heads of his military, David would do the same for the men of Judah, which would leave these men without employment. However, we will later find out that David enlists a wide variety of men to serve him.

Application: Are you the kind of boss or manager who makes it clear to those under you that you are the one who promotes and demotes them? Obviously this a part of the responsibilities of those with authority, and such a responsibility should be based upon one’s abilities and production, not upon how much they kiss up to you. I have seen on several occasions where superiors have promoted not those who worked the hardest or did the best work, but those who were their friends and confidants. This never works in favor of the institution or organization that this authority purports to function on behalf of.

Application: If you are in a position of authority, do you allow your personal feelings to influence your judgments. That is, do you promote those whom you like, and keep those that you don’t much care for running in place? Do you promote as a trade out of sorts? If they give you friendship, loyalty, or, whatever, then you promote them? This is not how to function as a person in authority. You have both a responsibility to the organization for which you work and to those who are under your authority. Your responsibility to your organization is to have it run by the best people possible. For those below you, you have the responsibility to promote those who work the hardest and are most closely aligned with the purposes of your organization—and whether you like them or not, is not an issue. Whether they are going to sit with you at lunch or not is not an issue. Whether they support every single one of your proposals without question is not an issue.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       ...that you conspired all of you against me and not revealing [to] my ear in a cutting [of a covenant] of my son with a son of Jesse and none are worn down from you against me and revealing [to] my ear that has caused to stand my son my servant against me to one lying in wait as the day the this?”

Septuagint                             That you are all conspiring against me, and there is no one that informs me, whereas my son has made a covenant with the son of Jessæ, and there is no one of you that is sorry for me, or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant against me for an enemy, as on this day?”

Significant differences           .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       But you're all plotting against me! Not one of you told me that my own son Jonathan had made an agreement with him. Not one of you cared enough to tell me that Jonathan had helped one of my officers rebel. Now that son of Jesse is trying to ambush me.

NJB                                        ...that you all conspire against me? No one warmed me when my son made a pact with the son of Jesse; none of you felt sorry for me or warned me when my son incited my servant to become my enemy, as he is now.’

NLT                                        Is that why you have conspired against me? For not one of you has ever told me that my own son is on David’s side. You’re not ever sorry for me. Think of it! My own son—encouraging David to try and kill me!”

TEV                                       Is that why you are plotting against me? Not one of you told me that my own son had made an alliance with David. No one is concerned about me or tells me that David, one of my own men, is right now looking for a chance to kill me, and that my son has encouraged him!”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         All of you are plotting against me, and no one informed me when my son entered into a loyalty pledge with Jesse's son. No one felt sorry for me and informed me that my son has encouraged my servant David to ambush me, as he's doing now.”

JPS (Tanakh)                        Is that why all of you have conspired against me? For no one informs me when my own son makes a pact with the son of Jesse; no one is concerned for me and no one informs me when my own son has set my servant in ambush [Septuagint reads “as an enemy”] against me, as is now the case.”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                ...That all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse; none of you is sorry for me or discloses that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as this day?

NASB                                     “For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who discloses to me [lit., uncovers my ear] when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or discloses to me [lit., uncovers my ear] that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.”

Young's Updated LT              ...for you have conspired all of you against me, and there is none uncovering my ear about my son's covenanting with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you grieving for me, and uncovering my ear, that my son has raised up my servant against me, to lie in wait as at this day.”

What is the gist of this verse? Saul complains that none of his servants are sympathetic to his plight, which includes the fact that his very own son has made a pact with David that would result in David’s being established as a legitimate political threat to Saul.

This speech of Saul’s (which is probably abridged), is another example of Saul’s long-windedness, which we first witnessed when he was trying to justify his actions to Samuel when he began sacrificing animals without Samuel being there (1Sam. 13:11–14). For this reason, we will break down Saul’s run-on pity party into several parts, so that we can analyze each.

The Amplified Bible rarely runs the sentence of one verse into that of another, but here it is a very reasonable rendering (and I am surprised that I do not find this same continuation in any other translation other than Young’s): Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all commanders of thousands and hundreds, That all of you have conspired against me? No one discloses to me when my son makes a league with the son of Jesse; none of you is sorry for me or discloses that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as this day? Have all of these men conspired against Saul because David has already promised them property and promotions?

Translation: ...that you have all conspired against me? The first thing that Saul does is accuse all of his men of conspiring against him. The verb is in the masculine plural, but he adds the phrase all of you [plural] for good measure. The gist is that almost everyone of the men who stand before him—his most loyal servants—have participated in a conspiracy against him. This conspiracy is on behalf of David, the son of Jesse, who cannot give them any property and who cannot advance them in military rank. Saul will, in the following phrases, indicate how all of these men have conspired against him.