Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 27

And David said in his heart. —David’s position seems to have grown more and more untenable during the later days of Saul’s reign. Probably the paroxysms of the king’s fatal illness grew sharper and more frequent. Consequently, his leaders and favourites—whom, as we have already seen (1 Samuel 26:0), he had chosen mostly from the one small tribe of Benjamin—feared David’s coming to the throne. They saw this as imminent, and with good reason, if Saul died or was permanently disqualified to rule.

These men, whose bitter hostility to David is more than hinted at in several places, no doubt taking advantage of the king’s state of mind, incited him against David. The words and persuasions of men such as Cush the Benjamite , Doeg the Edomite, probably Abner the captain of the army, the men of Ziph, and others, quickly erased from Saul’s memory such scenes as we have witnessed in the En-gedi cave and, still more recently, on the hill of Hachilah. Indeed, these influences more than counterbalanced the devotion and powerful friendship of true warriors like Jonathan, who loved and admired David.

In David’s words, after he had taken the spear and cruse from the side of the sleeping Saul, we see something of what was going through his mind—his constant fear of a violent death; his knowledge that powerful and wicked men were constantly plotting against him; and his determination to seek a home in another land, where, however, he expected to find a grave far away from the chosen race, among the idolaters and enemies of Jehovah of Israel. He now realises a part of these sorrowful forebodings. But in this determination of the son of Jesse, we never hear of prayer or of consultation with prophet or priest. A dull despair seems at this time to have deprived David of both faith and hope.

Into the land of the Philistines. —David chose to seek refuge among these warlike people, for he believed he would be in greater security there than among his friendly relatives, the Moabites, where, in former days, he had found such a kindly welcome for his family during the first period of Saul’s enmity. He probably doubted Moab’s power to protect him.

The six hundred men. —This was the original number. They still formed the nucleus of the force, but the total number was now far larger. These “six hundred” each had their households; in addition to this, many a group of warriors, large and small, had already joined the now renowned standard of the future king.

Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. —The same, we believe, as that Achish to whom David previously fled (see 1 Samuel 21:11), and identical with Achish, son of Maachah (1 Kings 2:39). This would involve the necessity of ascribing a fifty-year reign to this prince. (Such a lengthy reign is quite possible.) The whole of Philistia subsequently fell under King David’s rule. It seems, however, that he permitted, even after the conquest, Achish to remain in his old city of Gath, most likely as his tributary, thus, we may suppose, paying back the old debt of kindness to Achish.

And David dwelt with Achish at Gath. —His reception by the Philistines seems to have been most kindly. There was a wide difference between the circumstances of this and his former visit to Gath. Then he was a fugitive, almost unattended; now he was at the head of an army of trained and devoted soldiers. Such a guest might be of the greatest service to the Philistines in their perpetual wars with Saul, with whom David would now be considered to have finally broken off all relations, seeing he had sought a home and shelter among the most bitter of his foes.

And it was told Saul. —This short statement tells us plainly that up to the moment when Saul heard that David had crossed the frontier, he had not ceased to pursue him and to seek his life. Ewald considers that it was during the residence at Gath that David exercised himself as a musician in the Gittite—that is, the Philistine—style, which he afterwards transferred from there to Judah and Jerusalem. (See titles of Psalms 8, 81, 84, “upon the Gittith.”) Gittith is a feminine adjective derived from Gath; the words possibly signify, “after the Gittith manner: some particular measure or style of Philistine music, or else the reference may be to a Philistine musical instrument.”

Why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? —The real reason why David wished a separate residence was that he might conduct his forays and other affairs apart from the supervision of his Philistine friends. They had one purpose in welcoming him and his band, he had quite another. Achish trusted that through David’s assistance powerful military demonstrations in the southern districts of Saul’s kingdom might be made. At this time the Philistine nation were preparing for that grand national effort against Saul which culminated in the battle of Mount Gilboa. David, on the other hand, intended, from a comparatively secure centre of operations somewhere in Philistia, to harry those nomad foes of Israel whose home was in the deserts to the south of Canaan.