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1 SAMUEL 22

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:1-2
  ¹So 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. ²Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.

22:1 "the cave of Adullam" This is a city between Bethlehem and Gath. The name comes from a friend of Judah (Gen. 38:1,12,20). This family turned into a small kingdom (cf. Josh. 12:15).

In this text the area was the site of a

1. cave
2. stronghold (cf. 1 Sam. 22:4-5; 2 Sam. 23:14; also called "the rock," cf. 1 Chr. 11:15) where David fled for safety and gathered his army

▣ Notice where David's 400 men came from.

1. his brothers (other relatives of Jesse)
2. all his father's household (servants of Jesse)
3. everyone who was in distress (BDB 848)
4. everyone who was in debt (BDB 673)
5. everyone who was in discontent (lit. "bitter of soul," BDB 659)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:3-5
  ³And 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." ⁴Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. ⁵The 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.

22:3-4 Apparently there was a friendly relationship between Moab and David during his lifetime. Probably because of his ancestress, Ruth.

22:3 "until I know what God will do for me" David had to live by faith in YHWH's

1. character
2. plans
3. promises

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS

There is a question as to which verbal root is meant.

1. left ‒ BDB 628 (נוח)
2. led ‒ BDB 634 (נחה)
3. compassion (LXX, "persuaded") ‒ BDB 636 (נחם)

The UBS Text Project, p. 195, gives option #2 a "C" rating (considerable doubt).

22:5 "The prophet Gad" This prophet is active during David's lifetime.

1. David accepts and acts on his divine message to leave Adullam and move to another part of Judah (here).
2. David had to choose between three judgments offered by Gad for his sin of numbering the people (i.e., trusting in his military and not YHWH, cf. 2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21).
3. He directed David to organize and station the Levites in a certain way (i.e., also Nathan the prophet, cf. 1 Chr. 29:25).
4. He wrote part of the canonical history of the life of David along with
   1. Samuel
   2. Nathan
   3. Gad

See 1 Chr. 29:29-30.

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

▣ "do not stay. . ." There are three directives given to David. One would expect them to be IMPERATIVES, but not so.

1. do not stay ‒ BDB 442, 444, Qal IMPERFECT used in an IMPERATIVAL sense
2. depart ‒ BDB 229, KB 246, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. go ‒ BDB 97, KB 112, Qal PERFECT with waw used in an IMPERATIVAL sense

▣ "the forest of Hereth" This place name (BDB 362) appears only here. Many scholars think it was in the vicinity of of "Keilah" (BDB 890), mentioned in 1 Samuel 23.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:6-10
  ⁶Then 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. ⁷Saul said to his servants who stood around him, "Hear 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? ⁸For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who discloses to me 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 that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day." ⁹Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, "I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. ¹⁰He inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine."

22:6 There are several elements in this verse.

1. Gibeah was the hometown and regular camping site for Saul, 1 Sam. 10:26; 11:4; 13:14-15; 14:2.
2. He held court
   1. under "the" large tree (place of blessing and revelation)
   2. on the height (lit. "ramah," but "bamah" were usual places of worship, cf. 1 Sam. 9:12)
   3. with his spear in his hand (i.e., sign of kingship, cf. 1 Sam. 18:10)

▣ "Gibeah" The Hebrew word (BDB 149 II) means "hill" (cf. 1 Sam. 7:1; 10:10). The name is used of several different places.

1. a city of Judah ‒ Josh. 15:57
2. a city of Ephraim ‒ Josh. 24:33
3. a city of Benjamin ‒ Jdgs. 19:14,16; 1 Sam. 10:26; 14:2; 22:6; 26:1; 2 Sam. 22:29

The MT has the MASCULINE NOUN (BDB 79), "tamarisk tree, with the DEFINITE ARTICLE.

See the UBS Fauna and Flora of the Bible, p. 182, and NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 553.

22:7 Saul uses tribal jealousy and personal interest to rally his fellow Benjamites against David.

22:8 Notice Saul's paranoia.

1. all of you (cf. v. 6) have conspired against me
2. no one discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse (i.e., would not ever mention David's name)
3. none of you is sorry for me
4. none of you discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant (i.e., David) to lie in ambush

Oh my, Saul is a pathetic, deranged, tormented person!

The VERBAL here (BDB 317 I, KB 316, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) normally means "to be sick" or "to be weak," but here it follows the rare meaning in Amos 6:6 of "indifference" or "apathy."

The MT has the VERBAL (BDB 70, KB 83, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) which means "lie in wait." Apparently David returning to Judah (i.e., "the forest of Hereth") was interpreted by Saul as an ambush (v. 11).

1. lie in wait ‒ ארב
2. enemy (LXX) ‒ איב

22:9-10 This is Doeg's report in light of Saul's charge in v. 8 (see traditional introduction to Psalm 52).

1. the son of Jesse came to Nob to visit the priest
2. the priest
   1. inquired of the Lord for him (i.e., used the ephod, Urim and Thummim)
   2. gave him provisions
   3. gave him Goliath's sword

SPECIAL TOPIC: URIM AND THUMMIM

The position of Doeg among Saul's courtiers goes back to 1 Sam. 21:7. See full note there. Josephus, Antiq. 6.12.40, follows the LXX, "Doeg, the Syrian, who fed his mules."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:11-13
  ¹¹Then the king sent someone to summon Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's household, the priests who were in Nob; and all of them came to the king. ¹²Saul said, "Listen now, son of Ahitub." And he answered, "Here I am, my lord." ¹³Saul then said to him, "Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me, in that you have given him bread and a sword and have inquired of God for him, so that he would rise up against me by lying in ambush as it is this day?"

22:11-15 Saul summons the priests serving at Nob to his court to accuse them of aiding David's rebellion.

Notice how Ahimelech answers Saul.

1. Who is more faithful to you than David?
2. He is your son-in-law.
3. He is captain of your guard.
4. He is honored in your house.
5. I have inquired for him just this once (v. 15, RSV, NEB; Josephus, Antiq. 6.12.5 says "Nor is this the first time that I prophesied for him, but I have done it often, at other times, as well as now"; TEV)
6. I know nothing of David's rebellion (v. 15).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:14-19
  ¹⁴Then Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, even the king's son-in-law, who is captain over your guard, and is honored in your house? ¹⁵Did I just begin to inquire of God for him today? Far be it from me! Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all of this whole affair." ¹⁶But the king said, "You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father's household!" ¹⁷And the king said to the guards who were attending him, "Turn around and put the priests of the Lord to death, because their hand also is with David and because they knew that he was fleeing and did not reveal it to me." But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hands to attack the priests of the Lordd. ¹⁸Then the king said to Doeg, "You turn around and attack the priests." And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. ¹⁹And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword.

22:16 "You shall surely die" This is an intensified grammatical form (i.e., an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and IMPERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 559, KB 562, Qal).

This could be a fulfilment of YHWH's message to Eli about his descendants (cf. 1 Sam. 2:27-36; Josephus, Antiq. 6.12.6). Saul, for inappropriate reasons, is used to bring the prophecy to pass.

The final act of rejection was done by Solomon in 1 Kgs. 2:22-27.

The MT has the PARTICIPLE (BDB 930, KB 1207, Qal ACTIVE) from the VERB "to run." They may have been those chosen to take messages or those chosen to serve. See full note at 1 Sam. 21:7; about Doeg.

▣ Saul gives two commands to those surrounding him at court.

1. turn about ‒ lit. "surround," BDB 685, KB 738, Qal IMPERATIVE
2. put to death ‒ BDB 559, KB 562, Hiphil IMPERATIVE

These servants were not willing to "attack" the priests. The VERB (BDB 803, KB 910, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) literally means "encounter" with hostility (cf. Josh. 2:16; Jdgs. 8:21; 15:12; 18:25; 1 Sam. 22:15,18). They had respect (awe, fear) for YHWH's consecrated priests, but not Doeg (vv. 18-19).

22:18 "eighty-five men" Josephus, Antiq. 6.12.6, says he and his wicked men killed 385 men.

1. The LXX gives the number as 305 men.
2. Some LXX MSS and Old Latin MSS have 350.
3. The MT has 85.

▣ "the linen ephod" This was the special dress of Levitical priests.

SPECIAL TOPIC: LINEN

SPECIAL TOPIC: EPHOD

SPECIAL TOPIC: LEVITICAL PRIESTS

22:19 This total destruction is an aspect of holy war (i.e., if it breathes, it dies). One wonders if Saul thought rebellion against him was an act against YHWH. Many terrible things are done in the name of God.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 22:20-23
  ²⁰But one son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. ²¹Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²²Then David said to Abiathar, "I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have brought about the death of every person in your father's household. ²³Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life, for you are safe with me."

22:20-23 Only one priest survived, Abiathar, who was left to guard the tabernacle. He is the last descendant of Eli. He will serve along with Zadok as High Priests during David's reign.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Who were the people of v. 2 who came to David?
2. Why did Moab welcome David and his parents in light of 1 Sam. 12:9; 14:47?
3. Why did YHWH tell David to return to Judah (v. 5)?
4. Why did Saul reject Ahimelech's good answers to his charges?
5. Is 1 Sam. 22:18-19 holy war?

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