< 1 Samuel 27 >
1 And David says to his heart, “Now I am consumed by the hand of Saul one day; there is nothing better for me than that I diligently escape to the land of the Philistines, and Saul has been despairing of me—of seeking me anymore in all the border of Israel, and I have escaped out of his hand.”
But David said to himself, “One of these days Saul is going to get me. I think I'd better run away to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up looking for me all over Israel and he won't catch me.”
2 And David rises, and passes over, he and six hundred men who [are] with him, to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath;
So David and the six hundred men with him set off, crossed the border, and went to Achish, son of Maoch, the king of Gath.
3 and David dwells with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, [even] David and his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail wife of Nabal the Carmelitess.
David and his men settled down with Achish in Gath. All the men had their families with them, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel, Nabal's widow.
4 And it is declared to Saul that David has fled to Gath, and he has not added to seek him anymore.
When Saul found out that David had run away to Gath, he didn't go on looking for him.
5 And David says to Achish, “Now if I have found grace in your eyes, they give a place to me in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, indeed, why does your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
David said to Achish, “Please do me a favor: assign me somewhere in one of the towns in the countryside so I can live there. I, your servant, don't really deserve to live in the royal city with you.”
6 And Achish gives Ziklag to him in that day, therefore Ziklag has been for the kings of Judah until this day.
Achish gave him Ziklag right away, and the town still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
7 And the number of the days which David has dwelt in the field of the Philistines [is one year] of days and four months;
David lived in the country of the Philistines for a year and four months.
8 and David and his men go up, and they push toward the Geshurite, and the Gerizite, and the Amalekite (for they are inhabitants of the land from of old), as you come to Shur and to the land of Egypt,
During that time David and his men were raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. These people had lived in the land as far as Shur and Egypt from ancient times.
9 and David has struck the land, and does not keep alive man and woman, and has taken sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and camels, and garments, and turns back, and comes to Achish.
When David attacked a place, he did not leave anybody alive. He took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would go back to Achish.
10 And Achish says, “To where have you pushed today?” And David says, “Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelite, and to the south of the Kenite.”
When Achish asked him, “Where have you been raiding today?” David would reply, “In the desert of Judah,” or “the desert of Jerahmeel,” or “the desert of the Kenites.”
11 David keeps alive neither man nor woman, to bring in [word] to Gath, saying, “Lest they declare [it] against us, saying, Thus David has done, and thus [is] his custom all the days that he has dwelt in the fields of the Philistines.”
David didn't leave anybody alive that could come to Gath because he thought, “They might tell on us and say, ‘David did this.’” This is what he did all the time he lived in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believes in David, saying, “He has made himself utterly abhorred among his people in Israel, and has been for a perpetual servant to me.”
Achish trusted David, and said to himself, “He's made himself so offensive to his people the Israelites that he'll have to serve me forever.”