✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

1 Samuel 23

ARC · Chapter 23/31

1E foi annunciado a David, dizendo: Eis que os philisteos pelejam contra Keila, e saqueiam as eiras.

2E consultou David ao Senhor, dizendo: Irei eu, e ferirei a estes philisteos? E disse o Senhor a David: Vae, e ferirás aos philisteos, e livrarás a Keila.

3Porém os homens de David lhe disseram: Eis que tememos aqui em Judah, quanto mais indo a Keila contra os esquadrões dos philisteos.

4Então David tornou a consultar ao Senhor, e o Senhor lhe respondeu, e disse: Levanta-te, desce a Keila, porque te dou os philisteos na tua mão.

5Então David partiu com os seus homens a Keila, e pelejou contra os philisteos, e levou os gados, e fez grande estrago entre elles: e David livrou os moradores de Keila.

6E succedeu que, quando Abiathar, filho de Achimelech, fugiu para David, a Keila, desceu com o ephod na mão.

7E foi annunciado a Saul que David era vindo a Keila, e disse Saul: Deus o entregou nas minhas mãos, pois está encerrado, entrando n'uma cidade de portas e ferrolhos.

8Então Saul mandou chamar a todo o povo á peleja, para que descessem a Keila, para cercar a David e os seus homens.

9Sabendo pois David, que Saul maquinava este mal contra elle, disse a Abiathar, sacerdote: Traze aqui o ephod.

10E disse David: Ó Senhor, Deus de Israel, teu servo decerto tem ouvido que Saul procura vir a Keila, para destruir a cidade por causa de mim.

11Entregar-me-hão os cidadãos de Keila na sua mão? descerá Saul, como o teu servo tem ouvido? ah Senhor Deus d'Israel! fal-o saber ao teu servo. E disse o Senhor: Descerá.

12Disse mais David: Entregar-me-hiam os cidadãos de Keila, a mim e aos meus homens, nas mãos de Saul? E disse o Senhor: Entregariam.

13Então se levantou David com os seus homens, uns seiscentos, e sairam de Keila, e foram-se aonde poderam: e sendo annunciado a Saul, que David escapara de Keila, cessou de sair contra elle.

14E David permaneceu no deserto, nos logares fortes, e ficou em um monte no deserto de Ziph: e Saul o buscava todos os dias, porém Deus não o entregou na sua mão.

15Vendo pois David, que Saul sairá á busca da sua vida, David esteve no deserto de Ziph, n'um bosque.

16Então se levantou Jonathan, filho de Saul, e foi para David ao bosque, e confortou a sua mão em Deus;

17E disse-lhe: Não temas, que não te achará a mão de Saul, meu pae, porém tu reinarás sobre Israel, e eu serei comtigo o segundo: o que tambem Saul meu pae, bem sabe.

18E ambos fizeram alliança perante o Senhor: David ficou no bosque, e Jonathan voltou para a sua casa.

19Então subiram os zipheos a Saul, a Gibeah, dizendo: Não se escondeu David entre nós, nos logares fortes no bosque, no outeiro de Hachila, que está á mão direita de Jesimon?

20Agora pois, ó rei, apressadamente desce conforme a todo o desejo da tua alma; por nós fica entregar-mol-o nas mãos do rei.

21Então disse Saul: Bemditos sejaes vós do Senhor, porque vos compadecestes de mim.

22Ide pois, e diligenciae ainda mais, e sabei e notae o logar que frequenta, e quem o tenha visto ali; porque me foi dito que é astutissimo.

23Pelo que attentae bem, e informae-vos ácerca de todos os esconderijos, em que elle se esconde; e então voltae para mim com toda a certeza, e ir-me-hei comvosco; e ha de ser que, se estiver n'aquella terra, o buscarei entre todos os milhares de Judah.

24Então se levantaram elles, e se foram a Ziph, diante de Saul: David porém e os seus homens estavam no deserto de Maon, na campanha, á direita de Jesimon.

25E Saul e os seus homens se foram em busca d'elle; o que annunciaram a David, e desceu para aquella penha, e ficou no deserto de Maon: o que ouvindo Saul, seguiu a David para o deserto de Maon.

26E Saul ia d'esta banda do monte, e David e os seus homens da outra banda do monte: e succedeu que David se apressou a escapar de Saul; Saul porém e os seus homens cercaram a David e aos seus homens, para lançar mão d'elles.

27Então veiu um mensageiro a Saul, dizendo: Apressa-te, e vem, porque os philisteos com impeto entraram na terra.

28Pelo que Saul voltou de perseguir a David, e foi-se ao encontro dos philisteos: por esta razão aquelle logar se chamou Sela-hammahlecoth.

29E subiu David d'ali, e ficou nos logares fortes de Engedi.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David delivers the city of Keilah from the Philistines, but must flee when Saul plans to besiege him there. Jonathan visits him and encourages him one last time. Saul nearly captures David in the wilderness of Maon, but is interrupted by a Philistine raid.

Explanation

Even as a hunted fugitive, David continues to act for Israel's good, delivering Keilah from the Philistine attack before learning that this same city might betray him into Saul's hands — showing a character that prioritizes the collective good even amid his own personal suffering. The repeated use of the ephod to inquire of God directly about strategic decisions (whether to attack, whether he would be betrayed) demonstrates how David, unlike Saul who had already lost access to divine guidance, kept an open line of communication with God for every critical decision. The almost comic last-minute intervention of a Philistine raid, which forces Saul to abandon the pursuit at the exact moment he was about to capture David, is seen — through the very name given to the place ('Sela-hammahlekoth,' or 'the rock of divisions') — as literal divine providence separating the two adversaries at just the right moment.

Fun facts

  • Jonathan's visit to David 'in the wood' (v.16) is the last recorded meeting between the two friends before Jonathan's death, making his final words of encouragement especially meaningful in hindsight.
  • The place name 'Sela-hammahlekoth' (rock of divisions, or of escapes) preserves within Israel's own geography the memory of this dramatic, almost miraculous moment of escape.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 23:1Threshing floors, where freshly harvested grain was processed, were valuable raiding targets — the Philistines struck right at harvest time, when there was the most to steal.
  2. 1 Samuel 23:2Unlike the constant flight of the previous chapters, here David acts like a liberator who consults God before moving — a pattern of leadership that foreshadows his future role as king.
  3. 1 Samuel 23:3David’s own followers hesitate, worried about the risk of attacking an organized army while they are still fugitives being hunted by Saul.
  4. 1 Samuel 23:4David seeks a second confirmation from God before acting, respecting his men’s reasonable hesitation instead of simply forcing the decision on them.
  5. 1 Samuel 23:5The concrete victory confirms God’s promise and vindicates David’s confidence in the face of his own men’s initial reluctance.
  6. 1 Samuel 23:6The ephod brought by Abiathar becomes, from here on, the tool David repeatedly uses to consult God — a practical continuation of the priesthood that survived the massacre at Nob.
  7. 1 Samuel 23:7Saul wrongly reads David’s presence in a walled city as a trap working in his own favor, not knowing that God will reveal to David the townspeople’s true intentions.
  8. 1 Samuel 23:8Mobilizing the whole army to capture a single man shows Saul’s growing obsession — he now treated hunting David as a national military priority.
  9. 1 Samuel 23:9Consulting the ephod was a way of asking God a yes-or-no question, probably using the Urim and Thummim kept inside it — David uses this method repeatedly to decide whether to stay in or flee Keilah.
  10. 1 Samuel 23:10David recognizes the danger his own presence poses to the people of Keilah, whom he had just saved from the Philistines — the liberated city now risks destruction for sheltering him.
  11. 1 Samuel 23:11David asks two specific questions and gets direct answers — a rare biblical example of such a clear, straightforward dialogue with God through the ephod.
  12. 1 Samuel 23:12God’s answer reveals a painful ingratitude: the very people David had just freed from the Philistines would hand him over without hesitation to save themselves from Saul.
  13. 1 Samuel 23:13David’s following has already grown from four hundred men in chapter 22 to six hundred — his band, fugitive as it was, kept drawing more men willing to follow him.
  14. 1 Samuel 23:14The line “but God delivered him not into his hand” sums up the whole chase: Saul searches tirelessly, but every attempt is thwarted by circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
  15. 1 Samuel 23:15The constant change of hiding places, from region to region, shows how David’s fugitive life had already become an exhausting routine of permanent vigilance.
  16. 1 Samuel 23:16This is the last recorded meeting between the two friends before Jonathan’s death — a gesture of emotional and spiritual support at the hardest hour of David’s flight.
  17. 1 Samuel 23:17Jonathan openly reaffirms, once more, that he accepts David’s future kingship without jealousy — and reveals that even Saul, on some level, already knew the same thing.
  18. 1 Samuel 23:18This is the last formal covenant renewed between the two — after this meeting, Jonathan’s and David’s paths do not cross again before the prince’s death.
  19. 1 Samuel 23:19The Ziphites, from David’s own tribe of Judah, hand his location over to Saul — proof that not everyone from David’s homeland was on his side; shelter among fellow tribesmen was no guarantee of loyalty.
  20. 1 Samuel 23:20The Ziphites actively offer to hand David over, going beyond simply reporting his location — a betrayal likely driven by fear or by the desire to please the king.
  21. 1 Samuel 23:21Saul’s gratitude to the Ziphites, even invoking God’s blessing on their betrayal, shows how much he had already fused his personal vendetta against David with a supposed cause of God’s.
  22. 1 Samuel 23:22Saul openly acknowledges David’s cunning at repeatedly escaping — an involuntary respect for the very enemy he is trying to capture.
  23. 1 Samuel 23:23Saul’s willingness to search out “all the thousands of Judah” shows the obsessive scale of the hunt — he was ready to mobilize enormous resources just to capture one man.
  24. 1 Samuel 23:24The specific mention of David’s location in Maon sets up the nearly successful chase that unfolds through the rest of the chapter.
  25. 1 Samuel 23:25With every move David makes to hide better, word reaches Saul fast — the informant network against David kept working even while he was among allies.
  26. 1 Samuel 23:26This is the most dangerous moment of the entire chase: David is literally surrounded, and only an outside interruption, described in the next verse, prevents his capture.
  27. 1 Samuel 23:27The Philistine invasion arrives at the exact moment Saul was about to capture David — a dramatic relief the narrative credits to providence, not luck.
  28. 1 Samuel 23:28The place name, meaning “rock of escape” or “rock of parting,” was permanently recorded as a reminder of just how close David came to being captured there.
  29. 1 Samuel 23:29En-gedi, a fertile oasis near the Dead Sea full of natural caves, offered both water and ideal hiding places — the perfect setting for the next chapter’s confrontation.

Chapters

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play