067. XLV. David’s Life As An Outlaw

§ XLV. DAVID’S LIFE AS AN OUTLAW 1 Samuel 23, 26, 26

1. Disclosure of David’s hiding place to Saul. Now when David was told, The Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors, David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go, attack the Philistines, and save Keilah. But David’s men said to him, Behold we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines. Then David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him, saying, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand. So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines and drove away their cattle and slew a great many of them. Thus David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah. Now when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with the ephod in his hand. And when it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, God has sold him into my hand; for he has entrapped himself in entering into a town that has doors and bars.

2. David’s escape. And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. And when David knew that Saul was devising evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring here the ephod. And David said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath surely heard that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah, to destroy the city because of me. Will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Jehovah, God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down. Then David said, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and wandered hither and thither. And when it was reported to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he abandoned his expedition. So David dwelt in the wilderness in the strongholds and remained in the hill-country in the Wilderness of Ziph.

3. Saul’s pursuit of David. Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, Is not David hiding in the hill of Hachilah, which is east of the desert? Accordingly Saul arose, and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is east of the desert on the way. But David remained in the wilderness. And when he saw that Saul was following him into the wilderness, David sent out spies and learned that Saul had come from Keilah. And David arose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul, with Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army lay, and Saul lay within the barricade, and the people were encamped round about him.

4. David’s regard for Saul’s life. Then David spoke and said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with you. So David and Abishai came to the people by night; and Saul was lying there asleep within the barricade, with his spear stuck into the earth at his head, with Abner and the people lying round about him. Then Abishai said to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand to-day. Now therefore let me smite him with his spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not need to smite him twice! But David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can lay his hand upon Jehovah’s anointed and be innocent? And David said, As Jehovah liveth, either Jehovah shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down into battle and be destroyed. Jehovah forbid that I should put forth my hand against Jehovah’s anointed; but now take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water and let us go. So David took the spear and the jug of water from Saul’s head and they departed. And no man saw it or knew it, neither did any awake, for they were all asleep because a deep sleep from Jehovah had fallen upon them.

5. His words to Saul. Then David went over to the other side and stood on the top of a mountain at a distance, a great space being between them. And David cried to the people and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying, Do you make no answer Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who are you that calls? And David said to Abner, Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept guard over your lord the king? For one of the people came to destroy your lord. This that you have done is not good. As Jehovah liveth, you are deserving of death, because you have not kept watch over your lord, Jehovah’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and his jug of water that was at his head.

6. Saul’s reply. Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, Is this your voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king. And he said, Why is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or of what kind of evil have I been guilty? Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If Jehovah hath stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering; but if they be men, cursed be they before Jehovah, for they have driven me out to-day, so that I have no part in the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, ‘Go serve other gods.’ Now therefore, may my blood not fall to the earth far away from the presence of Jehovah, for the king of Israel has come out to seek my life, as one hunts a partridge on the mountains. Then Saul said, I have done wrong; return, my son David, for I will do you no more harm, because my life was regarded as sacred by you to-day. I have acted foolishly and have erred exceedingly. And David answered and said, There is the king’s spear! Let one of the young men come over and take it. And Jehovah will reward each man’s righteousness and fidelity; for Jehovah delivered you into my hand to-day, but I would not raise my hand against Jehovah’s anointed. And just as your life was to-day of great value in my sight, so may my life be of great value in Jehovah’s sight, and let him deliver me out of all affliction. Then Saul said to David, Be blessed, my son David; you shall do great things and shall surely succeed! So David went his way, but Saul returned to his place.

7. Nabal the Calebite. Then David arose and went into the wilderness of Maon. And there was a man in Maon, whose business was in Carmel. And the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the man’s name was Nabal; and his wife’s name was Abigail; and the woman was sensible and comely, but the man was rough and ill-mannered; and he was a Calebite.

8. David’s message to him. And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. And David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel and enter Nabal’s house and greet him in my name; and you shall say to him and to his clan, ‘Peace be to you and your house and all that you have. And now I have heard that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not jeer at them, and nothing of theirs was missing all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young men and they will tell you. Therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on a feast day. Give, therefore, whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’ And when David’s young men came, they spoke to Nabal in the name of David and waited as directed.

9. Nabal’s insulting reply. Then Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? Many are the slaves these days who break away, each from his master! Should I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slain for my shearers, and give it to men of whom I know not whence they are? So David’s young men turned back on their way, and came and reported all these words to him. And David said to his men, Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on each man his sword. And David also girded on his sword; and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred remained with the baggage.

10. Abigail’s prompt action. But one of the young men had told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, David has just sent messengers from the wilderness to salute our master, and he railed at them. But the men have been very good to us and we have not been jeered at nor have we missed anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall about us both by night and by day all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what you will do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his house, for he is such a base scoundrel that no one can speak to him. Then Abigail quickly took two hundred loaves of bread and two skins of wine and five roasted sheep and three and a third bushels of parched grain and a hundred bunches of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs and laid them on asses. And she said to her young men, Go on before me; see, I am coming after you. But she said nothing about it to her husband Nabal. And just as she was riding on the ass and coming down under cover of the mountain, David and his men were also coming down toward her, so that she met them. Now David had said, Surely for nothing did I guard all that belongs to this fellow in the wilderness, so that nothing of all that belongs to him was missing, for he has returned me evil for good. God do whatever he will to David, if I leave by daybreak of all who belong to him as much as a single man.

11. Her wise counsel to David. And when Abigail saw David, she alighted quickly from her ass and fell on her face before David and bowed to the ground. And she fell at his feet and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the guilt. Only let your maid-servant speak in your ears, and heed the words of your maid-servant. Let not my lord pay any attention to that base scoundrel, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he; Reckless Fool is his name and folly is his master; but your maid-servant saw not the young men of my lord, whom you sent. Now my lord, as Jehovah liveth and as you live, since Jehovah hath kept you from committing an act of bloodshed and from delivering yourself by your own hand—and may your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal—let this present, which your maid-servant has brought to my lord, be given to the young men who follow my lord. Forgive, I pray, the trespass of your maid-servant, for Jehovah will certainly make for my lord a secure house, for my lord is fighting the wars of Jehovah, and no evil shall be found in you as long as you live. And should a man rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of Jehovah your God, but the lives of your enemies will he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling. And when Jehovah hath done to my lord all the good that he hath promised you and hath made you prince over Israel, then this shall not be a qualm or a burden on the conscience of my lord, that you have shed blood without cause or that my lord has delivered himself by his own hand. And when Jehovah shall give prosperity to my lord, then remember your maid-servant.

12. David’s grateful response. And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me, and blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you yourself, who have kept me this day from committing an act of bloodshed and from delivering myself by my own hand. For as sure as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath kept me from doing you harm, except you had quickly come to meet me, verily there would not have been left to Nabal by daybreak so much as one man. So David received from her hand that which she had brought him; and to her he said, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your advice, and granted your request.

13. Death of Nabal. But when Abigail came to Nabal, he was just having a banquet in his house, like a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk, so that she did not tell him anything at all until daybreak. But then in the morning, when the effects of the wine were gone from Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him and he became a stone. And at the end of about ten days Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.

14. David’s marriage with Abigail. Now when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah who hath avenged the case of my insult at the hand of Nabal and hath kept back his servant from evil; and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah brought back upon his own head. Thereupon David sent and wooed Abigail to take her to him to be his wife. And when the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel and said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him to be his wife, she arose and bowed with her face to the earth and said, See, your slave is willing to be a maid-servant to wash the feet of my lord’s servants. Thereupon Abigail quickly arose and mounted an ass, and five maidens followed as servants. So she accompanied the messengers of David and became his wife.

15. His other wives. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives. But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish of Gallim.

I. The Relief of Keilah. Although an exile from Saul’s court, David still maintained his loyalty to the Hebrew cause. When the news came that the Philistines were besieging Keilah, four or five miles southeast of Adullam, David at once consulted Jehovah through the oracle which Abiathar had brought with him. The nature of the ephod or oracle is unknown. Probably it was simply a contrivance by which to cast a sacred lot. The interpretation, however, belonged to the priest. A rare opportunity was thus given for this enlightened representative of Jehovah, under the protection of his sacred office and with divine authority, to counsel David and his followers at each crisis in their varying fortunes. Acting in accordance with the command thus received, David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah, and there made his home until the news of Saul’s pursuit again drove him forth into the wilderness to the southeast of Judah.

II. David’s Regard for the Life of Saul. In the rolling, rocky hill country of southern Judah, it was comparatively easy for David and his followers to elude Saul’s pursuit. He was obliged, however, always to reckon with the treachery of the neighboring tribesmen. The Ziphites attempted thus to betray him. David’s followers were, however, familiar with this territory and well aware of Saul’s approach. Two slightly variant versions of the incident have been preserved. The older gives a vivid picture of Saul sleeping soundly on the rocky ground, with his tired warriors about him, protected from the attack of wild beasts by the usual barricade with which the Hebrew army at night was surrounded. David with one of his followers crept so quietly into the camp that Saul lay all unconscious beneath the spear point of Abishai. The cruel laws of ancient warfare prompted David to give the signal which would free him from his malignant pursuer, and perhaps open the way for him to mount the throne; but a higher principle deterred him. In Saul he recognized the man, not only anointed by Samuel, but called by the needs of his age, his own personal ability and the divinely guided course of events to the leadership of his race. Many oriental rulers before and after David mounted the throne by murdering their predecessor; but David deliberately chose the longer and surer way. His act reveals that higher ethical standard which was already beginning to be recognized among Jehovah’s people. The revulsion of feeling which Saul experienced, when he learned of David’s magnanimity was perfectly consistent with his character as revealed elsewhere. For the moment his old love for David returned; but the Judean chieftain had learned not to trust his life to Saul’s changing moods, and therefore wisely kept himself aloof from the Hebrew court.

III. The Meanness of Nabal. The problem which confronted David, that of supporting his six hundred restless warriors in the thickly peopled, unproductive border-land of southern Judah, was exceedingly difficult. Occasional forays against hostile Arab tribes in part supplied their needs; but for the most part they were dependent upon the gifts of the neighboring friendly clans. From time immemorial one unwritten law of the border-land had been that the shepherds and villagers should pay the neighboring nomadic tribesmen for immunity from attack. The other well established law of hospitality required that, especially at the annual festivals, those who had possessions should share liberally with those who had not. In the code of Deuteronomy this principle is definitely expressed in the command to share the festal meal with the poor Levites and resident aliens. In demanding a liberal gift from Nabal, the wealthy Calebite, whose flocks and shepherds David’s followers had protected, David was standing squarely on the customary law of the wilderness. In repudiating his obligations Nabal defied that law; but for David to have followed the impulse of the moment and turned his sword against a friendly clan would have been suicidal to his interests.

IV. Abigail’s Wise Counsel. At this critical moment in David’s history Nabal’s wife, Abigail, a woman who possessed much personal charm and tact, came to his rescue. By her prompt action she saved him from committing a great crime. The abundant supply of provisions which she brought, incidentally reveals the different kinds of food known to the early Hebrews. Her gifts and wise counsel evidently not only placated David but won his heart. Nabal, perhaps as the result of a stroke of paralysis induced by intemperate habits and the unpalatable news which Abigail brought him, died soon after, and thus the way was opened for David’s marriage with Abigail. By his contemporaries Nabal’s sudden death was naturally regarded as a divine judgment.

V. David’s Marriages. Throughout all their history, polygamy seems to have been the exception rather than the rule among the Hebrews. The tribal chieftains and kings were almost the only ones who appear to have indulged in this pernicious oriental institution. Their object was to extend their power and influence by means of alliances with neighboring tribes and peoples. The accepted method of sealing such alliances was by intermarriage. The fact that David, even during his outlaw life, had two wives in addition to Michal—whom Saul had given to another husband—reveals the ambition which was already beginning to stir within the mind of the young Judean leader. His marriage with Abigail was apparently prompted by true love. It brought to him a sane and devoted counsellor. It also strengthened still further his position among the tribes of the South Country. Thus at every step David was increasing his hold upon the Hebrews of the south, and preparing for the moment when they should choose their own king.