1 Samuel 28

1. And Achish said, etc. David’s false step in going to Achish now brought him into serious difficulty; so that if God had not interfered on his behalf, he must either have fought against his own sovereign and people, or have made an ungrateful return to the Philistine king, who placed implicit confidence in him, offering to make him commander of his body-guard.

3. Saul had put away, etc. This had probably been done in Saul’s better days, under the guidance of Samuel; according to the Divine command in Lev. xx. 27, and Deut. xviii. 10, 11. It seems to be mentioned here as showing Saul’s wickedness and desperation in having recourse to such a person (7).

4. Shunem. Probably the place now called Solam. The Philistines encamped on the hill called, in later times, “Little Hermon,” on the north side of the deep valley which runs down from the plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon) to Beth-shan and the Jordan; whilst Saul’s army occupied the hills of Gilboa, on the south of the valley. In an address by Kitchener (afterwards Lord Kitchener of Khartoum) to the British Association in 1878, he said: “Looking down upon the broad plain of Esdraelon stretched out from our feet, it is impossible not to remember that it is the greatest battle-field of the world, from the days of Joshua, and the defeat of the mighty host of Sisera, till, almost in our own days, Napoleon the Great fought the battle of Mount Tabor, and here also is the ancient Megiddo, where the last great battle of Armageddon is to be fought.”

6 by Urim. See Exod. xxviii. 30, and note.

7 a woman that hath a familiar spirit. It is evident, from this narrative, that such persons pretended to have intercourse with the dead.

En-dor. There is still a village named Endor, about four miles south of Mount Tabor, and not far from Shunem and Nain.

13. I saw gods. “A god” (R.V.).

14. Samuel. Heb., “Samuel he,” or “himself.” Whatever form the vision or apparition took, it is clear that the woman had no power to “bring up” Samuel. She was astonished and frightened at his appearance. Nor is there any proof that substantiates the claims of the Spiritist media of to-day. The reader may be recommended to study Isa. viii. 19, Browning’s Sludge the Medium, the Report of the Seybert Commission, Coulson Kernahan’s Black Objects, and Dr. R. C. Gillie’s booklet on Spiritualism.

16 is become thine enemy. “Is become thine adversary” (R.V.). The LXX has, “and is with thy neighbour,” or “rival.” This agrees with ver. 17, and with xv. 28, but is not necessary.

17 hath done to him. Or, “hath done to you” (Moffatt).

19 with me.

1. Aphek. Not the Aphek in Judah, but in Issachar, in or near the plain of Jezreel.

by a fountain. Rather, “by the fountain”; now called Ain Jalât, a very large fountain near Mount Gilboa: see Robinson, Biblical Res., vol. iii. pp. 167, etc.

6. Achish called David. The generous confidence of this noble-minded king, and especially his appeal to the Eternal, are worthy of particular notice.

9 the princes of the Philistines. That is, the chiefs of the other Philistine cities; for Achish was lord of Gath only, though he seems to have been commander-in-chief of the army.

10 depart. Thus, by God’s merciful providence, David was not only kept from either fighting against his country or being false to his trust, but returned opportunely to rescue his wives and children, and those of his followers.

1. Ziklag. David’s force received an important increase at this time; and a greater number soon afterwards joined him: see 1 Chron. xii. 20-22.

the south. The strength of the country having been drawn towards Jezreel, the Amalekites took the opportunity of invading the defenceless south or Negeb.

2 slew not any. They spared them, not from considerations of humanity, but as slaves. All the males capable of bearing arms were absent.

6 grieved. Or, “embittered,” “exasperated.”

encouraged (“strengthened,” R.V.) himself in the Lord his God. He called to mind the providence and the promises of God. The “encouragements” of David are expressed in such Psalms as the third, sixth, thirteenth, seventeenth, etc.

14. Cherethites. A tribe in the extreme south-west of Palestine, closely allied to the Philistines. David afterwards had some of them as his guards (see 2 Sam. viii. 18).

16 eating and drinking and dancing. Supposing David and his men to be far away with the Philistine army.

20 all the flocks, etc. Not only recovering their own cattle, but taking possession of the booty of the marauders, which David reserved for the purpose mentioned in vers. 26, 31.

25 an ordinance. This law was different from that in Numb. xxxi. 27: that related to the whole people, this to the soldiers only.

6 all his men. In 1 Chron. x. 6, it is “all his house”; probably meaning all his personal attendants then with him. Ish-bosheth, the fourth son of Saul, appears to have been absent.

7 on the other side. This seems to show that the narrator of this event was one of those who escaped to the east side of the Jordan; so that Beth-shan would be to him on “the other side” of the river.

9 they cut off his head. In 1 Chron. x. 10, it is said that “they fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.”

10 house of Ashtaroth. Such a dedication was common among the ancients. This was the temple of Astarte, the Syrian Venus; ep. 2 Sam. i. 20: and Herodotus, b. i., c. 105.

10. Beth-shan. Afterwards called Scythopolis.

12 burnt them there. Probably to preserve them from further insults. This brave act of the men of Jabesh was a grateful return for Saul’s deliverance of them: see xi.

DAVID as king is the central figure of this book, which covers his whole reign of forty years. After seven years in Hebron, he transferred the seat of government to Jerusalem (v. 5-9), whither he brought the ark (vi. 1-15). Then came years of war (viii.-x.), and David’s great sin, with his subsequent repentance and Divine forgiveness (xi.-xii. 13). The revolt of Absalom is a sad record of

a son’s ingratitude, disobedience, vanity and dishonour (xiv.-xix.). There are further wars with the Philistines (xxi.), and the Book closes with David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving and “last words” (xxii., xxiii.), the deeds of his heroes, and the incident of the census, which may belong to an earlier period in his life.