Study notes

1 Samuel 22

Introducing 1 SamuelWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

18:1–23:29 Section

Saul’s family members loved David. Jonathan made a covenant of friendship with David that would last for ever. Jonathan accepted that God chose David to be Israel’s next king. He wanted to support David when David was king. He protected David from Saul many times.

Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David. As David’s wife, she was willing to lie to her father to protect David. David had more and more success as an officer in Saul’s army. But Saul was controlled more and more by fear and jealousy. He refused to accept that God had chosen David to be king.

Instead of turning back to God, Saul tried over and over to kill David. First he sent David into battles hoping that he would be killed while fighting. Then Saul tried to kill Jonathan for protecting David. After that, David ran away from Saul. Saul had an entire town of priests killed because Ahimelek helped David. This showed that Saul had no respect for people who were anointed to serve God.

Many soldiers and their families joined David when he ran away from Saul. So did Abiathar the priest. But many other Israelites were willing to hand David over to Saul. Even so, David and his men still rescued the Israelites from the Philistines.

22:1

  • Adullam was about 25.8 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, near Philistine land.

  • If David's brothers and other relatives had stayed in Bethlehem, Saul could have easily targeted them for revenge.

22:1–23

Saul’s character is clear here. He could not take revenge on David himself. Instead, Saul killed those he believed had helped David.

22:2

distressed … indebted … discontented: The people who gathered around David were distressed, poor, and unhappy. By drawing such people to himself, David pointed ahead to Jesus, who would later welcome people who were hurting, burdened, and pushed to the edges of society (Matthew 11:25–30).

22:3–4

  • Mizpeh in Moab was east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. It was a difficult journey from Adullam, especially if David's 400 men traveled with him (1 Samuel 22:2).

  • they stayed with him: Jesse's grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite (Ruth 4:13–22).

22:5

The prophet Gad was David’s special adviser (2 Samuel 24:11). God had stopped communicating with Saul and was now guiding David.

22:7–8

men of Benjamin: Saul was suspicious of his own tribesmen. He believed David had paid them to be loyal to him. Worse, Saul did not even trust his own son. He believed his son was part of the supposed conspiracy.

22:13

David had deceived Ahimelech into thinking he was on a mission from Saul (1 Samuel 21:1–9). Because of this, Saul’s accusations of conspiracy had no basis.

22:18

  • Doeg the Edomite … struck down the priests: Doeg was not an Israelite, so he did not respect the holiness of priests chosen by God. He knew the priests were innocent, yet he still killed them. In this way, Doeg partly fulfilled God’s earlier judgment against the priestly family of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:27–34 and 1 Kings 2:27).

  • men who wore the linen ephod: This incident shows how irrational Saul had become. Not even those in sacred office were safe.

22:19

Saul had been unwilling to carry out God’s orders to destroy completely the Amalekites and their possessions (1 Samuel 15:3, 9). Yet now, in his rage, he did not hesitate to destroy the priests' families and their possessions (see Proverbs 14:29; 16:14; 27:4).

Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources