Study notes

1 Samuel 27

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

27:1–12

David fled to the Philistines to get away from Saul for good. Rather than killing Saul, David chose the dangerous life of a fugitive.

David and his men weren’t safe in Israel. A Philistine king gave them a town to live in. It was very hard for David not to live among the Israelites. Not being allowed to live in Israel was one of the covenant curses. Yet David was always faithful to God and worshipped only God.

Then the Amalekites destroyed David’s town. They captured David’s families’ and the families of his men. David and his soldiers were very sad and bitter about this. God helped them to get their families and belongings back. That happened while the Philistines went to attack the Israelites.

Saul was very afraid of the Philistine army. He tried to receive advice from God through dreams, prophets and casting lots. But he had refused to believe the words God had already told him through Samuel. Then he asked for help from a woman who was a medium. This means that she talked to spirits. She talked to the spiritual part of people whose bodies had died.

Samuel’s spirit told Saul the same things Samuel had told Saul before. Saul’s family line would no longer rule as kings. Saul, Jonathan and two of Saul’s other sons died in the battle against the Philistines. David was far away and wasn’t guilty of Saul’s death. After Saul died, the people of Jabesh Gilead honoured his body. They were the people Saul had rescued in his first battle as king.

27:2

This was David’s second stay with Achish, the Philistine king (see 1 Samuel 21:10–15). On both occasions, David lied to him (see 1 Samuel 27:10).

27:6

Ziklag was about 35.4 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of Gath.
still belongs to the kings of Judah: This note was written after Solomon’s death in 931 BC and before the beginning of the Babylonian exile in 586 BC.

27:8

the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites: These groups lived on the edges of the southern desert and caused problems for both the Philistines and Israelites. (For more on the Amalekites, see 1 Samuel 14:48; 15; for more on the Geshurites, see Joshua 13:2, 13; 2 Samuel 3:3.)
Shur was somewhere east of Egypt (1 Samuel 15:7; Genesis 16:7; 20:1; 25:18).

27:9

he did not leave a man or woman alive: At least some of these people were among those whom God had commanded Israel to destroy (see 1 Samuel 15:3; 28:18; Deuteronomy 25:17–19; Joshua 13:13).

27:10

David misled Achish by claiming his attacks were against his own people of Judah and two other related groups. The text neither praises nor criticizes David for lying to the foreign king.
The Jerahmeelites were a Semitic tribe (an ancient people group from the Middle East who shared related languages and customs) living in southern Judah (see 1 Chronicles 2:9, 25–27, 33, 42).
Kenites: The father-in-law of Moses was a Kenite (see Judges 1:16; 4:11; see also study note on 1 Samuel 15:6).