1 Samuel 22:1

SAUL ALIENATES GOD'S PEOPLE THROUGHOUT ISRAEL BY HIS RUTHLESS MURDER OF THE PRIESTS

God's providence was working inexorably toward the removal of Saul and the elevation of David to the throne. Key events in this chapter moved relentlessly toward that achievement. By Saul's savage murder of the priests of Nob, "He alienated the entire religious community; and conversely David gained the friendship of many."[1] After Saul's heartless butchering of the priests and his execution of the "ban" ([~cherem]) against a village within his own tribe, there could hardly have been left in all Israel a single God-fearing person who, in his heart, honored the mad, incompetent king.

DAVID ESCAPES FROM GATH TO THE CAVE OF ADULLAM

"David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men."

"The cave of Adullam" (1 Samuel 22:1). This place was near the border between Philistia and Judah where the Shephelah meets the rugged mountainous terrain of Judah, an area where there are literally hundreds of caves. "Adullam is in the valley Elah on the way down to Philistia from Hebron."[2] Some scholars dispute this; but if this location is correct, "It was about twelve and one half miles south southwest of Bethlehem."[3]

"Everyone ... in distress ... in debt ... discontented" (1 Samuel 22:2). Along with members of his family, David's supporters at this time were, in a word, every outlaw in the kingdom. And yet, it was during this period that some of his Mighty Men adhered to his cause. "These were brave and reckless persons who ripened into heroic men under the command of David during the long years of his struggle."[4]

Although there were only four hundred of these men at first, the number soon increased to six hundred (1 Samuel 23:13). A list of the names of some of David's men is given in 1 Chronicles 12.