1 Samuel 23:24

DIVINE INTERVENTION SAVES DAVID FROM CAPTURE

"Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told; therefore he went down to the rock which is in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain; and David was making haste to get away from Saul, as Saul and his men were closing in on David to capture them, when a messenger came to Saul, saying, "Make haste and come; for the Philistines have made a raid upon the land." So Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there, and dwelt in the strongholds of Engedi."

The place names of this passage are of significant interest.

"The Arabah" (1 Samuel 23:24b). This was the name of that great geological rift that includes the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan river and the Dead Sea. Biblical mention of it sometimes refers to the northern part of that great valley and sometimes to the southern part. "The Dead Sea is called, "The Sea of the Arabah."[19] The Arabah ended in the Gulf of Aqabah. The Arabah here is in the vicinity of the Dead Sea.

"The wilderness of Maon" (1 Samuel 23:25). "Maon is a city in the hill country of Judah, and the home of Nabal the wealthy flock master. The site is now called El Ma'in, eight miles south of Hebron."[20]

"Jeshimon" (1 Samuel 23:24b). "There were two places called Jeshimon, (1) a barren place northeast of the Dead Sea, and (2) a place north of the hill Hachilah in the wilderness of Maon."[21] It is the second of these that is referred to here.

One of David's most urgent problems was that of feeding his little army of some six hundred men. This was the urgent problem lying back of the many raids that David and his men conducted against the Philistines. Also, it is evident that he protected some of the border cities against Philistine raids and required of them contributions of food and money.

"A messenger came to Saul ... Make haste and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land" (1 Samuel 23:27). "Providence gave Saul a diversion."[22] It is generally agreed among scholars that without that providential intervention David would almost certainly have been captured. It is interesting to speculate on just what part of Israel the Philistines had attacked. Saul paid no attention whatever when Keilah was attacked; why his haste to leave on this occasion? As Henry suggested, "It was probably that part of Israel where Saul's own estates were located."[23] If this had not been the case, it is difficult to believe that Saul, otherwise, would have interrupted his pursuit of David.

"That place was called the Rock of Escape" (1 Samuel 23:28). This was that rock in the wilderness of Maon (1 Samuel 23:25). There is some uncertainty about the name given to it. The Hebrew name is, "Sela-hammah-lekoth, Rock of Smoothness (in the sense of slipping away, or escaping)."[24] Matthew Henry thought that the name meant, "The Rock of Division, because it divided between Saul and David ... This mountain (the rock) was an emblem of the Divine Providence coming between David and the destroyer."[25]

"The strongholds of Engedi" (1 Samuel 23:29). In the terrain overlooking the Dead Sea, there is a freshwater spring, a marvelous oasis in the midst of some of the most desolate country on earth. In ancient times, there were groves of date palm trees here, making it, "An ideal place for an outlaw for food and for a hiding place."[26] With such a safe hiding place, David would wait, as he said, until he would see "what God would do" for him (1 Samuel 22:3).