1 Samuel 23:7-8

It was well nigh a hopeless matter to hunt David as long as he remained on the borders of the desert of Judah, but once shut up in a town his capture was inevitable. When Saul, therefore, heard that David was at Keilah, he said, God hath delivered him into my hand . The Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate translate in the same way, probably as the nearest equivalent to the Hebrew, while the Septuagint has a different reading— sold . The Hebrew phrase is a very strong one; literally, "God hath ignored him," hath treated him as a stranger, and so let, him fall "into my hand." Possibly Saul s metaphor was taken from the popular language, and no attempt should be made to get rid of unusual expressions, as if they were false readings. By entering into a town that hath gates and bars. Either the people of a walled town would give up David rather than expose themselves to the horrors of a siege ( 2 Samuel 20:21 , 2 Samuel 20:22 ), or, if they stood by him, its capture would be a mere matter of time. David, it seems, would have run the risk, but happily was prevented.