1 Samuel 21:10

DAVID AT GATH, 1 Samuel 21:10-15.

10. Fled that day Even before that day had closed so great became his fear of being suspected and detained that he secretly fled from Nob.

For fear Rather, from the face of Saul. Mark his successive flights. First from the court of Saul to his own house, (1 Samuel 19:10;) thence to Samuel at Ramah, (18;) thence to Jonathan in the field of Gibeah, (1 Samuel 20:1;) thence to the high priest at Nob. 1 Samuel 21:1. He might well feel, at this point, that there was now no asylum for him in Israel.

Went to Achish the king of Gath On the site of Gath, see note on 1 Samuel 5:8. Achish was, perhaps, a title of royalty, applied, like Abimelech, to all the Philistine kings. It indeed seems strange that David should have fled so soon for refuge into the land of Israel’s bitterest enemy, and, with Goliath’s sword in his hand, should nevertheless have sought an asylum in Gath, lately the home of Goliath. But we must remember that several years had passed since David’s victory over the giant, and 1 Samuel 21:12 gives us to understand that David did not expect to be recognised. This account, however, of David at Gath is very brief, and the difficulty in question may be owing to our ignorance of all the circumstances of the case. Perhaps David’s coming to Gath was not intentional on his own part, but, having fled into the territory of Achish, he was seized by the servants of that king, and forcibly carried into the royal presence. This supposition is in entire accord with the particulars of this narrative, and has the sanction of the title of Psalms 56:0, which David composed on this occasion.