The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Samuel 27
1 David said in his heart, “I will now
perish one day by the hand of Saul. There
is nothing better for me than that I should
escape into the land of the Philistines; and
Saul will despair of me, to seek me any
more in all the borders of Israel. So I will
escape out of his hand.”
2 David arose and passed over, he and
the six hundred men who were with him,
to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 David lived with Achish at Gath, he
and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives,
Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the
Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
4 Saul was told that David had fled to
Gath, so he stopped looking for him.
5 David said to Achish, “If now I have
found favor in your eyes, let them give me
a place in one of the cities in the country,
that I may dwell there. For why should
your servant dwell in the royal city with
you?”
6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day:
therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of
Judah to this day.
7 The number of the days that David
lived in the country of the Philistines was
a full year and four months.
8 David and his men went up and
raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the
Amalekites; for those were the inhabitants
of the land who were of old, on the way to
Shur, even to the land of Egypt.
9 David struck the land, and saved no
man or woman alive, and took away the
sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels,
and the clothing. Then he returned, and
came to Achish.
10 Achish said, “Against whom have you
made a raid today?”
David said, “Against the South of Judah,
against the South ofthe Jerahmeelites, and
against the South of the Kenites.”
11 David saved neither man nor woman
alive to bring them to Gath, saying, “Lest
they should tell about us, saying, ‘David
did this, and this has been his way all the
time he has lived in the country of the
Philistines.’
12 Achish believed David, saying, “He has
made his people Israel utterly to abhor
him. Therefore he will be my servant
forever.”