David Among the Philistines

27:1 David thought to himself, “One of these days I’m going to be swept away by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me through all the territory of Israel and I will escape from his hand.” 27:2 So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. 27:3 David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families. David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. 27:4 When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him. 27:5 David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?” 27:6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) 27:7 The length of time that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year and four months. 27:8 Then David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (They had been living in that land for a long time, from the approach to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) 27:9 When David would attack a district, he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. 27:10 When Achish would ask, “Where did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jeharmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” 27:11 Neither man nor woman would David leave alive so as to bring them back to Gath. He was thinking, “This way they can’t tell on us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” Such was his practice the entire time that he lived in the country of the Philistines. 27:12 So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself, “He is really hated among his own people in Israel! From now on he will be my servant.”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

David fears Saul and flees to Philistine territory with his men and families. Saul stops searching, Achish gives David Ziklag, and David lives there for more than a year. During that time David raids nearby peoples and deceives Achish about what he is doing. The passage shows both God’s protection and the moral compromise in David’s strategy.

David does not leave because God directly told him to. He acts out of fear and pressure, thinking Philistine land will be safer than Israel. That choice does bring temporary relief: Saul stops searching, and Achish gives him Ziklag.

But David’s time there is not clean or simple. He and his men raid surrounding peoples, take goods, and then lie to Achish about where they attacked. The narrator reports these events without approving every part of David’s conduct.

The passage shows that God can preserve his servant even when the servant makes flawed and compromising choices. It also warns that fear can lead God’s people into wrong methods.

• David fears Saul and thinks escape to Philistine territory is the best option.
• David goes to Achish of Gath with his six hundred men and their households.
• Saul stops searching for David after hearing that he has fled to Gath.
• Achish gives David Ziklag, and David lives there for a year and four months.
• David raids nearby peoples in the border region and takes livestock and goods.
• David lies to Achish about where he raided.
• Achish trusts David because he thinks David has become hated in Israel.
• The passage shows God’s providence, but it does not present David’s deception as a model to copy.

• Warning: fear can push God’s people toward wrong methods.
• Warning: successful results do not make every action righteous.
• Warning: do not use David’s deception as a pattern for Christian behavior.
• Promise: the Lord can preserve his servant even in unstable and difficult places.
• Command: read this passage as history in the flow of David’s rise, not as a blanket rule for personal strategy.

God keeps David alive even when Saul seeks him and David makes flawed choices. This protects the Lord’s promise that David will become king. The passage sits in the path from Saul’s failed rule to David’s later public reign, showing that God’s plan moves forward even through danger, exile, and human weakness.

Believers should trust God more than fear-driven planning. Wise action must still be truthful and faithful. A good outcome does not excuse a bad method. This passage also reminds us that the Lord can guard his people even when life is complicated and their choices are mixed.

• Lite Commentary
• In-depth Commentary