^27:1David thought to himself,¹ “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.”

^27:2So David left and crossed over to King Achish son of Maoch of Gath accompanied by his six hundred men. ^27:3David settled with Achish in Gath, along with his men and their families.² David had with him his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. ^27:4When Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he did not mount a new search for him.

^27:5David 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?” ^27:6So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (For that reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this very day.) ^27:7The length of time³ that David lived in the Philistine countryside was a year⁴ and four months.

^27:8Then 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 approach⁵ to Shur as far as the land of Egypt.) ^27:9When David would attack a district,⁶ he would leave neither man nor woman alive. He would take sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing and would then go back to Achish. ^27:10When Achish would ask, “Where⁷ did you raid today?” David would say, “The Negev of Judah” or “The Negev of Jeharmeel” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” ^27:11Neither 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 time⁸ that he lived in the country of the Philistines. ^27:12So Achish trusted David, thinking to himself,⁹ “He is really hated¹⁰ among his own people in¹¹ Israel! From now on¹² he will be my servant.”

The Witch of Endor

^28:1In those days the Philistines gathered their troops¹ for war in order to fight Israel. Achish said to David, “You should fully understand that you and your men must go with me into the battle.”²^28:2David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard³ from now on.”⁴

^28:3Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had lamented over him and had buried him in Ramah, his hometown.⁵ In the meantime Saul had removed the mediums⁶ and magicians⁷ from the land. ^28:4The Philistines assembled; they came and camped at Shunem. Saul mustered all Israel and camped at Gilboa. ^28:5When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was absolutely terrified.⁸^28:6So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him—not by dreams nor by Urim⁹ nor by the prophets. ^28:7So Saul instructed his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium,¹⁰ so that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants replied to him, “There is a woman who is a medium in Endor.”

^28:8So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothing and left, accompanied by two of his men. They came to the woman at night and said, “Use your ritual pit to conjure up for me the one I tell you.”¹¹

^28:9But the woman said to him, “Look, you are aware of what Saul has done; he has removed¹² the mediums and magicians¹³ from the land! Why are you trapping me¹⁴ so you can put me to death?” ^28:10But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!” ^28:11The woman replied, “Who is it that I should bring up for you?” He said, “Bring up for me Samuel.”

^28:12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out loudly.¹⁵ The woman said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!” ^28:13The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What have you seen?” The woman replied to Saul, “I have seen one like a god¹⁶ coming up from the ground!” ^28:14He said to her, “What about his appearance?” She said, “An old man is coming up! He is wrapped in a robe!”

Then Saul realized it was Samuel, and he bowed his face toward the ground and kneeled down. ^28:15Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul replied, “I am terribly troubled! The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He does not answer me—not by the prophets nor by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what I should do.”

^28:16Samuel said, “Why are you asking me, now that the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy? ^28:17The Lord has done exactly as I prophesied!¹⁷ The Lord has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor David! ^28:18Since you did not obey the Lord¹⁸ and did not carry out his fierce anger against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this thing to you today. ^28:19The Lord will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines!¹⁹ Tomorrow both you and your sons will be with me.²⁰ The Lord will also hand the army²¹ of Israel over to the Philistines!”

^28:20Saul quickly fell full length on the ground and was very afraid because of Samuel’s words. He was completely drained of energy,²² not having eaten anything²³ all that day and night. ^28:21When the woman came to Saul and saw how terrified he was, she said to him, “Your servant has done what you asked.²⁴ I took my life into my own hands and did what you told me.²⁵^28:22Now it’s your turn to listen to your servant! Let me set before you a bit of bread so that you can eat. When you regain your strength, you can go on your way.”

^28:23But he refused, saying, “I won’t eat!” Both his servants and the woman urged²⁶ him to eat, so he gave in.²⁷ He got up from the ground and sat down on the bed. ^28:24Now the woman²⁸ had a well-fed calf²⁹ at her home that she quickly slaughtered. Taking some flour, she kneaded bread and baked it without leaven. ^28:25She brought it to Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they arose and left that same night.

David Is Rejected by the Philistine Leaders

^29:1The Philistines assembled all their troops¹ at Aphek, while Israel camped at the spring that is in Jezreel. ^29:2When the leaders of the Philistines were passing in review at the head of their units of hundreds and thousands,² David and his men were passing in review in the rear with Achish.

^29:3The leaders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish said to the leaders of the Philistines, “Isn’t this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me for quite some time?³ I have found no fault with him from the day of his defection until the present time!”⁴

^29:4But the leaders of the Philistines became angry with him and said⁵ to him, “Send the man back! Let him return to the place that you assigned him! Don’t let him go down with us into the battle, for he might become⁶ our adversary in the battle. What better way to please his lord than with the heads of these men?⁷^29:5Isn’t this David, of whom they sang as they danced,⁸

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands’?”

^29:6So Achish summoned David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you are an honest man, and I am glad to have you⁹ serving¹⁰ with me in the army.¹¹ I have found no fault with you from the day that you first came to me until the present time. But in the opinion¹² of the leaders, you are not reliable.¹³^29:7So turn and leave¹⁴ in peace. You must not do anything that the leaders of the Philistines consider improper!”¹⁵

^29:8But David said to Achish, “What have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day that I first came into your presence until the present time, that I shouldn’t go and fight the enemies of my lord the king?” ^29:9Achish replied to David, “I am convinced that you are as reliable¹⁶ as the angel of God! However, the leaders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us in the battle.’ ^29:10So get up early in the morning along with the servants of your lord who have come with you.¹⁷ When you get up early in the morning, as soon as it is light enough to see, leave.”¹⁸

^29:11So David and his men got up early in the morning to return¹⁹ to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David Defeats the Amalekites

^30:1On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it.¹^30:2They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest, but they did not kill anyone. They simply carried them off and went on their way.

^30:3When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned.² Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive. ^30:4Then David and the men³ who were with him wept loudly⁴ until they could weep no more.⁵^30:5David’s two wives had been taken captive—Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. ^30:6David was very upset, for the men⁶ were thinking of stoning him;⁷ each man grieved bitterly⁸ over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.

^30:7Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. ^30:8David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”

^30:9So David went, accompanied by his six hundred men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there.⁹^30:10David and four hundred men continued the pursuit, but two hundred men who were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor stayed there.

^30:11Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. ^30:12They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat. This greatly refreshed him,¹⁰ for he…

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Footnotes

1 Heb “said to his heart.”
2 Heb “a man and his house.”
3 Heb “the number of the days.”
4 Heb “days.” The plural of the word “day” is sometimes used idiomatically to refer specifically to a year. In addition to this occurrence in v. 7 see also 1 Sam 1:3, 21; 2:19; 20:6; Lev 25:29; Judg 17:10.
5 Heb “from where you come.”
6 Heb “the land.”
7 The translation follows the (ἐπι τίνα, epi tina) and (in quem) which assume אֶל מִי (’el mi, “to whom”) rather than the אַל (’al, “not”). The makes no sense here. Another possibility is that the text originally had אַן (’an, “where”), which has been distorted in the to אַל. Cf. the and the , which have “where.”
8 Heb “all the days.”
9 Heb “saying.”
10 Heb “he really stinks.” The expression is used figuratively here to describe the rejection and ostracism that David had experienced as a result of Saul’s hatred of him.
11 Many medieval Hebrew lack the preposition “in.”
12 Heb “permanently.”
1 Heb “their camps.”
2 The translation follows the (εἰς πόλεμον, eis polemon) and a Qumran מלחמה במלחמה ([m]lkhmh) bammilkhamah (“in the battle”) rather than the ’s בַמַּחֲנֶה (bammakhaneh, “in the camp”; cf. ). While the reading is not impossible here, and although admittedly it is the harder reading, the variant fits the context better. The can be explained as a scribal error caused in part by the earlier occurrence of “camp” in this verse.
3 Heb “the guardian for my head.”
4 Heb “all the days.”
5 Heb “in Ramah, even in his city.”
6 The Hebrew term translated “mediums” actually refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits (see 2 Kgs 21:6). In v. 7 the witch of Endor is called the owner of a ritual pit. See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’ÔB̲,” 86 (1967): 385–401. Here the term refers by metonymy to the owner of such a pit (see H. A. Hoffner, 1:133).
7 See Isa 8:19 for another reference to magicians who attempted to conjure up underworld spirits.
8 Heb “he was afraid, and his heart was very terrified.”
9 See the note at .
10 Heb “an owner of a ritual pit.” See the note at v. .
11 Heb “Use divination for me with the ritual pit and bring up for me the one whom I say to you.”
12 Heb “how he has cut off.”
13 See the note at v. .
14 Heb “my life.”
15 Heb “in a great voice.”
16 Heb “gods.” The modifying participle (translated “coming up”) is plural, suggesting that underworld spirits are the referent. But in the following verse Saul understands the plural word to refer to a singular being. The reference is to the spirit of Samuel.
17 Heb “just as he said by my hand.”
18 Heb “listen to the voice of the Lord.”
19 Heb “And the Lord will give also Israel along with you into the hand of the Philistines.”
20 With the exception of the Lucianic recension, the has here “and tomorrow you and your sons with you will fall.”
21 Heb “camp.”
22 Heb “also there was no strength in him.”
23 Heb “food.”
24 Heb “listened to your voice.”
25 Heb “listened to your words that you spoke to me.”
26 The translation follows many medieval Hebrew in reading וַיִּפְצְרוּ (vayyiftseru, “and they pressed”; from the root פצר, psr) rather than the ’s וַיִּפְרְצוּ (vayyifretsu, “and they broke forth”; from the root פרץ, prs).
27 Heb “he listened to their voice.”
28 Masoretic of the Hebrew Bible mark this word as the half-way point in the book of Samuel, treating 1 and 2 Samuel as a single book. Similar notations are found at the midway point for all of the books of the Hebrew Bible.
29 Heb “a calf of the stall.”
1 Heb “camps.”
2 Heb “passing by with respect to hundreds and thousands.” This apparently describes a mustering of troops for the purpose of inspection and readiness.
3 Heb “these days or these years.”
4 Heb “from the day of his falling [away] until this day.”
5 Heb “and the leaders of the Philistines said.”
6 Heb “so that he might not become.”
7 Or perhaps, “our men.” On this use of the demonstrative pronoun see 2: §143.e.
8 Heb “in dances.”
9 Heb “it is good in my eyes.” Cf. v. 7.
10 Heb “your going forth and your coming in.” The expression is a merism.
11 Heb “camp.”
12 Heb “eyes.”
13 Heb “good.”
14 Heb “go.”
15 Heb “and you must not do evil in the eyes of the leaders of the Philistines.”
16 Heb “I know that you are good in my eyes.”
17 The and a couple of Old Latin include here the following words: “and you shall go to the place that I have appointed you. Don’t place an evil thing in your heart, for you are good before me.”
18 Heb “when you get up early in the morning and you have light, go.”
19 Heb “to go in the morning to return.” With the exception of Origen and the Lucianic recension, the Old Greek tradition lacks the phrase “in the morning.” The also omits it.
1 The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
2 Heb “and David and his men came to the city, and look, it was burned with fire.”
3 Heb “people.”
4 Heb “lifted up their voice and wept.”
5 Heb “until there was no longer in them strength to weep.”
6 Heb “people.”
7 Heb “said to stone him.”
8 Heb “for bitter was the soul of all the people, each one.”
9 Heb “stood.” So also in v. 10.
10 Heb “his spirit returned to him.”