1 Samuel 27:5-12

DAVID IN POSSESSION OF ZIKLAG, 1 Samuel 27:5-12.

David was known at Gath as the conqueror of Goliath, and at one time at least, if not now, was looked upon as an aspirant to the throne of Israel. 1 Samuel 21:11. To many persons in Gath he must therefore have been an object of suspicion. Also, as Kitto well observes, “it must have been obviously difficult for him and his men to be living there among idolaters without giving or taking offence; and there was constant danger lest, with so many strong and reckless men moving about among their old enemies, some affray might arise on religions or national grounds, which might have a fatal and ruinous termination. He, therefore, at length ventured to ask the king to assign him some town in the land where he might live apart with his men; and where, as seems to be adroitly implied, they might provide for themselves, and be no longer burdensome as guests in the royal city.”