A´chish (called Abimelech in the title of Psalms 34), the Philistine king of Gath, with whom David twice sought refuge when he fled from Saul (1 Samuel 21:10-15; 1 Samuel 27:1-3). The first time David was in imminent danger; for he was recognized and spoken of by the officers of the court as one whose glory had been won at the cost of the Philistines. This talk filled David with such alarm that he feigned himself mad when introduced to the notice of Achish, who, seeing him 'scrabbling upon the doors of the gate, and letting his spittle fall down upon his beard,' rebuked his people sharply for bringing him to his presence, asking, 'Have I need of madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?' After this David lost no time in quitting the territories of Gath. About four years after, when the character and position of David became better known, and when he was at the head of not less than 600 resolute adherents, he again repaired with his troop to King Achish, who received him in a truly royal spirit, and treated him with a generous confidence, of which David took perhaps rather more advantage than was creditable to him [DAVID].
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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