1 Samuel 23: 1 – 29
Thrown under the bus
23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand. 7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.” 13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition. 14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house. 19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.” 24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
What does it mean to throw someone under the bus? Well, for the extremely criminally minded, it may have the literal meaning of shoving a person under the carriage of a large motor vehicle. Yet given the relative prevalence of this expression (and the relative lack of such assaults), it seems safe to assume that there is a highly figurative meaning involved. No one is certain where the phrase "throw (somebody) under the bus"—meaning “to betray or sacrifice a person, particularly for the sake of one’s own advancement, or as a means of safeguarding one’s own interests”—comes from.
To throw someone under the bus is not a nice thing to do. It may be defined as “to betray or sacrifice a person, particularly for the sake of one’s own advancement, or as a means of safeguarding one’s own interests.”
The one thing I have a really hard time dealing with is when a brother or sister in Christ throws me or someone I know under the bus. I have had some evil supposedly brothers who were superior to me in the ministry throw me under the bus on numerous occasions. I have so many tread marks I can connect the lines and draw a picture from them.
What bothers me is that they seem to avoid any discipline by our Lord for doing such a thing to me. To add salt to the wound they appear to be blessed for doing such evil. After their dirty deeds they smile a demonic smile and say that I took one for the kingdom.
Today we are going to see the same thing happen to David. He hears about a city in Israel that is being attacked by the Philistines. He gathers his men and comes to their rescue. After his victory he finds out that Saul is coming to get him and his men. He asks God if the people of the city will betray him? The Lord tells him, ‘Yes, they will throw you under the bus. They will return evil for the good that you have done for them.’
David and his men were now outlaws and every man’s hand was at least theoretically against them. They lived in constant fear of being hunted down and trapped by Saul’s army. We are given little detail of how they survived day to day, for although the forests would be full of game, four hundred hungry men would take a lot of feeding. But it would seem clear that David prevented his men from wreaking havoc on the people of Israel and Judah as they might so easily have done. He did not want to be a bandit chief, and he knew that these were Yahweh’s people. Thus, amidst all his trials David kept true to God, and was being prepared for what lay ahead.
Two things stand out in this passage. The first is that David acted in obedience to Yahweh. It was his constant desire to discover Yahweh’s will and do it. Perhaps he remembered the mess that he had made of things when he had acted without consulting Yahweh at Nob and at Gath. The second is the contrast between David’s act of saving Keilah and Saul’s act of destroying Nob. The saving compassion of David contrasts strongly with the vindictiveness of Saul.
23 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”
The Philistines had their eyes on Keilah’s harvests which had been gathered in and were in process of being threshed. Alternately ‘robbing the threshing-floors’ may simply signify that they were after their grain stores. The border cities of Judah would unquestionably constantly experience such raids. That was why Keilah was a fortified city. But Saul could not monitor the whole border, and by the time he had raised help the Philistines would have disappeared with their stolen goods leaving a devastated city behind. The one hope of the city, therefore, was that they could persuade David and his men, who were on the spot close by, to help them.
2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
As he now had the means to do so because Abiathar was present with the ephod which presumably contained the Urim and Thummim, David consulted Yahweh about the situation and was given the go ahead to go and fight the Philistines and save Keilah.
3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
David’s men were wary when he informed them of Yahweh’s decision. They were tired of being constantly pursued by a vengeful Saul. Surely if they upset the Philistines they could find themselves being attacked on two fronts? They preferred to melt into the background and live off what they could get and avoid trouble. Besides, they felt that the trained Philistine soldiers were too strong for them. After all they themselves were only a motley band of men.
4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
It is probable that we are now to see that David consulted the oracle publicly, so that all could be aware of the result. Yahweh would deliver the Philistines into the hands of David and his men. David then managed to persuade his men that they could do this, and benefit by it but above all he was concerned to obey YHWH.
5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
True to Yahweh’s word they proved successful, fought the Philistine raiding band, slaughtered them and captured their cattle. And at the same time, they saved Keilah. They would go back to their hide out feeling a lot better about themselves, and with much supplies as well.
When news reached Saul that David and his men had delivered Keilah from the hands of the Philistines his first thought was not of rejoicing at the deliverance of Keilah (which should have been his responsibility), but of the fact that it might give him an opportunity to capture David. However, his fear of David was so great that he determined that he must do so with a large force, so that there was no danger of David escaping. Thus, he put out the summons to all the tribes (‘all the people’) in accordance with their treaty obligations. Had he moved with his standing army he might well have been in time to encounter David before he left Keilah, but he might well also have recognized that with David’s skills in warfare the result might be far from certain. He dared not take the risk of attacking David and then being defeated. And he knew only too well what a skillful general David was.
At first reading it may appear as if the inhabitants of Keilah were pretty pathetic people. You must thank and credit the Holy Spirit for warning David of being betrayed by the people. We should recognize that the people of the city were in an impossible position. If Saul arrived with all the armies of Israel and besieged the city, demanding for David and his men to be handed over, they would have been in the no win position of either having to do so, thus betraying David but saving their city from the fate of Nob or telling Saul to go take a hike. Thus, they really would have faced a hard choice (assuming of course that David and his men allowed them that choice). Fortunately for them they were saved from having to make that choice by David removing himself and his men from their midst. In fact, David remaining there would have been good for no one, least of all for him.
6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.
As mentioned in a prior study we note that Saul in ordering the slaughter of the priesthood cut off any possible contact with Yahweh God while one priest -Abiathar – was able to flee and as a result he came to join David. He brought with him the ephod, the special vestment of the High Priest which contained the Urim and Thummim in the breast pouch.
7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So, Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.”
When Saul learned that David had entered the city of Keilah, and had remained there, he was delighted. The news may have reached him through his spies, or it may have been because what most saw as glad tidings was being passed around without any thought of harming David. But to the blinkered Saul it indicated only one thing. With any luck he could have David trapped within the gates of Keilah. Of course, he expressed it very piously. Literally “God has rejected him (treated him as profane) into my hand, for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars.” He felt that Yahweh had at last by this means rejected David.
When evil men who profess being a believer are bent on throwing you under the bus to justify their actions they like to put a Godly spin on their actions.
8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
Saul was taking no risks, because he knew what he was up against. It is doubtful whether in making the call throughout the whole land he genuinely explained why he was doing it. Many probably thought that the Philistines were attacking again. Saul’s purpose was simply to go and besiege Keilah and trap David. And he was prepared to call all the tribes to do so, seemingly at the time of harvest, in order to do it. Such was the penalty to Israel of having a king.
The one problem with the general call was that word inevitably got around, and the gathering of the army would take some days. But as far as Saul was concerned there was no alternative, for there was no way in which he was going to risk meeting a David, trapped with four to six hundred desperate fighting men at his call, unless he had overwhelming force. They had after all proved their caliber against the Philistines.
9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
Inevitably the news reached Keilah about Saul’s plans so that David was alerted to them and realized that Saul was planning to do something. So, he immediately called on Abiathar to bring the ephod to him. A good thing for us to consider is the fact that if David had he actually thought about it he would have realized that there was nothing to be gained by staying, but both he and his men were probably enjoying their current popularity. It was a change from hiding in the forest and sleeping in caves.
10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.”
David did what was smart. He got down to genuine praying. He had a few questions to ask God. David wanted to know what the leaders of Keilah would do if Saul came and besieged the city. Would they hand them over to Saul? But even before that. Was Saul coming at all? As the last was the most urgent question it was answered first. Yes, Saul was coming.
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.”
One thing not mentioned by the Holy Spirit was what the Holy Spirit was doing for David. He gave him discernment and wisdom. Even though he and his men were celebrating with the residents of the city the Holy Spirit was warning him about protentional danger. A messenger arrived with the information that Saul had called all of the tribes to come to him for military duty. Under deceit by Saul the tribes might have thought that the Philistines were gathering a massive troop of their forces to come against the nation of Israel. While the Holy Spirit was warning David that in reality Saul was gathering more military forces to attack David and his men.
He therefore went to God in prayer and asked if this intuition was true and our Holy God told him, ‘yes’.
The people of Keilah were certainly grateful to David, but not to have handed him over would have been treason, and with the host of Israel surrounding them they would have had no hope of holding out for long, with the certainty of death and destruction following. Better to be in the hands of the Philistines than in the hands of a vengeful Saul. Nor would they have wanted to fight their fellow-countrymen. So the position was impossible. The good thing here for the townsfolk was that they never had to make this decision. Nor in the event did they even have to think about what they would do if Saul came. It was Yahweh Who knew what they would in the end do out of concern for their town, and once David was aware of that he saved the leading men from having to face up to an impossible situation. The emphasis is thus on David’s concern for them, not on their possible shortfalls.
13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
The result was that David and his men left Keilah and went back to hiding in the forests, wherever they could find safety. And once Saul learned that David had left Keilah and had ‘disappeared’, no one knew where, he simply stayed where he was. There was now no point in going to Keilah.
David was given a pleasant surprise by Yahweh, for Jonathan came looking for him and found him. Jonathan was unquestionably a true man of faith and a godly and humble man. And he was totally submissive to what Yahweh wanted to do. He was indeed quite content to play second fiddle to David. He was so unlike his father that in many ways it is difficult to understand how he could have been a son of Saul at all, even though he was. Furthermore, it is clear that from the beginning he had seen the genius of David and had been willing to accept it without any difficulty. Jonathan would have made a good, steady king, but he did not have David’s genius, and he knew it. And he was therefore perfectly willing to go along with being his lieutenant.
And besides he was truly a friend of David in a way that can only be understood by comrades-in-arms. That is why when he saw how things were going he put himself at great personal risk by seeking David out to encourage and strengthen him. At this torrid time in his life Jonathan’s friendship and concern must genuinely have been a great encouragement to David. To have a friend like Jonathan (whose name means ‘gift of Yahweh’) was to have a friend indeed.
14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand.
In the incidence of the battle in Keilah Saul had convinced himself that God had delivered (literally ‘rejected’) David into his hand. But it had been a vain dream. Now we learn that God continued with His policy of not delivering David into Saul’s hand.
David and his men were ever on the move in order to avoid Saul. They were now in the barren wilderness of Judah, the wild uncultivated tract between the mountains of Judah and the Dead Sea. And in that area, the hill of Hachilah in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph appears to have been a favorite camp site. From there they would be able to scan the area for miles around and be aware of anyone approaching from any direction. In view of the undoubted strength of David’s small army, which having got used to the terrain would be able to pick off any enemy unless they came in unusual strength, this continual movement must have been as much because David did not want to attack his fellow countrymen. He was prepared to bide his time, and clearly kept his men in good order, even protecting local communities from those who meant them no good.
15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest.
David was now aware that this was a life and death game. He had no wish to harm Saul, but he knew that Saul did not feel the same and was unquestionably seeking his life. He knew therefore that if he was caught he could expect no mercy. This was why he and his men constantly changed their locations, and it was why they had come to this desolate region. Life would not have been easy there. The burning heat and the shortage of water would have provided them with a constant problem. But its undoubted advantage was that it was not a place to which most men liked to come, and while it is doubtful if there were trees in that dry and barren land, the brushwood would provide ample cover for men as skilled as David’s men had become in avoiding being seen.
16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God.
Jonathan had clearly learned of where he was and sought him out to strengthen his hand in God. He must have constantly grieved over his father’s attitude towards David. Not being aware of the kind of mental illness that his father had, he must have been totally unable to understand it. But Saul was a prisoner of his own mental instability and delusions.
Jonathan’s faith and loyalty to God shine through in all that he does. He would have made a good and godly king. But he would never have achieved what David did. We may wonder how Jonathan found David when Saul could not. The answer probably lies in the fact that people would tell Jonathan things that they would never tell Saul. And, of course, Jonathan’s approach would neither have been hindered or avoided. In fact he would have been helped. All knew that he was David’s friend.
17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.”
Jonathan, a man of great spiritual insight, recognized the hand of God in David’s life. He therefore knew that God would keep him safe from the hand of his father. He knew that come what may, Saul would never find David. And that was because he knew in his heart that it was God’s purpose that David be king over Israel, and he knew that deep in his heart that was also something that Saul knew. And then he, Jonathan, would be quite content to be ‘next to him’. He was quite prepared to be his second-in-command. And that was something that Saul also knew, and which added to his hatred.
18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
In the wilderness the two men made a further covenant before Yahweh God, confirming the covenant that they already had, solemnly agreeing to protect each other’s future, and guaranteeing that they would work together in harmony in the future. And then they parted for the last time.
Because we know the full story and therefore favor David we can tend to be harsh with anyone who supported Saul, but in fact we do have to remember that Saul was the rightful king in Israel’s eyes, and that many therefore felt that they owed their duty to him. The people who lived in this area would be a remote, probably tight knit, people, suspicious of strangers, and to such people loyalty to the king was often paramount.
Furthermore, in the case of the Ziphites who sought to survive in that lonely wilderness there was also probably more to it than that, for the presence of David’s men would not only make them feel uneasy (however disciplined his men were) but would also be taking up valuable provisions of water and food in an area where such were in short supply. They may well have found themselves suffering because of it and they would therefore have seen it as being to their advantage to get rid of David and his men as soon as possible. Thus, they approached Saul and informed him of David’s whereabouts. Let him come and rid them of this unwelcome intrusion.
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
As I just mentioned the Ziphites had good reason for wanting to be rid of David and his men. They were intruding on their quiet tribal life, in an area which they saw as their own, and where therefore intruders were not welcome, and on top of that they were using up scarce supplies of food and water which they themselves needed for their livelihood. So, they dispatched messengers to Saul in Gibeah informing him that David and his men were hiding themselves in strong positions in the forest on the Hill of Hachilah, to the south of the Waste (Jeshimon).
20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”
They called on their king to ‘come down’ to them (they would see Gibeah as the capital city) if that was what he desired, and they promised that they on their part would deliver David into Saul’s hands.
21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me.
Saul constantly threw people under the bus. You were the greatest in his opinion in one instance and in the second he thought others were more valuable to him. These Israelites who had just come to him on revealing the whereabouts of David were more loyal (in his eyes) than most of the country stirred Saul’s heart. It seemed that they were the only ones who cared for him. And he blessed them in the Name of Yahweh for their loyal attitude.
22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty.
He had sought David many times, only to discover that he had disappeared, and he did not therefore want to enter the wastelands on the mountains near the Dead Sea without being sure of his prey. He knew how inhospitable the conditions were. So, he told them to go and make absolutely sure of where he was, and identify his exact haunt, and who had seen it in order to be able so to identify it, because he had learned from the hard experience of his spies how elusive and cunning David was.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.”
So, he wanted them to watch David’s movements, learn where all his hide-outs were, and then come again to him when they were sure of the facts. Then he would go with them to rid them of this scourge, and once he was there they could be sure that he would root out all David’s followers from among all the family clans. They would not be able to hide from him. But Saul knew that he would be bringing with him a large army of men, and so he would not want them to have to spend too much time hanging around or searching that desolate place.
24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
So the Ziphite messenger returned home ahead of Saul, only to discover when they got back to Ziph that the elusive David had moved on, and was now in the wilderness of Maon, going as far as the Arabah (the Arabah is the continuation south of the Dead Sea of the rift between two mountain ranges through which further northward the Jordan flowed into the Dead Sea), even further south of the Waste.
When intelligence reached Saul that David was now in the wilderness of Maon it probably caused him similar delight to when he had heard that he was trapped in Keilah, for he would know that the Wilderness of Maon provided little cover. Thus, he would consider that if he moved quickly he would be able to take him. Humanly speaking David may have made one of his rare tactical mistakes by taking his men there, for it left them open to discovery, but of course we must remember that he was running out of places to hide. What it was to prove in the end, however, was that Yahweh was still with him, for when he came to the end of himself God stepped in.
25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore, he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.
Learning of the activities of the Ziphites and that Saul was coming with an army to find him David made for the wilderness of Maon south of the Dead Sea, where he knew of ‘the Rock’, a large rocky eminence which would provide them with some kind of protection and cover and could be defended. He no doubt hoped that once the Ziphites knew that he had gone they would forget about him and no longer help Saul. It was a slim hope but the only one that he seemed to have left.
Saul, however, learned where he had gone and continued to pursue after him, confident that this time David would not escape his clutches. Now David recognized that the Rock was one of the few places where he and his men could take refuge. Therefore, he and his army made for it.
26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.
David’s lookouts had no doubt seen Saul and his army coming, so he moved his men to the other side of the Rock. But his heart must have sunk, for it would look as though at last they were approaching a final showdown. He would have had no doubt that his men would give a good account of themselves, but the question was, would it be enough against an army of the size that Saul had brought? He did not want to take the risk. As a good general he knew his men’s limitations.
27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!”
When all seems lost and helpless then God steps in. The ram’s horns sounded and to his surprise David recognized that they were signaling not an attack but the call to assemble. And at that signal Saul’s army ceased its steady and wary approach on the Rock and began to muster and move away before their very eyes, leaving them looking at each other in wonderment. They did not know what had caused it, but the explanation was humanly speaking quite simple. A messenger had arrived with the urgent news of a Philistine invasion, with the result that Saul and his army were needed immediately to deal with it. Even a dictatorial Saul could not ignore a call like that when the facts were known to his commanders. The Philistines were always the prime enemy. So, David would have to wait. We can imagine the chagrin in Saul’s heart. In his view he had ‘almost had him’. But perhaps there was relief too? For who knew what David, who had won so many battles against the odds in the past, might have accomplished? It was an unknown quantity, and the Rock would certainly not have been easy to take against trained hill fighters with their backs to the wall.
David, however, would have known what it all meant, for as Jonathan had said at their earlier meeting in the wilderness, ‘the hand of Saul my father will not find you’. Thus, he knew that it was Yahweh Who had been watching over them and had delivered them at the last moment.
28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so, they called that place the Rock of Escape.
David knew that Yahweh God delivered him and all his followers. Te Rock where it all happened was given a new name. It was called ‘the rock of smoothness’s’ or ‘slipperiness’, because of the smooth way in which God had allowed David and his men to slip away from capture.
29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
David and his men then made for the caves of Engedi, which looked out from the limestone rock cliffs over the barren western bank of the Dead Sea. That barren and desolate area, (save only for the oasis of Engedi itself where there were palm trees and vineyards), was not a place that men frequented. And its multiplicity of caves made it easier to hide in.
I have had the opportunity to visit this area in Israel. In going into the caves I could picture David and his men staying in them.
