1 Samuel 29
Philistine military men reject David
David preps to fight as a Philistine ally
1Philistines assembled their armies at Aphek. [1] Israel’s warriors gathered at Jezreel Spring. [2] 2Philistine rulers led their armies into the camp, marching them in companies of 100 or battalions of 1,000. King Achish’s army from Gath arrived last, with David’s army marching at the rear.3Philistine commanders were shocked to see David there, with his men. They said, “Are you kidding? Hebrews? What are they doing here? That’s David, one of Saul’s men.” King Achish said, “Not anymore. He’s with me now. He defected over a year ago. And he has never given me any reason to doubt him.” [3]
4Philistine commanders didn’t buy it. Furious, they told Achish, “Send that guy back to wherever you had him. We don’t want him up here in the battle. He might turn on us. If he gave our heads to Saul, that would go a long way to restoring their friendship. 5This is the guy who got the Hebrews dancing as they sang:
Saul killed a thousand men.
David, a thousand times ten.
David, an “angel”
6Achish told David, “I know you’re an honest man. I’d swear it. In all the time you’ve been with me, I’ve seen you do nothing wrong. If it were up to me, I’d take you into battle alongside me and my men. But the other rulers won’t let me. 7So go back peacefully. Don’t cause a scene or do anything to upset the Philistine rulers.”8David said, “I don’t understand this. What have I done wrong? Name one thing in all the time I’ve been with you. Why am I suddenly not fit to fight the enemies of my king?”
9Achish said, “David, as far as I’m concerned, you’re as righteous as an angel. But the commanders don’t want you in this fight. They said, ‘He’s not going into the battle with us. Period.’ 10Spend the night here, but I want you to leave at dawn. Take your men back to their regular duties.”
11David and his men left for Philistine territory early the next morning. But the Philistine armies marched up to Jezreel.
Footnotes
Some scholars say this is a flashback—a story of what happened before the Philistines traveled further north, to their final staging ground at Shunem (28:4). There was more than one town called Aphek. Some scholars have guessed it was the Aphek at the western end of the Jezreel Valley, a few miles from the Mediterranean Sea. But most today seem to say the Aphek for this battle is the same battlefield where they crushed Israel a generation earlier, when Samuel was a priest in training, under Eli. It was on the Sharon Plain, today on the outskirts of Tel Avi, near the Mediterranean Sea—about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Israel’s new position at Jezreel Spring. As a result of that earlier battle there, Eli and both of his sons died—Eli by accident after hearing the news about his sons (1 Samuel 4).
Jezreel Spring is linked to the Well of Harod, also called ‘Ain Jalud, at the northern foot of the Gilboa Mountains.
David was nothing but dishonest with the Philistine king. David said he was enriching the king with livestock and stolen possessions taken in raids of Israelite towns. Instead, David and his men were raiding Philistines and Philistine allies. He was able to keep that a secret by killing every human in the towns he raided (1 Samuel 27:8-11).
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