1 Samuel 23:11

(11) Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?—There is a curious inversion of David’s questions here. In their logical sequence, of course the second, respecting Saul’s coming down, should have been put first, for the men of Keilah could not have delivered him into Saul’s hands if Saul had not come down. Dean Payne Smith suggests that in David’s earnest prayer “his two questions are put inversely to the logical order, but in accordance with the relative importance in his mind.” The Dean thinks “that when the ephod was brought forward, the questions were of course put, and replied to in their logical sequence.

“And the Lord said, He will come down.”

“ And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.”

Thus the answer of the Urim and Thummin was given to the questions in their logical order. The Talmud has an interesting comment here. In consulting the Urim and Thummim, the enquirer is not to ask about two things at a time, for if he does, he will be answered about one only, and only about the one he first uttered, as it is said (1Sa_23:11-12). David asked first “Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hands?” and then he asked also “Will Saul come down?” The answer was to the second query. “And the Lord said He will come down.” But it has just been asserted that the enquirer will be answered only about the one thing he first uttered. To this it is replied, David framed his enquiry not in good order, but the reply of the Urim and Thummim was as though the enquiry had been in proper order. Hence when David became aware that his question had not been put properly, he repeated it again in better order, as it has been said, “Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.”—Treatise Yoma, fol. 73, Colossians 1.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

Ver. 11. And the Lord said, He will come down,] viz., Unless thou goest hence. God knoweth future contingents: and not only those that are absolute, but those also that are conditionate: he knows a man’s "thoughts afar off," and ofttimes judgeth them accordingly. We used to destroy hemlock in the midst of winter, because we know what it will do if allowed to grow: so the Lord doth sometimes cut off people while young, out of the foresight of the evil they would do to his Church if let alone.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 11. - 12. In these verses we find the following questions and answers: - David said, Will Saul come down to Keilah? And the Lord said, He will come down. Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. In this short history we find an ample proof that there is such a thing as contingency in human affairs; that is, God has poised many things between a possibility of being and not being, leaving it to the will of the creature to turn the scale. In the above answers of the Lord the following conditions were evidently implied: - IF thou continue in Keilah, Saul will certainly come down; and IF Saul come down, the men of Keilah will deliver thee into his hands. Now though the text positively asserts that Saul would come to Keilah, yet he did not come; and that the men of Keilah would deliver David into his hand, yet David was not thus delivered to him. And why? Because David left Keilah; but had he stayed, Saul would have come down, and the men of Keilah would have betrayed David. We may observe from this that, however positive a declaration of God may appear that refers to any thing in which man is to be employed, the prediction is not intended to suspend or destroy free agency, but always comprehends in it some particular condition.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. the men of Keilah] Lit. “the lords,” or “masters,” i.e. the governing body of citizens, as distinguished from the mass of inhabitants (1Sa_23:5). The same word is used in Jos_24:11; Jdg_9:2 ff; Jdg_20:5; 2Sa_21:12.

will Saul come down] The logical order of the questions is inverted, and the most important put first, indicating the anxiety of the questioner.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hands? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard?.... That is, if David continued there, which is the supposition all proceeds upon. The questions are not orderly put, as may easily be observed, the last should have been first; which shows some perturbation of mind David was in upon hearing the design of Saul against him:

O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant; give an answer by Urim and Thummim, as he did:

and the Lord said, he will come down; if David abode there; that was in his thoughts, in his purpose and design, which the Lord, being omniscient, full well knew, who knows all future contingencies: hence the Jews (n) gather, that two things are not to be asked together; and if they are asked, only answer is made to one, and the answer is only made to that which it was proper to ask first; and that which is asked out of order should be asked again, which was the case here, as follows.

(n) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 73. 1, 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Will the men of Keilah deliver me up, to wit, if I continue in their city, and if Saul come down?

The Lord said. From this place it may appear that God’s answer by Urim and Thummim was not by any change in the colour or situation of the precious stones in the breastplate of the ephod, but by a voice or suggestion from God to the high priest.

He will come down, i.e. he purposeth to come, if thou continuest here; for still, as David’s question, so God’s answer, is upon supposition, as is here sufficiently implied.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord said - From this place it may appear that God's answer by Urim and Thummim, was not by any change in the colour or situation of the precious stones in the breast-plate of the Ephod, but by a voice or suggestion from God to the high-priest. He will - He purposeth to come, if thou continuest here. For still as David's question, so God's answer, is upon supposition.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Will Keilah's residents hand me over… This teaches us that one who consults regarding two matters, receives a reply concerning only one, and that reply concerns the first one. And here, Dovid asked in an inverted order, because he should have first asked, "Will Shaul come down? Will [the residents of Keilah] hand me over?" But he was answered according to the [proper] order.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.