1 Samuel 23:22

1Sa 23:22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, [and] who hath seen him there: for it is told me [that] he dealeth very subtilly.

Ver. 22. Go, I pray you, prepare yet.] Saul maketh use of these traitors, which a Roman Fabricius would have scorned to have done.

For it is told me.] Or, My heart telleth me so; {Psa 36:1} or, He hath told me, viz., David, when I have asked him sometimes how he so easily overcame his enemies, hath told me that he used subtlety and policy.

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.

Hebrew, where his foot hath been.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

22. where his haunt is] Lit. “where his foot is.” Observe his tracks as you would those of a wild beast.

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.

Go, I pray you, prepare yet,.... That is, go home, return to their habitations, and get things in a greater readiness for him; inquire more diligently after David, get more intelligence of him, and inform themselves more exactly about him:

and know and see his place where his haunt is; or "foot" (s) is, where that steps and walks most frequently, not only get knowledge of it by information, but if they could get sight of it with their own eyes, that they might describe it more exactly:

and who hath seen him there; not only seen the place, but him in the place, and that often, that it may be certain it is the place he usually resorts to:

for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly; sometimes he is seen in one place, and sometimes in another; he is here today, and elsewhere tomorrow; and by such crafty methods it is not easy to know where the place is, and where to be found; this Saul had information of from some, who knew the methods David took to keep it unknown where it was; or "it says to me"; my heart says so to me, as R. Isaiah interprets it; my mind suggests this to me, knowing the man, that he uses such wiles as these: or "he said to me", so Kimchi; when he was with me, and we were intimate, when I used to ask him how he smote the Philistines, so and so, and preserved himself from them; his answer was, "that he dealt very subtilly", he used a good deal of craftiness; and so I imagine he does now.

(s) "pes ejus", Pagninus, Montanus.

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

Him, and therefore will be upon his guard. (Haydock) --- Syriac, "because I am told he is crafty." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "because Saul said, lest this crafty man should exert all his art;" or, "lest he should be very cunning." (Haydock) --- Saul foreboded that he would again elude his pursuit. (Vatable)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Prepare yet, to wit, the matter; inform yourselves certainly of things, and dispose them so that we may not be frustrated in our attempt.

Where his haunt is; in what cave, or wood, or mountain he is most frequently.

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

In his anxiety, however, lest David should escape him after all, he charged them, "Go, and give still further heed (הכין without לב, as in Jdg 12:6), and reconnoitre and look at his place where his foot cometh (this simply serves as a more precise definition of the nominal suffix in מקומו, his place), who hath seen him there (sc., let them inquire into this, that they may not be deceived by uncertain or false reports): for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

For [someone] told me. The one who told.

He is very cunning. He is accustomed to behave cunningly, by being in one place today and tomorrow somewhere else, so that his place not be known.

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.