1 Samuel 23:25

1Sa 23:25 Saul also and his men went to seek [him]. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard [that], he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.

Ver. 25. He pursued after David.] Hunting him up and down as a partridge in the mountains this made him so tender, as we see he was. {1Sa 24:5}

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.

Which was also in the tribe of Judah, Josh. 15:55.

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

David . . . came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon--Tell Main, the hillock on which was situated the ancient Maon (Jos 15:55), and from which the adjoining wilderness took its name, is one mile north, ten east from Carmel. The mountain plateau seems here to end. It is true the summit ridge of the southern hills runs out a long way further towards the southwest; but towards the southeast the ground sinks more and more down to a tableland of a lower level, which is called "the plain to the right hand [that is, to the south] of the wilderness" [VAN DE VELDE].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. The wilderness of Maon.] Maon was a mountainous district in the most southern parts of Judah. Calmet supposes it to be the city of Menois, which Eusebius places in the vicinity of Gaza; and the Maenaemi Castrum, which the Theodosian code places near to Beersheba.

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

25. into a rock] To the rock, or, cliff, which was afterwards called “the rock of divisions” (1Sa_23:28). The Sept. reads “which is in the wilderness of Maon” in place of “and abode in the wilderness of Maon,” perhaps rightly.

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.

And Saul also and his men went to seek him,.... Whether the Ziphites returned to him with better intelligence, or sent him word where David was, is not said, however Saul with his army came out in search of him:

and they told David; or it was told him, that Saul was come in quest of him:

wherefore he came down into a rock; either into a cave in it, or he came down from the hill Hachilah to a plain or valley, in order to go up to a rock, the same with the mountain in Sa1 23:26,

and abode in the wilderness of Maon; in which was the rock or mountain he came to:

and when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon; for upon the intelligence of the Ziphites, he came out to seek for him in the wilderness of Ziph, but hearing that he was removed to the wilderness of Maon, he pursued him there.

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

Into a rock, i. e. into a cave which was in the rock; or which might, be called a rock, not for the height, but the strength of its situation; where at first he might think to hide himself, but upon further intelligence or consideration he removed from thence upon Saul’s approach. Or, he came down from the rock, i. e. either, first, From the mountain mentioned in the next verse, whence he came down, that so he might get out of Saul’s sight and reach. Or, secondly, From the hill of Hachilah, where David hid himself, which is said to be on the south of Jeshimon, 1Sa 23:19, as this place where he now was is also described, 1Sa 23:24, only that speaks of the plain, and this of the rock or hill adjoining to it, or in the midst of it. Or, he came down to Selah, as the Syriac and Arabic translate it; a place so called from the many rocks or stones which were in it, or near it.

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

25. He came down into a rock — Literally, he went down the rock. The margin gives the meaning, he went down from the rock. The rock was probably the summit of the hill Main, which is two hundred feet high, and from which there is a wide prospect over the country around.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 25, 26. He came down into a rock. Hebrew, sela", a cliff or precipice. In the next verse it is described as a mountain, on one side of which was David and his men, in full view of Saul and his army on the other. But as Saul"s forces were much more numerous, they were preparing to separate, and so enclose David, while he made haste. The word expresses anxiety and fear, and may be translated, "And David sought anxiously to go from before the face of Saul." Conder"s description of the spot ("Tent Work," 2:91) sets the whole scene most vividly before us. It is as follows: the ridge of El Kolah (the ancient hill of Hachilah) and the neighbourhood of Maon there is a great gorge called "the Valley of Rocks," a narrow but deep chasm, impassable except by a detour of many miles, so that Saul might have stood within sight of David, yet quite unable to overtake his enemy; and to this "cliff of division" the name Malaky now applies, a word closely approaching the Hebrew Mahlekoth. The neighbourhood is seamed with many torrent beds, but there is no other place near Maon where cliffs such as are to be inferred from the word sela can be found. It seems to me pretty safe, therefore, to look on this gorge as the scene of the wonderful escape of David, due to a sudden Philistine invasion, which terminated the history of his hair-breadth escapes in the south country." This cliff in ver. 28 is called Sela-Hammahlekoth, "the cliff of divisions," or "of separations," ham representing the Hebrew article. Many other derivations have been suggested, but the above, which alone agrees with the ordinary meaning of the Hebrew verb, is proved to be right by Mr. Conder"s researches. They enable us also to correct some small errors. Thus David did not come down into a rock, but "to the cliff," the sela or precipitous gorge described above. Nor did he "descend the rock" (Erdmann) "in order to conceal himself in the low land, or in the caves at its base," but he went to it as being an impassable barrier between him and his pursuers. But "he hasted anxiously to get away" (ver. 26), because Saul would divide his army into two parts, and so David would only have the advantage of the few miles of detour which Saul must make. But for the news of the Philistine invasion his final escape would have been almost hopeless. The ordinary notion that David and his men were concealed from the sight of Saul by an intervening mountain is disproved, not only by no such mountain existing, but also by the clause, "Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men" (ver. 28). They had them in sight, and were forming in two divisions, so as to pass the gorge at the two ends and close upon the flanks of David"s small band of followers.

Verse 29 belongs to the next chapter.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A rock - That is, into a cave which was in the rock; where at first he might think to hide himself, but upon farther consideration he removed from thence upon Saul's approach.

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

Having been informed of the arrival of Saul and his men (warriors), David went down the rock, and remained in the desert of Maon. "The rock" is probably the conical mountain of Main (Maon), the top of which is now surrounded with ruins, probably remains of a tower (Robinson, Pal. ii. p. 194), as the rock from which David came down can only have been the mountain (Sa1 23:26), along one side of which David went with his men whilst Saul and his warriors went on the other, namely when Saul pursued him into the desert of Maon.

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.)