1 Samuel 27:10

1Sa 27:10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.

Ver. 10. Whither have ye made a road?] Or, Whether have ye made, &c.

Against the south of Judah.] This was either a flat lie, or a foul equivocation, much misbecoming such a man’s mouth. The infirmities of God’s children never appear but in their tentations. David knew that

“ Nihil est vigilantius aure tyranni. ” - Juvenal.

But that should not have made him thus to lie and dissemble: as the Priscillianists did of old, and the Jesuits do still, with their detestable equivocations, and mental reservations, which they teach and defend ad consolationem afflictorum Catholicorum (their own words) et omnium piorum instructionem, for the comfort of poor afflicted Catholics, and the instruction of all godly persons. {a} That subtle answer of Tarlton, bishop of Winchester, is well known, Edwardum occidere nolito timere bonum est. David had chosen the way of truth, {Psa 119:30} and yet otherwhiles he deviated.

{a} Garnes. Blackwell.

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.

1Sa 27:10. David said, Against the south of Judah, &c. — David expressed himself thus ambiguously that Achish might suppose he had assaulted the land of Judah; whereas he had only fallen upon those people who bordered on that land. His words, therefore, though not directly false, (all those people actually dwelling on the south of Judah,) yet being ambiguous, and intended to convey an erroneous idea, were very contrary to that simplicity which became David, both as a prince and as an eminent professor of the true religion. The fidelity of Achish to him, and the confidence he put in him, aggravates his sin in thus deceiving him; which David seems peculiarly to reflect on when he prays, “Remove from me the way of lying.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27:10 David misled Achish by claiming his attacks were against his own people of Judah and two other related groups. The text does not commend David for lying to the foreign king, but neither does it condemn him. • The Jerahmeelites were a Semitic tribe in southern Judah (1 Chr 2:9, 25-27, 33, 42). • Kenites: Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite (Judg 1:16; 4:11; see also study note on 1 Sam 15:6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, against whom.

Which were a family of the tribe of Judah, 1 Chron. 2:9.

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

Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to-day?--that is, raid, a hostile excursion for seizing cattle and other booty.

David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites--Jerahmeel was the great-grandson of Judah, and his posterity occupied the southern portion of that tribal domain.

the south of the Kenites--the posterity of Jethro, who occupied the south of Judah (Jdg 1:16; Num 24:21). The deceit practised upon his royal host and the indiscriminate slaughter committed, lest any one should escape to tell the tale, exhibit an unfavorable view of this part of David's history.

Next: 1 Samuel Chapter 28

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 10. Whither have ye made a road today?] He had probably been in the habit of making predatory excursions. This seems to be implied in the question of Achish.

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

(10) And David said, Against the south of Judah.—The answer of David to his sovereign lord, the King of Gath—for he was now, to all intents and purposes, a vassal prince of Achish—was simply a falsehood. He had been engaged in distant forays against the old Bedaween enemies of Israel, far away in the desert which stretched to the frontier of Egypt; and from these nomads—rich in cattle and in other property, which they had obtained by years of successful plunder—he seems to have gained much booty, a share of which he brought to his “suzerain,” Achish. But David represents that the cattle and apparel had been captured from his own countrymen, whose territory he was harrying. “The Jerahmeelites were descendants of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron (1Ch_2:9; 1Ch_2:25-26), and therefore one of the three large families of Judah who sprang from Hezron.”—Keil, They dwelt, it is believed, on the southern frontier of the tribe of Judah. The Kenites were a race living in friendship with and under the protection of Judah.

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

10. Whither] The Heb. word does not mean whither, and must be emended. It is best to follow the Sept. and Vulg. in reading “against whom.”

have ye made a road] The same word as that translated “invaded” in 1Sa_27:8. “Road” means a plundering excursion or raid, from A.-S. râd, a riding. Compare the compound in-road. “Him hee named, who at that time was absent, making roades upon the Lacedemonians.” Sidney’s Arcadia.

the Jerahmeelites] Descendants of Jerahmeel the son of Hezron (1Ch_2:9; 1Ch_2:25), who were settled on the southern frontier of Judah, apparently as an independent tribe. Cp. 1Sa_30:29.

the Kenites] Who were in alliance with the Israelites. See on 1Sa_15:6.

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 Achish said, whither have ye made a road today?.... Or whither had they rushed in, or poured in and spread themselves? or where had they made their excursion to fetch in the prey and booty they now brought?

and David said, against the south of Judah; he meant against some people that lay to the south of the land of Judah, without it; but expressed himself so, that Achish might think he meant the southern parts of Judah within the country; which, though not a downright lie, was an equivocation, and made with a design to deceive; and was by no means agreeably to the character of David, nor to be defended nor imitated:

and against the south of the Jerahmeelites; these were the descendants of Jerahmeel, the son of Hezron, the grandson of Judah, and so inhabited in the tribe of Judah, and very probably in the southern part of it, Ch1 2:9,

and against the south of the Kenites; the posterity of Jethro; these, at least some of them, at the first seating of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, went with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad, Jdg 1:16.

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

The Jerahmeelites - i. e. the descendants of Jerahmeel, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah (marginal references). They were therefore a portion of the “south of Judah.”

The Kenites - See Num 24:21 note; Num 4:11; and for their near neighborhood to Amalek, see 1Sa 15:6.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jerameel, the son of Esron, inhabited the most southern part of Juda. --- Ceni, or the Cinites, descendants of Jethro, (Calmet) who dwelt at Arad and the environs. The words of David might signify that he attacked these people of Israel, as Achis understood him; or that he made inroads upon those who dwelt to the south of them, which was really the case. (Haydock) --- At his return, he passed by Siceleg, where he left the spoil, carrying some of the choicest things, as a present, to Achis. (Menochius) --- But he suffered none of the human race to be carried away captive, lest any of them might disclose the true state of affairs to the king, who might have apprehended that the injured nations would make an attack upon his dominions. (Salien)

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).

Against the south of Judah: these and the following words are ambiguous; for they may be understood, either of the southern parts from Judah, &c., which he would have Achish understand; or of another country lying southward from Judah, &c., which David meant, and which was the truth. So though it was not a downright lie; yet it was an equivocation, with an intention to deceive, which is the formality of a lie, and was contrary to that simplicity which became David, both as a prince, and as an eminent professor of the true religion.

And against, for that is against; for in the following words he particularly expresseth what part of the south of Judah he went against, even that which was inhabited by the Jerahmeelites, and by the Kenites.

The Jerahmeelites; the posterity of Hezron, a family of Judah, 1Ch 2:9,25. The

Kenites; the posterity of Jethro, which chose to dwell in the south of Judah, Jdg 1:16. See Num 24:21.

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

10. Jerahmeelites — The family of Jerahmeel, the son of Hezron, and descendant of Judah. 1Ch_2:9; 1Ch_2:25.

Kenites — See note on 1Sa_15:6. In making this reply to Achish, David uttered a deliberate lie, for which no apology can be offered.

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

David - These and the following words are ambiguous, and contrary to that simplicity which became David, both as a prince, and as an eminent professor of the true religion. The fidelity of Achish to him, and the confidence he put in him, aggravates his sin in thus deceiving him, which David seems penitently to reflect on, when he prays, Remove from me the way of lying.

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

Achish said, "Ye have not made an invasion to-day, have ye?" אל, like μὴ, is an interrogative sense; the ה has dropped out: vid., Ewald, 324, b. David replied, "Against the south of Judah, and the south of the Jerahmeelites, and into the south of the Kenites," sc., we have made an incursion. This reply shows that the Geshurites, Gerzites, and Amalekites dwelt close to the southern boundary of Judah, so that David was able to represent the march against these tribes to Achish as a march against the south of Judah, to make him believe that he had been making an attack upon the southern territory of Judah and its dependencies. The Negeb of Judah is the land between the mountains of Judah and the desert of Arabia (see at Jos 15:21). The Jerahmeelites are the descendants of Jerahmeel, the first-born of Hezron (Ch1 2:9, Ch1 2:25-26), and therefore one of the three large families of Judah who sprang from Hezron. They probably dwelt on the southern frontier of the tribe of Judah (vid., Sa1 30:29). The Kenites were protgs of Judah (see at Sa1 15:6, and Jdg 1:16). In Sa1 27:11 the writer introduces the remark, that in his raid David left neither man nor woman of his enemies alive, to take them to Gath, because he thought "they might report against us, and say, Thus hath David done." There ought to be a major point under דּוד עשׂה, as the following clause does not contain the words of the slaughtered enemies, but is a clause appended by the historian himself, to the effect that David continued to act in that manner as long as he dwelt in the land of the Philistines. משׁפּט, the mode of procedure; lit. the right which he exercised (see Sa1 8:9).

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.)

Achish

the king of Gath (See: How to Translate Names)

Jerahmeelites

a clan from the tribe of Judah (See: How to Translate Names)

Kenites

a people group who lived in the land of Midian (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

David

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Where did you raid. The 'ל' is interchangeable with a 'נ' [so the word אֶל=אָן which means 'where'], as in "he prepared a large chamber [נִשְׁכָּה]," in the Book of Ezra, meaning the equivalent of לִשְׁכָּה [=chamber].

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.