“Akhish would ask, ‘Where were you raiding today?’ and David would answer, ‘Against the Negev of Y’hudah,’ or ‘Against the Negev of the Yerachme’eli,’ or ‘Against the Negev of the Keni.’  The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, ‘We don’t want them telling on us, […]

“After David had been living in the country of the P’lishtim for a year and four months, he and his men began going up and raiding the G’shuri, the Gizri, and the ‘Amaleki (from ancient times these people had lived in the land in the direction of Shur, all the way to Egypt).”-1 Samuel 27:7-8 […]

Philistia and Israel had one interesting point in common with each other. They were both loosely held together alliances struggling to achieve unification. When Israel entered Canaan under Joshua’s leadership, they were a coalition of 12 independent tribes. Saul was the first ruler to achieve some limited success in uniting these tribes into one nation. […]

Let’s pause to get our bearings on where we’re at in 1 Samuel. It’s good to do this occasionally since we’re dealing with so many different characters and places. So the current situation is that David has given up all hope he’ll ever be able to have peace with Saul. He has concluded that as […]

“David said to Akhish, ‘If you are now favorably disposed toward me, let me have a place to live in one of the cities in the countryside. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?’”-1 Samuel 26:5 Are you familiar with the old feudal system in Eastern Europe? It’s an arrangement where […]