Study Desk

And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him. But David's place was empty.

"But why should he be put to death?" Jonathan asked his father. "What has he done?"

Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.

Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father's shameful behavior toward David.

The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows.

Hurry, hurry, don't wait." So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master.

Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town.

As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground. Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David.

But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. "Isn't this David, the king of the land?" they asked. "Isn't he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands'?"

So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.

Finally, King Achish said to his men, "Must you bring me a madman?

So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there.

So David's parents stayed in Moab with the king during the entire time David was living in his stronghold.

The news of his arrival in Judah soon reached Saul. At the time, the king was sitting beneath the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah, holding his spear and surrounded by his officers.

"Listen here, you men of Benjamin!" Saul shouted to his officers when he heard the news. "Has that son of Jesse promised every one of you fields and vineyards? Has he promised to make you all generals and captains in his army?

King Saul immediately sent for Ahimelech and all his family, who served as priests at Nob.

And he ordered his bodyguards, "Kill these priests of the Lord , for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn't tell me!" But Saul's men refused to kill the Lord 's priests.

So David and his men went to Keilah. They slaughtered the Philistines and took all their livestock and rescued the people of Keilah.

So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men.