I Samuel 22-23

1 Sam 22

David moves from Gath to caves and then to the land of the Moabites. People start flocking to David and soon he has an army of 400 men. A prophet tells him to return to Judah, which he does. Word gets to Saul that David is back in the country. I suppose it is hard to hide 400 people moving around.

Doeg the Edomite also tells Saul about how the priests at Nob helped David. Remember how the Levites had some cities, but not land? It appears that Nob is a Levite city because Saul has 85 priests arrested from Nob. He further goes off the deep end and orders them to be put to death. The Israelite soldiers refrain from this, but then Doeg steps up and kills all 85 of them.

During the discussion, Ahimilek the priest points out the absurdity of the situation. Basically, "you think David is conspiring against you but he is the captain of your royal body guard."

Side note - the French Bible said that Saul's daughter used a "family idol" to create a dummy to allow David to escape. Maybe this indicates that Saul was really losing it faith wise a few chapters ago. Another idea - if he felt rejected by God, maybe he felt he had to find a new god. Regardless, Saul seems to be making up his own rules as he goes along.

Also - Saul is still a relatively common Jewish name. The Apostle Paul was originally named Saul. Looking at Saul's later actions, why would people name their male children after this guy. He goes nuts.

I Sam 23

Meanwhile, the Philistines raid the food supply at Keibah. God tells David to attack the Philistines there, which he does but only after a promise from God of victory. Saul hears of this and moves his army there, thinking that David is trapped.

David asks God if Saul is coming and if the people of Keibah will surrender him to Saul. God says yes, to both. David and his now 600 troops run off to the wilderness. Saul chases David through the wilderness when Jonathan leaves Saul's camp and finds David. I actually think this is hilarious. It makes me think that Saul is completely incompetent if his son can find David but Saul's army cannot. It probably also means that God was protecting David from Saul.

Finally, Saul is closing in on David on the same mountain when Saul hears that the Philistines are again attacking. This little civil war will have to wait and Saul backs off from David.