1 Samuel 26:1
New International Version
The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?”

New Living Translation
Now some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah to tell him, “David is hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which overlooks Jeshimon.”

English Standard Version
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?”

Berean Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

King James Bible
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

New King James Version
Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

New American Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon?”

NASB 1995
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”

NASB 1977
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”

Amplified Bible
The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding on the hill of Hachilah, east of Jeshimon?”

Christian Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah saying, “David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon.”

American Standard Version
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the Ziphites came to Shaul at Gebah and they said to him: “Behold, David is hidden in Gebuth Khaweela that is before Ashimon!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the Ziphites come out of the dry country to Saul to the hill, saying, Behold, David hides himself with us in the hill Echela, opposite Jessemon.

Contemporary English Version
Once again, some people from Ziph went to Gibeah to talk with Saul. "David has a hideout on Mount Hachilah near Jeshimon out in the desert," they told him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Behold David is hid in the hill of Hachila, which is over against the wilderness.

English Revised Version
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The people of Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah. "David is hiding at the hill of Hachilah near Jeshimon," they said.

Good News Translation
Some men from Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah and told him that David was hiding on Mount Hachilah at the edge of the Judean wilderness.

International Standard Version
People from Ziph came to Saul in Gibeah and informed him, "David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah which is across from Jeshimon, isn't he?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying: 'Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?'

Literal Standard Version
And the Ziphites come to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding himself in the height of Hachilah, on the front of the desert?”

Majority Standard Bible
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”

New American Bible
Men from Ziph came to Saul in Gibeah, reporting that David was hiding on the hill of Hachilah at the edge of Jeshimon.

NET Bible
The Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Isn't David hiding on the hill of Hakilah near Jeshimon?"

New Revised Standard Version
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “David is in hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon.”

New Heart English Bible
The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, "Doesn't David hide himself on the hill of Hakilah, which is before Jeshimon?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

World English Bible
The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?”

Young's Literal Translation
And the Ziphites come in unto Saul, at Gibeah, saying, 'Is not David hiding himself in the height of Hachilah, on the front of the desert?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David Again Spares Saul
1Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” 2So Saul, accompanied by three thousand chosen men of Israel, went down to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 23:19
Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?

Psalm 54:1
Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!


Treasury of Scripture

And the Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

Ziphites

Joshua 15:24,55
Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, …

Doth not

1 Samuel 26:3
And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.

1 Samuel 23:19
Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?

Psalm 54:1
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us? Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

Jump to Previous
David Desert East Hachilah Hachi'lah Hakilah Height Hide Hiding Hill Jeshimon Jeshi'mon Saul Secretly Waiting Waste Ziphites
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David Desert East Hachilah Hachi'lah Hakilah Height Hide Hiding Hill Jeshimon Jeshi'mon Saul Secretly Waiting Waste Ziphites
1 Samuel 26
1. Saul, by the discovery of the Ziphites, comes to Hachilah against David
4. David coming into the trench keeps Abishai from killing Saul,
11. but takes his spear and jug
13. David reproves Abner
17. and exhorts Saul
21. Saul acknowledges his sin














(1) The Ziphites came unto Saul.--There is grave difficulty connected with the recital contained in this chapter. Is it another account of the incident told in 1 Samuel 24, 26 by a different narrator? This is the opinion of some modern expositors of weight: for instance, Ewald and the Bishop of Bath and Wells in the Speaker's Commentary. The question at issue is as follows:--We have in this First Book of Samuel, in 1 Samuel 23, 24, 26, two recitals of David sparing his great adversary's life, at first sight under very similar circumstances. For instance: in both these occurrences (1) it is the same people, the Ziphites, who call Saul's attention to David's presence in their neighbourhood; (2) in both, Saul comes from Gibeah with the same number of men, 3,000; (3) the general bearing of the incident is identical in both--viz., the persuasions of David's followers to induce their leader to take Saul's life when in his power resisted by the noble-minded chieftain; the taking of something personal by David from the sleeping king, as a proof that the royal life had been in his hands; the sequel, which describes the heartfelt temporary repentance of Saul for the past. But here the resemblance ends. The circumstances of the night raid by David and his companions into the camp of the sleeping Saul are, when examined closely, so entirely different from the circumstances of the midday siesta of Saul in the En-gedi cavern, where David and his band were dwelling, that it is really impossible to assume that they are versions of one and the same incident. We conclude, therefore, with some certainty, that the accounts contained in 1 Samuel 23, 24, , 26 refer to two distinct and separate events; and so Keil, Erdmann and Lange, Dean Payne Smith in the Pulpit Commentary, Wordsworth, &c. Bishop Hervey, in the Speaker's Commentary, is, however, supported in his hypothesis of the two accounts referring to only one incident by Ewald, De Wette, and others. In the course of this exposition, the more striking agreements and divergencies will be discussed.

There remains, however, a still graver question to be considered, the gravity and difficulty of which remains the same whether we assume, as we propose to do, that twice in the course of the outlaw life of David the king's life was in his power, or that only once David stood over the sleeping king, sword in hand, and that the two accounts refer to one and the same event--For what purpose did the compiler of the First Book of Samuel insert in his narrative this twenty-sixth chapter--where either the old story of 1 Samuel 23, 24 is repeated with certain variations, or else an incident of a similar nature to one which has been told before in careful detail is repeated at great length? To this important question no perfectly satisfactory reply can be given. The object of one such recital in an account of the early life of the great founder of Israelitic greatness is clear, but we may well ask why was a second narrative of an incident of like nature inserted in a book where conciseness is ever so carefully studied? All we can suggest is, that everything which conduced to the glory of the favourite hero of Israel was of the deepest interest to the people, and the surpassing nobility and generosity of the magnanimity of David to his deadly foe was deemed worthy of these detailed accounts even in the necessarily brief compilation of the inspired writer of the history of this time.

Verse 1. - The Ziphites came unto Saul. There are so many points of similarity between this narrative and that contained in 1 Samuel 23:19-24; 1 Samuel 24:1-22, that it has been argued that in these two accounts we have substantially the same fact, only modified by two different popular traditions, and not recorded until a late subsequent period, at which the narrator, unable to decide which was the true form of the story, determined upon giving both. The main points of similarity are -

(1) The treachery of the Ziphites (1 Samuel 26:1; 1 Samuel 23:19).

(2) David's position in the hill Hachilah (1 Samuel 26:1, 3; 1 Samuel 23:19).

(3) Saul's march with 3000 men (1 Samuel 26:2; 1 Samuel 24:2). . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then the Ziphites
הַזִּפִים֙ (haz·zi·p̄îm)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 2130: Ziphites -- inhabitants of Ziph

came
וַיָּבֹ֤אוּ (way·yā·ḇō·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Saul
שָׁא֔וּל (šā·’ūl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7586: Saul -- first king of Israel, also an Edomite and two Israelites

at Gibeah
הַגִּבְעָ֖תָה (hag·giḇ·‘ā·ṯāh)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1390: Gibeah -- 'hill', three cities in Palestine

and said,
לֵאמֹ֑ר (lê·mōr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Is not
הֲל֨וֹא (hă·lō·w)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

David
דָוִ֤ד (ḏā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

hiding
מִסְתַּתֵּר֙ (mis·tat·têr)
Verb - Hitpael - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5641: To hide, conceal

on the hill
בְּגִבְעַ֣ת (bə·ḡiḇ·‘aṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1389: A hillock

of Hachilah,
הַחֲכִילָ֔ה (ha·ḥă·ḵî·lāh)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2444: Hachilah -- 'dark', a hill in southern Judah

opposite
עַ֖ל (‘al)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Jeshimon?”
הַיְשִׁימֹֽן׃ (hay·šî·mōn)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3452: Waste, wilderness


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OT History: 1 Samuel 26:1 The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 25:44
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