23:1 Then they told David, saying, Hinnei, the Pelishtim fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
23:2 Therefore David enquired of YHWH (יהוה), saying, Shall I go and smite these Pelishtim? And YHWH (יהוה) said unto David, Go, and smite the Pelishtim, and save Keilah.
23:3 And David's men said unto him, Hinnei, we be afraid here in Yehudah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Pelishtim?
23:4 Then David enquired of YHWH (יהוה) yet again.
And YHWH (יהוה) answered him and said:
Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Pelishtim into thine hand.
23:5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Pelishtim, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
23:6 And it came to pass, when Evyatar (אביתר) Ben Achimelekh (אחימלך) fled to David to Keilah, [that] he came down [with] an ephod in his hand.
23:7 And it was told Sha'ul that David was come to Keilah. And Sha'ul said, Elohim (אלהים) hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.
23:8 And Sha'ul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
23:9 And David knew that Sha'ul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Evyatar (אביתר) ha kohen, Bring hither the ephod.
23:10 Then said David, O YHWH (יהוה) Elohim (אלהים) of Yisrael, thy eved hath certainly heard that Sha'ul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
23:11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Sha'ul come down, as thy eved hath heard? O YHWH (יהוה) Elohim (אלהים) of Yisrael, I beseech thee, tell thy eved. And YHWH (יהוה) said, He will come down.
23:12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Sha'ul?
And YHWH (יהוה) said:
They will deliver [thee] up.
23:13 Then David and his men, [which were] about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Sha'ul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
23:14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in midbar Ziph. And Sha'ul sought him every day, but Elohim (אלהים) delivered him not into his hand.
23:15 And David saw that Sha'ul was come out to seek his life: and David [was] in midbar Ziph in a wood.
23:16 And Yonatan Sha'ul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in Elohim (אלהים).
23:17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Sha'ul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be melekh over Yisrael, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Sha'ul my father knoweth.
23:18 And they two made a covenant before YHWH (יהוה): and David abode in the wood, and Yonatan went to his house.
23:19 Then came up the Ziphites to Sha'ul to Giveah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in matzadah (stronghold) at Choresh (wood), in the hill of Chachilah, which [is] on the south of Yeshimon?
23:20 Now therefore, O melekh, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part [shall be] to deliver him into the king's hand.
23:21 And Sha'ul said, Blessed [be] ye of YHWH (יהוה); for ye have compassion on me.
23:22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, [and] who hath seen him there: for it is told me [that] he dealeth very subtilly.
23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Yehudah.
23:24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Sha'ul: but David and his men [were] in midbar Ma'on, in the plain on the south of Yeshimon.
23:25 Sha'ul also and his men went to seek [him]. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in midbar Ma'on. And when Sha'ul heard [that], he pursued after David midbar Ma'on.
23:26 And Sha'ul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Sha'ul; for Sha'ul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
23:27 But there came a messenger unto Sha'ul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Pelishtim have invaded the land.
23:28 Wherefore Sha'ul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Pelishtim: therefore they called that makom (place) Sela HaMachlekot (Rock of Escape).
23:29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in matzadah (strong holds) at Ein-Gedi.
Ein Gedi (Hebrew: עין גדי, lit. Kid Spring (as in young goat); KJV Bible Engedi) is an oasis located west of the Dead Sea, close to Matzadah and the caves of Qumran in the West Bank. Location .
It is known for its caves, springs, and its rich diversity of flora and fauna. Ein Gedi is mentioned several times in biblical writings, for example, in the Song of Songs; "My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of Ein Gedi" (1:14). According to Jewish tradition, David hid from Shaul in the caves here; "And David went up from thence, and dwelt in the strongholds of Ein Gedi" (1 Shemuell 24:1).
