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1 Samuel 27:8

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

1 Samuel 27:8

Verse 8 of 12

Scripture focus

And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those [nations were] of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.

1 Samuel 27:8 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on 1 Samuel 27:8

Theological / Devotional

Went up, and invaded. Though David was hunted like a beast of prey by Saul and spurned by his countrymen, he never wavered in his concern for Israel. Ziklag bordered on the territory of desert marauders who had troubled Israel ever since their entrance into Canaan. The Lord had ordered the complete annihilation of such predatory tribes as the Amalekites (Ex. 17:16; Num. 24:20; Deut. 9:1-4; Deut. 25:17-19; cf. Gen. 15:16), and as the anointed heir to the throne David felt responsible to carry out what Saul had failed to accomplish. David no doubt intended thus to merit the loyalty of his own nation.

The Geshurites. When Israel invaded the lands of Sihon and Og (Joshua 12), they came to the border of the Geshurites, near Mt. Hermon (Joshua 12:5; 13:11). It is possible that these Geshurites had migrated northward from the Negeb (see on Gen. 12:9; Judges 1:9) and the desert of Paran, and that a related tribe lived near Philistia.

The Gezrites. More accurately, “Girzites.” Their location is known only from their close association with the Amalekites in the desert “as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.”

The Amalekites. See on ch. 15:2.

By SdaBc