John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 3. Then said the princes of the Philistines , etc.] To Achish; not those of the court of Achish, who were his subjects, but the confederate princes with him in this war, the lords of the other principalities, as appears by the freedom they took with him, ( 1 Samuel 29:4); what [do] these Hebrews [here] ? or Jews, as the Targum; what hast thou to do with them, or they to be with thee? men of another nation and religion, and known enemies to the Philistines: and Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines ; in order to soften them, and reconcile them to these men, and their being with him: [is] not this David the servant of Saul the king of Israel ; between whom there had been a quarrel, and the former had fled from the latter to him: which hath been with me these days, or these years ; had been with him many days, and he might say years, as he had been with him one whole year, and part of another, (see 1 Samuel 27:7); and he might have known him longer, if he was the same Achish David first fled to; Kimchi interprets it, that he knew him as well as if he had been with him as many years as days: and I have found no fault in him since he fell [unto me] unto this day ? the affair of David’s going against the Geshurites, etc. not being yet known by him, or, if it was, he approved of it, they being enemies of his; this shows that David behaved with a great deal of prudence to have such a character as this from a king of the Philistines.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-5 - David waited with a secret hope that the Lord would help him out of his difficulty. But he seems to have been influenced too much by the fea of man, in consenting to attend Achish. It is hard to come near to the brink of sin, and not to fall in. God inclined the princes of the Philistines to oppose David's being employed in the battle. Thus their dislike befriended him, when no friend could do him such a kindness.
Original Hebrew ויאמרו559 שׂרי8269 פלשׁתים6430 מה4100 העברים5680 האלה428 ויאמר559 אכישׁ397 אל413 שׂרי8269 פלשׁתים6430 הלוא3808 זה2088 דוד1732 עבד5650 שׁאול7586 מלך4428 ישׂראל3478 אשׁר834 היה1961 אתי854 זה2088 ימים3117 או176 זה2088 שׁנים8141 ולא3808 מצאתי4672 בו מאומה3972 מיום3117 נפלו5307 עד5704 היום3117 הזה׃2088
