The Fugitive Years

Triggering the Hunt

The Women's Song

After David killed Goliath, the women of Israel met Saul returning from victory and sang:

"Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands." — 1 Samuel 18:7

Saul's reaction:

"And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, 'They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?' And Saul eyed David from that day on." — 1 Samuel 18:8–9

The First Spear

The very next day, while David was playing the harp to soothe Saul, the harmful spirit came upon Saul and he hurled his spear at David, saying "I will pin David to the wall." David evaded it. This happened twice 1 Sam 18:10–11.

Saul's First Plot — Battle

Saul removed David from his presence and made him commander of a thousand 1 Sam 18:13, hoping David would die in battle. David's military success only grew.

Merab and the Bride Price

Saul promised David his older daughter Merab in marriage 1 Sam 18:17, hoping the responsibility would lead him into Philistine battles where he would die. When the time came, Saul gave Merab to Adriel the Meholathite instead 1 Sam 18:19.

Michal and the Hundred Foreskins

Saul's younger daughter Michal loved David. Saul offered her in marriage with a bride price of 100 Philistine foreskins 1 Sam 18:25, expecting David to be killed in the attempt. David and his men brought back 200 foreskins 1 Sam 18:27, doubling the requirement. Saul gave Michal to David in marriage but his fear of David only deepened.

Open Attempts on David's Life

Jonathan's Intervention

Saul commanded Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. Jonathan warned David and reasoned with his father, who relented temporarily 1 Sam 19:1–7.

The Third Spear

Saul again tried to spear David at the wall during a harp session 1 Sam 19:9–10. David escaped that night.

Michal's Deception

Saul sent men to watch David's house and kill him in the morning. Michal lowered David through a window and arranged a household idol (teraphim) in the bed covered with a goat's-hair pillow, telling Saul's men David was sick. The deception bought David time to escape 1 Sam 19:11–17.

Flight to Samuel at Ramah

David fled to Samuel at Ramah and stayed with him at Naioth. Three groups of messengers Saul sent to seize David were each overcome by the Spirit and prophesied. Saul came himself — and he too prophesied, stripping off his clothes and lying naked all that day and night 1 Sam 19:18–24. This is the origin of the saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

The Arrow Plan and Final Parting from Jonathan

Covered in Chapter 04. After Jonathan's signal confirmed Saul's intent, David fled definitively.

Nob: The Showbread and the Sword

David, alone, fled to Nob — the town of priests just outside Jerusalem. He approached Ahimelech the priest:

• David lied, claiming Saul had sent him on a secret mission 1 Sam 21:2.
• He asked for bread; Ahimelech had only the consecrated showbread (lehem hapanim), reserved for priests. Ahimelech gave it to David — a moment Jesus would later cite to defend His disciples picking grain on the Sabbath Matt 12:3–4.
• David asked for a weapon. Ahimelech gave him the only sword in Nob: Goliath's sword, which had been stored there wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod 1 Sam 21:9.

One witness to this exchange was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's chief herdsman, who was at Nob that day. He would later report what he saw to Saul, with catastrophic consequences (see below).

Gath: Feigning Madness

David fled south into Philistine territory and went to King Achish of Gath — Goliath's hometown. The servants of Achish recognized him as the slayer of their giant and reminded the king of the song: "Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands."

David, "very much afraid," pretended to be insane:

"He changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard." — 1 Samuel 21:13

Achish dismissed him: "Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence?" 1 Sam 21:15

Psalms written during this period: Psalm 34 (subtitled "Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech") and Psalm 56 ("when the Philistines seized him in Gath").

The Cave of Adullam

David escaped from Gath to the cave of Adullam, a hillside fortress in the lowlands of Judah. Here the gathering began:

"And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men." — 1 Samuel 22:1–2

The Original Company

The men who came to David were:

• Family — his brothers and father's household
• Those in distress (matzok — under pressure or oppression)
• Those in debt (nashe — having a creditor)
• Those bitter in soul (mar nephesh — discontent, embittered, often by Saul's tyranny)

Four hundred social outcasts. Over time the number grew to six hundred 1 Sam 23:13, and would remain at six hundred for years.

Psalm 142 is subtitled "A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer." Psalm 57 is also subtitled "when he fled from Saul in the cave."

Securing Asylum for Parents in Moab

David went from Adullam to Mizpeh of Moab and asked the king of Moab to shelter his father Jesse and mother until "I know what God will do for me" 1 Sam 22:3. The king received them. Jesse and his wife remained in Moab "all the time that David was in the stronghold."

This was likely facilitated by David's Moabite great-grandmother Ruth — the king of Moab may have honored the family connection.

The Prophet Gad

The prophet Gad instructed David: "Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah" 1 Sam 22:5. Gad would remain David's seer for the rest of his life, advising him at multiple points (including after the census in 2 Samuel 24).

The Massacre at Nob

This is one of the darkest events of Saul's reign and one of the deepest griefs of David's life.

Doeg the Edomite, the witness from Nob, reported to Saul that Ahimelech had given David bread and sword. Saul summoned Ahimelech and all the priests of his father's house — eighty-five men in linen ephods. Ahimelech defended himself honestly: he had not known of any conspiracy.

Saul commanded his guards to kill the priests. They refused. Saul commanded Doeg to do it.

"And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword." — 1 Samuel 22:18–19

One son of Ahimelech escaped: Abiathar. He fled to David carrying the ephod with him. David received him with terrible self-knowledge:

"I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house. Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping." — 1 Samuel 22:22–23

Abiathar became David's priest. He carried the ephod, through which David inquired of the LORD throughout the wilderness years. Psalm 52 is subtitled "when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, 'David has come to the house of Ahimelech.'"

Saving Keilah

David heard that the Philistines were attacking the city of Keilah and threshing its grain. He inquired of the LORD twice (his men were afraid) and received the word to attack 1 Sam 23:1–5. David and his men defeated the Philistines and saved Keilah.

When Saul heard David was at Keilah, he prepared to besiege him. David inquired of the LORD through the ephod:

1. Will Saul come down? — Yes
2. Will the men of Keilah surrender me? — Yes

David and his now six hundred men left Keilah before Saul could arrive 1 Sam 23:13.

The Wilderness of Ziph

David hid in the strongholds of the wilderness of Ziph. The Ziphites — fellow Judahites — twice betrayed his location to Saul:

1. First betrayal: They went to Saul at Gibeah 1 Sam 23:19–20. Saul came hunting. David moved to the Wilderness of Maon. Saul was on one side of the mountain, David on the other, with Saul closing in — when a messenger reported a Philistine raid, and Saul was forced to break off the pursuit 1 Sam 23:24–28. The rock there became known as Sela-hammahlekoth ("the Rock of Divisions").
2. Second betrayal: The Ziphites came to Saul again 1 Sam 26:1, leading to the second sparing of Saul's life (below).

Psalm 54 is subtitled "when the Ziphites went and told Saul, 'Is not David hiding among us?'"

Jonathan's Final Visit

Between the betrayals, Jonathan visited David at Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph and "strengthened his hand in God" 1 Sam 23:16 — covered in Chapter 04.

En-gedi: The Cave

David moved to the wilderness of En-gedi, the lush oasis on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Saul took three thousand chosen men to find him.

While searching, Saul entered a cave "to cover his feet" (a euphemism for relieving himself). Unknown to him, David and his men were in the deeper recesses of the same cave.

David's Men Urged Him to Strike

"Behold, the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" — 1 Samuel 24:4

David crept up and cut off a corner of Saul's robe — and immediately his heart smote him 1 Sam 24:5. He restrained his men: "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed."

Confrontation at the Cave Mouth

After Saul left the cave, David followed and called out:

"My lord the king!... See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you." — 1 Samuel 24:8–12

Saul wept aloud: "You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil... And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house" 1 Sam 24:17–21.

David swore. Saul went home. David and his men went up to their stronghold. The reconciliation was — predictably — temporary.

The Death of Samuel

1 Samuel 25:1 records, almost in passing, an event of staggering significance:

"Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran." — 1 Samuel 25:1

The prophet who had anointed both Saul and David, the final judge of Israel, the transition figure between the judges and the monarchy — died. The text immediately turns to David's next encounter, almost as if to emphasize that David was now alone in a way he had not been before.

Nabal and Abigail

In the wilderness of Paran (some manuscripts: Maon), David encountered the shepherds of a wealthy Calebite landowner named Nabal ("fool"). David's men had protected Nabal's flocks unrequested for an extended period. At sheep-shearing time — when generosity was customary — David sent ten young men to request provisions 1 Sam 25:5–8.

Nabal refused with insult: "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters... Shall I give it to men who come from I do not know where?" 1 Sam 25:10–11

David, enraged, swore to kill every male in Nabal's household by morning. He prepared four hundred men with swords.

Abigail's Intervention

Abigail, Nabal's wife — described as "discerning and beautiful" 1 Sam 25:3 — was warned by one of Nabal's servants. Without telling her husband, she prepared an enormous gift:

• 200 loaves of bread
• 2 skins of wine
• 5 sheep already prepared
• 5 measures of parched grain
• 100 clusters of raisins
• 200 cakes of figs

She rode out and intercepted David. Her speech to him is one of the most theologically dense in 1 Samuel:

"When the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself." — 1 Samuel 25:30–31

She talked David out of the slaughter. David recognized her wisdom: "Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand!" 1 Sam 25:33

Nabal's Death

When Abigail returned, Nabal was hosting a feast "like the feast of a king" and was very drunk. She waited until morning. When she told him what had happened:

"His heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died." — 1 Samuel 25:37–38

Abigail Becomes David's Wife

When David heard, he sent for Abigail. She agreed and rode with five maidens after David's messengers. She became David's wife. The same passage notes:

"David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives. Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim." — 1 Samuel 25:43–44

At this point David has at least three wives: Michal (taken from him by Saul), Ahinoam, and Abigail.

The Second Sparing — Ziph

The Ziphites betrayed David's location to Saul a second time 1 Sam 26:1. Saul came with three thousand chosen men and camped at the hill of Hachilah. David sent out spies, then took Abishai (his nephew, son of his sister Zeruiah) and entered Saul's camp at night.

Saul was sleeping inside his circle of men with his spear stuck in the ground at his head. The LORD had caused "a deep sleep from the LORD" to fall on all of them.

Abishai's Plea

Abishai: "God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice." 1 Sam 26:8

David's Refusal

"Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?... As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD's anointed." — 1 Samuel 26:9–11

David took only Saul's spear and the jar of water at his head. They left undetected.

The Call Across the Valley

From the top of the opposite hill, David called out to Abner, Saul's commander, mocking him for failing to protect his king. Saul recognized David's voice:

Saul: "Is this your voice, my son David?"

David: "It is my voice, my lord, O king."

David presented his case again. Saul confessed: "I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake" 1 Sam 26:21.

Saul: "Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will succeed in them" 1 Sam 26:25.

They parted. David went his way. Saul returned to his place.

This is the last face-to-face encounter between David and Saul in Scripture.

The Wilderness Psalms

Many of David's most enduring Psalms are tied to this period:

Psalm	Superscription	Location/Event
Psalm 7	Concerning Cush, a Benjaminite	Likely related to a critic from Saul's tribe during the persecution
Psalm 11	Of David	Internal — when advisors told him to "flee like a bird"
Psalm 17	A Prayer of David	"Hide me in the shadow of your wings"
Psalm 22	Of David	Crucifixion psalm — possibly composed during deepest distress
Psalm 31	Of David	"Into your hand I commit my spirit" — quoted by Jesus on the cross
Psalm 34	When he changed his behavior before Abimelech (Achish)	Gath — feigning madness
Psalm 35	Of David	"Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me"
Psalm 52	When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul	Nob aftermath
Psalm 54	When the Ziphites went and told Saul	Wilderness of Ziph
Psalm 56	When the Philistines seized him in Gath	Gath
Psalm 57	When he fled from Saul in the cave	Cave (Adullam or En-gedi)
Psalm 59	When Saul sent men to watch his house	Michal's escape
Psalm 63	In the wilderness of Judah	"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you"
Psalm 64	Of David	Prayer against secret enemies
Psalm 70	Of David, for the memorial offering	Urgent plea for deliverance
Psalm 142	A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.	Cave (Adullam or En-gedi)

Duration

The fugitive years lasted approximately seven to ten years — from David's flight from Saul's court (perhaps age 20) to Saul's death (David was 30 at Hebron, having been on the run with the men in the latter portion). The wilderness wandering, after his break from Saul's court and excluding earlier years of intermittent flight, is generally reckoned at about seven years.

Summary of the Fugitive Period

David was hunted by the king he had served. He gathered six hundred outcasts into the most loyal army Israel would see. He spared his enemy's life twice. He inadvertently caused the slaughter of an entire priestly town. He acquired wives, lost his first one, and gained the trust of foreign rulers. He learned to live without security, without ceremony, and without honor — and to compose songs that would shape the prayer life of the people of God forever.

The man who would soon be king was being forged in places no public eye could see.