1 Samuel 22:3

_AND DAVID WENT THENCE TO MIZPEH OF MOAB: AND HE SAID UNTO THE KING OF MOAB, LET MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER, I PRAY THEE, COME FORTH, AND BE WITH YOU, TILL I KNOW WHAT GOD WILL DO FOR ME._ And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab. Mizpeh signifies a watch-tower; and its association with Moab determines the direction in which it is to be sought for. The search is still further limited by the application to it (1 Samuel 22:4) of the term "hold" х_ MªTSUWDAAH_ (H4686)] - a fortress, stronghold; and all these circumstances combined point evidently to Masada, now Sebbeh, described by Josephus ('Jewish Wars,' b. iv., 7, 2; 7:8,2; 'Antiquities,' 13:, 9, 14; b. 2:, 7) as a lofty rock of considerable circuit, overhanging the Dead Sea, surrounded by profound valleys, unfathomable to the eye. It was inaccessible to the foot of animal

1-5 See what weak instruments God sometimes uses, to bring about his own purposes. The Son of David is ready to receive distressed souls, who will be commanded by him. He receives all who come unto Him, however vile and miserable; he changes them into a holy people, and employs them in his service: those who would reign with him must be contented first to suffer with and for him. Observe with what tender concern David provided for his aged parents. The first thing he does is to find them a quiet habitation, whatever became of himself. Let children learn to honour their parents, in every thing consulting their ease and satisfaction. Though highly preferred, and much employed, let them not forget their aged parents. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And the Lord will preserve his people for their appointed work, however they may be hated and exposed....

Verse 1 Samuel 22:3. _HE SAID UNTO THE KING OF MOAB_] David could not trust his parents within the reach of Saul, and he found it very inconvenient to them to be obliged to go through all the fatigues of a military life, and therefore begs the king of Moab to give them shelter. The king of Moab, being one of Saul's enemies, would be the more ready to oblige a person from whom he might at least expect _friendship_, if not considerable _services_....

MIZPEH OF MOAB - A good conjecture connects it with “Zophim” (a word of the same root as Mizpeh) on the top of Pisgah Numbers 23:14. It is probable that David’s descent from Ruth the Moabitess may have had something to do with his seeking an asylum for Jesse, Ruth’s grandson, in the land of her birth. It would be very easy to get to the Jordan from the neighborhood of Bethlehem, and cross over near its embouchure into the Dead Sea. COME FORTH, AND BE WITH YOU - The construction of the Hebrew is very strange. The Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic seem to have read “dwell” instead of “come forth.”...

EXPOSITION COMMENCEMENT OF DAVID'S LIFE AS AN OUTLAW. 1 SAMUEL 22:1 THE CAVE ADULLAM. According to Josephus this was situated near a city of the same name ('Ant.,' 1 Samuel 6:12, 1 Samuel 6:3), which formed one of a group of fifteen in the Shephelah (see on 1 Samuel 17:1), and its site has now been recovered by Mr. Conder (see 'Tent Work,' 2:156-160). "The great valley," he says, "of Elah, which forms the highway from Philistia to Hebron, runs down northwards past

AND DAVID WENT THENCE TO MIZPEH OF MOAB,.... So called to distinguish it from a place of the same name in the land of Israel; which Junius says is the same with Malle, and signifies a fortified place, and refers to the Apocrypha: "And how that many of them were shut up in Bosora, and Bosor, and Alema, Casphor, Maked, and Carnaim; all these cities are strong and great:'' (1 Maccabees 5:26) here he might think himself safer, though in an enemy's country, than in the land of Israel: AND HE SAID UNTO THE KING OF MOAB, LET MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER, I PRAY THEE, COME FORTH; out of the land of Israel, or out of the cave of Adullam, whither they were come to him: [AND BE] WITH YOU; if not with the king of Moab at his court, yet in some part or other of his country, where they might be safe from the rage of Saul: TILL I KNOW WHAT GOD WILL DO FOR ME; on whose power and providence he wholly rel...

CHAPTER 22 _ 1. In the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1)_ 2. In Moab and Gad's message (1 Samuel 22:3) 3. Saul's discovery of David's visit to Nob (1 Samuel 22:6) 4. The murder of the priests (1 Samuel 22:11) 5. David and Abiathar (1 Samuel 22:20) Next we find him in the cave of Adullam (a witness). Here a strange company gathers around the rejected king. It consisted of 400 men. He became their captain. Some of them were in distress, others in debt, and discontented. Such were attracted to th

1 SAMUEL 22. DAVID AT ADULLAM AND MOAB: MASSACRE AT NOB (J). The series of narratives in ch. 22 may very well come from the same ancient document, and be the continuation of 1 Samuel 21:1. 1 SAMUEL 22:1 F. David takes refuge at Adullam (p. 31), about 12 miles SW. of Bethlehem: he is joined by his clan and by various unsatisfactory characters, to the number of about 400, _i.e._ he becomes a captain of bandits. 1 SAMUEL 22:3. David takes his father and mother for safety to the king of Moab at Mizpeh (not identified). According to Ruth 4:21 f., David's great-grandmother was a Moabitess, Ruth. The prophet Gad ...

COME FORTH. Syriac and Vulgate read. "dwell". No Ellipsis then to be supplied. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim_. App-4....

_Mizpeh of Moab_ Mentioned here only. Perhaps either the strong rock citadel afterwards known as Kir-Moab, now _Kerak_is meant: or some place not in Moab proper, but on the mountains of Abarim or Pisgah north of the Arnon, which would be more easily accessible from Bethlehem by way of Jericho. The long purple wall of the mountains of Moab is a striking feature in the view from Bethlehem (_Sin. and Pal_. p. 104), and would naturally suggest a retreat thither: but no doubt it was his connexion with Moab through his great-grandmother Ruth, which chiefly induced David to choose that country as a refuge for his parents....