1 Samuel 27:7

a full year and four months The Sept. reading "four months" is improbable, though the Heb. might be rendered "a space of time, even four months." Ch. 1 Samuel 29:3 implies a much longer residence. "In this city David laid the foundation of his kingdom. Here he could already rule with greater freedom and independence, collect fugitives and deserters around him in larger and larger numbers, send or receive embassies like a prince (1 Samuel 30:26-31), and as a ruler over soldiers and peaceable citizens rehearse, on a small scale, those arts by which he afterwards acquired and maintained his great kingdom." Ewald, Hist. of Israel, III. 101. Here a band of archers and slingers from Saul's own tribe joined him, together with men from the southern towns of Judah, and from Manasseh (1 Chronicles 12:1-7; 1 Chronicles 12:20-22).