Tyndale Open Study Notes1 Samuel 22

Saul’s character is clear here. He could not take revenge on David himself. Instead, Saul killed those he believed had helped David.

• Adullam was about 25.8 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of Jerusalem, near Philistine land.

• If David's brothers and other relatives had stayed in Bethlehem, Saul could have easily targeted them for revenge.

distressed … indebted … discontented: The people who gathered around David were distressed, poor, and unhappy. By drawing such people to himself, David pointed ahead to Jesus, who would later welcome people who were hurting, burdened, and pushed to the edges of society (Matthew 11:25–30).

• Mizpeh in Moab was east of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. It was a difficult journey from Adullam, especially if David's 400 men traveled with him (1 Samuel 22:2).

• they stayed with him: Jesse's grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite (Ruth 4:13–22).

The prophet Gad was David’s special adviser (2 Samuel 24:11). God had stopped communicating with Saul and was now guiding David.

men of Benjamin: Saul was suspicious of his own tribesmen. He believed David had paid them to be loyal to him. Worse, Saul did not even trust his own son. He believed his son was part of the supposed conspiracy.

David had deceived Ahimelech into thinking he was on a mission from Saul (1 Samuel 21:1–9). Because of this, Saul’s accusations of conspiracy had no basis.

the king’s son-in-law: David had married Saul's daughter (1 Samuel 18:17–29).

• Doeg the Edomite … struck down the priests: Doeg was not an Israelite, so he did not respect the holiness of priests chosen by God. He knew the priests were innocent, yet he still killed them. In this way, Doeg partly fulfilled God’s earlier judgment against the priestly family of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:27–34 and 1 Kings 2:27).

• men who wore the linen ephod: This incident shows how irrational Saul had become. Not even those in sacred office were safe.

Saul had been unwilling to carry out God’s orders to destroy completely the Amalekites and their possessions (1 Samuel 15:3, 9). Yet now, in his rage, he did not hesitate to destroy the priests' families and their possessions (see Proverbs 14:29; 16:14; 27:4).

Abiathar became an adviser to David, providing guidance from the Lord through the ephod (a priestly garment) (1 Samuel 23:2–12; 2 Samuel 15:24–36). Later, he conspired with Adonijah against David and Solomon (1 Kings 1–2).