Why do the Philistine princes send David back despite Achis’s defence of him?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

They fear David will turn against them in battle to regain his master’s favour with their heads, and recall the song about his ten thousands. Achis says he has found no fault but orders David and his companions to leave when light begins. David’s men return to the Philistines’ land while the army goes to Jezrahel.

Chapter breakdown

All Philistine troops gather at Aphec, while Israel camps by the fountain in Jezrahel. The Philistine lords march with their hundreds and thousands; David and his men are in the rear with Achis. The princes ask Achis what these Hebrews mean. Achis replies that David was the servant of Saul, Israel’s king, has been with him many days, or years, and that he has found no fault since David fled to him up to that day. This is Achis’s account, with its days-or-years wording retained.

The princes are angry with Achis. They say David must return and stay in the place Achis appointed, and must not go to battle with them lest he become their adversary when fighting starts. They ask how he could otherwise appease his master except with their heads. They recall David as the one to whom the dance song says Saul killed his thousands and David his ten thousands. Their fear is a warning, not a report that David has attacked them in this battle.

Achis calls David and swears by the living Lord that David is upright and good in his sight, including his going out and coming in with Achis in the army. He says he has found no evil since David arrived to that day, but David does not please the lords. He orders him to return in peace and not offend the princes’ eyes. David asks what he has done or what Achis has found in his servant from his first day in Achis’s sight until then, that he may not fight the enemies of his lord the king. Achis says he knows David is good in his sight as an angel of God, but the princes say he shall not go with them to battle. These evaluations and explanations remain Achis’s words.

Achis tells David to rise in the morning with the servants of his lord who came with him. Once they are up before day and light begins, they should go on their way. David and his men rise in the night to set out in the morning and return to the Philistines’ land; the Philistines go up to Jezrahel.

The story inside

The muster puts David’s men in the rear with Achis, where their presence draws the princes’ question. Achis’s defence does not remove their fear: they recall the song and ask how David might appease his master. Their prohibition leads Achis to explain his own good opinion while ordering departure. David asks what fault prevents his fighting, and Achis repeats both his approval and the princes’ decision. The departure instructions name morning light, and the closing action separates David’s return to the Philistines’ land from their army’s advance to Jezrahel.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The commanders give a specific concern. They fear becoming the means of David’s reconciliation with his master when fighting starts, and cite the dance song. The chapter supplies no actual battle betrayal or secret plan by David.
2
Achis’s approval is a speaker’s assessment. He says he has found no fault and compares David to an angel of God, while still enforcing the princes’ refusal. It is not a separate source ruling on every act David has performed.
3
The instruction and outcome preserve place and timing. Achis addresses David and the servants of his lord, with departure as light begins. David rises at night to set out in the morning and returns to the Philistines’ land; the chapter names no later events at Siceleg.

Test your recall

How do Achis’s defence and the princes’ fear lead to David’s dismissal, what does David ask, and how do the instructions match the two groups’ departures?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 31447–31461
1 Kings Chapter 29 David going with the Philistines is sent back by their princes. 29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel. 29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis. 29:3. And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?
Lines 31463–31470
29:4. But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads? 29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
Lines 31472–31488
29:6. Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords. 29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of the Philistines. 29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 29:9. And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to the battle.
Lines 31490–31498
29:10. Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your way. 29:11. So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezrahel.