Bible Strands
1 Samuel 22:4
So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records David’s action after he relocated his parents to Moab, noting their continuous residence there during his own stay in the stronghold.
The words — וַ/יַּנְחֵ֕/ם (va/yit.nakhem) literally means “and he caused them to dwell” or “he left them,” while וַ/יֵּשְׁב֣וּ (va/yi.yeshevu) means “and they remained.”
The thread — The narrative continues in 1 Samuel 22:5 when Gad commands David to abandon the stronghold for Judah, and the temporary refuge motif parallels the plea for shelter in Psalm 11:1.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize the provisional, dependent nature of both David’s family’s safety and his own military position before the next divine instruction arrives.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.
Cross-references
- Psalms 11:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
- 1 Samuel 23:1 Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.”
- 2 Samuel 23:13 At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
- 2 Samuel 24:11 When David got up in the morning, the word of the LORD had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer:
- 1 Chronicles 12:16 Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold.
- 1 Chronicles 21:9 And the LORD instructed Gad, David’s seer,
- 1 Chronicles 29:29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are indeed written in the Chronicles of Samuel the Seer, the Chronicles of Nathan the Prophet, and the Chronicles of Gad the Seer,
- 2 Chronicles 29:25 Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet. For the command had come from the LORD through His prophets.
- Nehemiah 6:11 But I replied, “Should a man like me run away? Should one like me go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go!”
- Isaiah 8:12 “Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live in dread.