Bible Strands
1 Samuel 23:24
So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Saul’s commanders advance toward Ziph to locate David’s hiding place, while David and his men occupy the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. This movement follows immediately after Saul’s officers promise to return with exact intelligence on his whereabouts.
The words — זִיפָה (Ziphah) identifies the specific hill town, and בְּמִדְבָּר (be-midbar) denotes the arid, unsettled terrain where David’s camp is situated. These terms fix the narrative in concrete geography rather than symbolic space.
The thread — Joshua 15:55 lists Ziph and Maon among the southern boundary towns allotted to Judah. 1 Samuel 25:2 later references Maon and Carmel as adjacent locations in the same district.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to track converging military movements and precise territorial coordinates. It demands attention to how physical positioning shapes the immediate threat without inviting allegorical reading.
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 they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
Cross-references
- Joshua 15:55 Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,
- 1 Samuel 25:2 Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.