Bible Strands
1 Samuel 24:2
So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to look for David and his men in the region of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes Saul’s movement immediately after returning from a Philistine campaign and receiving word that David is located in the wilderness of En-gedi.
The words — בָּח֖וּר (ba.Chur) translates literally as “chosen,” specifying that the deployed force consists of elite, selected soldiers rather than a general conscription.
The thread — This specific mobilization reappears in 1 Samuel 26:2, which repeats the three thousand chosen men detail, and traces back to 1 Samuel 13:2 where Saul initially selects three thousand troops for military operations.
Why it lands — The text states that a ruling king organizes a targeted, elite unit to hunt a fugitive, establishing the concrete military pressure that sets the physical stage for the cave encounter.
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
Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 26:2 So Saul, accompanied by three thousand chosen men of Israel, went down to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.
- 1 Samuel 13:2 He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
- Psalms 37:32 Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Psalms 38:12 Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
- Psalms 104:18 The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.
- Psalms 141:6 When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.