Bible Strands
1 Samuel 26:3
Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hachilah opposite Jeshimon, but David was living in the wilderness. When he realized that Saul had followed him there,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the moment Saul’s forces arrive to hunt David, placing Saul’s camp on a specific ridge while David remains concealed in the adjacent wilderness.
The words — וַ/יִּ֨חַן (va/i.Yi.chan) literally means “and he encamped,” denoting the formal military positioning of Saul’s army. בְּ/גִבְעַת הַ/חֲכִילָ֗ה (be./giv.'At ha./cha.khi.Lah) identifies the exact topographical anchor, “on the hill of Hakilah.”
The thread — This geographic placement directly fulfills the Ziphite intelligence in 1 Samuel 26:1 and mirrors the earlier report in 1 Samuel 23:19. The repeated location markers trace the hunters’ advance through the same ridge system.
Why it lands — The text establishes the physical proximity of the pursuer to the pursued, framing the subsequent encounter as a matter of tactical awareness rather than chance.
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 Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 23:19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?
- 1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?”