1 Samuel 27:1

Webster's Bible (1833)

David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר דָּוִד֙ אֶל־לִבּ֔וֹ עַתָּ֛ה אֶסָּפֶ֥ה יוֹם־אֶחָ֖ד בְּיַד־שָׁא֑וּל אֵֽין־לִ֨י ט֜וֹב כִּ֣י הִמָּלֵ֥ט אִמָּלֵ֣ט ׀ אֶל־אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֗ים וְנוֹאַ֨שׁ מִמֶּ֤נִּי שָׁאוּל֙ לְבַקְשֵׁ֤נִי עוֹד֙ בְּכָל־גְּב֣וּל יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְנִמְלַטְתִּ֖י מִיָּדֽוֹ

Transliteration

And wayyōmer Dāwid to-lēb of him, now ʾessāpeh day-one in-hand-of-Šāʾûl; ʾên-to me good, for himmālēṭ ʾimmālēṭ to-ʾereṣ pəlištîm and nôʾaš from me Šāʾûl to seek me again in-all-gəbûl yiśrāʾēl, and nimlāṭtî from hand of him.

Grammar Details

• *wayyōmer*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3ms - and he said
• *Dāwid*: proper noun - David
• *lēb*: noun ms construct - heart
• *ʾessāpeh*: niphal imperfect 1cs - I will be gathered/perish
• *Šāʾûl*: proper noun - Saul
• *ʾên*: particle of negation - there is not
• *himmālēṭ*: infinitive absolute niphal - escape
• *ʾimmālēṭ*: niphal imperfect 1cs - I will escape
• *ʾereṣ*: noun fs construct - land of
• *pəlištîm*: proper noun - Philistines
• *nôʾaš*: niphal perfect 3ms - he will despair/give up
• *gəbûl*: noun ms construct - territory/border
• *yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *nimlāṭtî*: niphal perfect 1cs - I will escape

Word Meanings

• *lēb*: heart/mind/inner self
• *ʾessāpeh*: I will perish/be consumed/be gathered
• *himmālēṭ* *ʾimmālēṭ*: I will surely escape (emphatic construction)
• *nôʾaš*: despair/give up/abandon

Referenced Verses

• Exod 14:12 : 12 Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."
• Num 14:3 : 3 Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn't it be better for us to return into Egypt?
• 1 Sam 16:1 : 1 Yahweh said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go: I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons.
• 1 Sam 16:13 : 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
• 1 Sam 21:10-15 : 10 David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11 The servants of Achish said to him, "Isn't this David the king of the land? Didn't they sing one to another about him in dances, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands?'" 12 David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 He changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard. 14 Then said Achish to his servants, Look, you see the man is mad; why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
• 1 Sam 22:5 : 5 The prophet Gad said to David, Don't stay in the stronghold; depart, and get you into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hereth.
• 1 Sam 23:17 : 17 He said to him, Don't be afraid; for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you; and that also Saul my father knows.
• 1 Sam 25:30 : 30 It shall come to pass, when Yahweh shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel,
• 1 Sam 27:10-11 : 10 Achish said, Against whom have you made a raid today? David said, Against the South of Judah, and against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites. 11 David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell of us, saying, So did David, and so has been his manner all the while he has lived in the country of the Philistines.
• 1 Sam 28:1-2 : 1 It happened in those days, that the Philistines gathered their hosts together for warfare, to fight with Israel. Achish said to David, Know you assuredly, that you shall go out with me in the host, you and your men. 2 David said to Achish, Therefore you shall know what your servant will do. Achish said to David, Therefore will I make you keeper of my head for ever.
• 1 Sam 29:2-30:3 : 2 The lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands; and David and his men passed on in the rearward with Achish. 3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What [do] these Hebrews [here]? Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, Isn't this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or [rather] these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell away [to me] to this day? 4 But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; and the princes of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where you have appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for with what should this [fellow] reconcile himself to his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men? 5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands? 6 Then Achish called David, and said to him, As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the host is good in my sight; for I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me to this day: nevertheless the lords don't favor you. 7 Therefore now return, and go in peace, that you not displease the lords of the Philistines. 8 David said to Achish, But what have I done? and what have you found in your servant so long as I have been before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 9 Achish answered David, I know that you are good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. 10 Therefore now rise up early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you; and as soon as you are up early in the morning, and have light, depart. 11 So David rose up early, he and his men, to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. The Philistines went up to Jezreel. 1 It happened, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the South, and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag, and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women [and all] who were therein, both small and great: they didn't kill any, but carried them off, and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive.
• Ps 116:11 : 11 I said in my haste, "All men are liars."
• Prov 3:5-6 : 5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, And don't lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, And he will direct your paths.
• Prov 13:12 : 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
• Isa 30:15-16 : 15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. You would not: 16 but you said, No, for we will flee on horses; therefore shall you flee: and, We will ride on the swift; therefore shall those who pursue you be swift.
• Isa 40:27-31 : 27 Why say you, Jacob, and speak, Israel, My way is hid from Yahweh, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God? 28 Have you not known? have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint; and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 but those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
• Isa 51:12 : 12 I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;
• Lam 3:26-27 : 26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
• Matt 14:31 : 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
• Mark 4:40 : 40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?"
• 2 Cor 7:5 : 5 For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside.