Synopsis of the Chapter
Achish takes David with him to battle against Saul; but when his Philistine allies doubt David's loyalty and therefore object, he sends him home.
Verse 3: Many Days or Years ¶
3. AND HE HAS BEEN WITH ME MANY DAYS OR YEARS. -- In Hebrew, "now days or now years." Lyranus, Pagninus, and the Innovators think David stayed with Achish for many years. But others commonly say that David stayed with Achish only four months and some days, as expressly stated in chapter 27, verse 7. Salianus answers that Achish was looking back to David's first sojourn, which had begun with him six years before; or else he counted the end of the elapsed year and the beginning of the following year.
Verse 4: God's Marvelous Providence ¶
4. LET THIS MAN RETURN. -- Note here the marvelous providence of God toward His David. For David was here in a plainly dangerous and entangled situation, so that he would be forced either to be a traitor to King Achish, if in battle he defected to Saul and the Hebrews; or to be an enemy of his fatherland and his fellow citizens, if he fought against them. But God cut this perplexing knot as if with a sword. For He instilled in the Philistines distrust of David's loyalty, and fear of the danger they would face if David in battle turned on them. Therefore they ordered him to withdraw from the battle and be sent home. Achish did this with great honor and praise of David, as well as to his benefit and advantage. For David, withdrawing from the battle, pursued the Amalekites and took from them the spoils they had plundered from his Ziklag, together with their own rich plunder: which he could not have done if he had stayed with Achish.
Verse 9: Good as an Angel of God ¶
9. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOOD IN MY EYES, AS AN ANGEL OF GOD -- as if to say: You are most pleasing to me, I most highly esteem you, indeed I revere you as an Angel of God. This is a Hebrew comparison and expression, which they use when they wish to greatly praise and extol someone. Thus Jacob, to appease his brother Esau, flatters him saying: "I have seen your face as if I had seen the face of God," Genesis 33:10. And the woman of Tekoa, pleading with David on behalf of Absalom, says: "As an Angel of the Lord, so is my lord the king," 2 Samuel 14:17.