Era 6 · The First Kings1 Samuel
Keilah, Ziph and Jonathan's Last Visit
"Fear not… thou shalt be king over Israel"
"Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors." David inquires of the LORD: "Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah." He does. Abiathar has brought the ephod. "Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand?" "They will deliver thee up." David and about six hundred men leave.
In the wilderness of Ziph, "Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee." They make a covenant before the LORD. It is their last meeting.
The Ziphites tell Saul where David is hiding. Saul and his men surround David's men on one side of a mountain in the wilderness of Maon; "David made haste to get away for fear of Saul." A messenger comes: "the Philistines have invaded the land." Saul turns back. The place is called Sela-hammahlekoth, "the rock of escape" or "of division." David goes to the strongholds of En-gedi.
Asking through the ephod
David asks yes-or-no questions and receives answers through the ephod Abiathar brought, apparently with the Urim and Thummim. How it worked is not described; see 14:41 for the fullest account.
Places
| Place | Proposed site | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Keilah | Khirbet Qila | Probable |
| Ziph | Tell Zif, southeast of Hebron | Probable |
| Maon | Khirbet Ma'in | Probable |
| Horesh (the wood) | Unlocated | — |
| Sela-hammahlekoth | Unlocated | — |
The Case for the Biblical Account
Scripture's account
David at Keilah, Ziph and Maon (1 Samuel 23).
What evidence would we expect?
Towns in the Judean hills and desert fringe; Philistine raids on threshing floors.
The discoveries
Iron Age occupation at proposed sites; Keilah (Qiltu) in the Amarna letters.
Testing the discoveries
The geography fits; the pursuit is known only from Samuel.
The strongest reconstruction
Traditions of David's fugitive years in the Judean wilderness.
What remains possible
Precise locations of the wilderness places.
What the evidence shows
- Keilah appears in the Amarna letters.
- Tell Zif is biblical Ziph.
- "Thou shalt be king over Israel."
Continue the journey
Connected elsewhere in ScripturePsalm 54: God Is My HelperPsalm 54: Titled "when the Ziphims came and said to Saul."More from this lesson
On the map
Location securely identified Probable identification Proposed or debated location Biblical route (roads schematic) Scholarly proposal
- David's years as a fugitive. Gibeah → Ramah → Nob → Gath → Adullam → Keilah → the wildernesses of Ziph and Maon → En-gedi → Carmel → Gath → Ziklag. Several sites are proposals (Ramah, Nob, Ziklag); order and lines are schematic.
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Titled "when the Ziphims came and said to Saul."
- Titled "when he was in the wilderness of Judah."
- Urim and Thummim.