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"the wilderness of Ziph," "of Maon," etc., from the names of neighboring towns. In
general it may be said of this period of his wanderings (ver. 14), that during its
course David's head-quarters were on "mountain heights,"^210 whence he could easily
observe the approach of an enemy, while "Saul sought him every day," but in vain,
since "God gave him not into his hand."
The first station in these wanderings was the "wilderness of Ziph," on the outskirts
of the town of that name, about an hour and three-quarters to the south-east of
Hebron. South of it a solitary mountain-top rises about one hundred feet,
commanding a full prospect of the surrounding country. On the other hand, anything
that passed there could also easily be observed from below. It seems that this was
"the mountain" (ver. 14), or, as it is afterwards (ver. 19) more particularly described,
"the hill of Hachilah, on the south of the wilderness,"^211 where David had his
principal station, or rather, to be more accurate, in "the thicket," or "brushwood,"^212
which covered its sides (vers. 15, 16).
It was thither that in the very height of these first persecutions, Jonathan came once
more to see his friend, and, as the sacred text emphatically puts it, "strengthened his
hand in God." It is difficult to form an adequate conception of the courage, the
spiritual faith, and the moral grandeur of this act. Never did man more completely
clear himself from all complicity in guilt, than Jonathan from that of his father. And
yet not an undutiful word escaped the lips of this brave man. And how truly human
is his fond hope that in days to come, when David would be king, he should stand
next to his throne, his trusted adviser, as in the days of sorrow he had been the true
and steadfast friend of the outlaw! As we think of what it must have cost Jonathan to
speak thus, or again of the sad fate which was so soon to overtake him, there is a
deep pathos about this brief interview, almost unequaled in Holy Scripture, to which
the ambitious hopes of the sons of Zebedee form not a parallel but a contrast.
But yet another bitter experience had David to make. As so often in the history of the
Church, and never more markedly than in the case of Him Who was the great
Antitype of David, it appeared that those who should most have rallied around him
were his enemies and betrayers. The "citizens"^213 of Keilah would have given him up
from fear of Saul. But the men of Ziph went further.
Like those who hypocritically pretended that they would have no other king but
Caesar, they feigned a loyalty for which it is impossible to give them credit. Of their
own accord, and evidently from hatred of David, they who were his own tribesmen
betrayed his hiding-place to Saul, and offered to assist in his capture. It is pitiable to
hear Saul in the madness of his passion invoking on such men "the blessing of
Jehovah," and characterizing their deed as one of "compassion" on himself (23:21).
But the danger which now threatened David was greater than any previously or
(^)