David in the Service of King Achish of Gath: Renegade to His ...

74 Y. Shemesh / Vetus Testamentum 57 (2007) 73-90
in the military campaign against Israel (1 Sam. xxviii 1-2). In fact, David and
his men did march with the Philistine army as it advanced to the decisive
battle at Mount Gilboa (1 Sam. xxix 2). Only the intervention of the Philistine
commanders 2 kept David and his men out of the battle and sent them to
the safe distance of Ziklag. Th e biblical narrator says nothing about the true
intentions of David and his men with regard to the impending battle. Th is
leaves ample room for speculation: Is it really possible that David would have
fought against his people and his king, even if only because he had no choice
in the matter as a result of the bind in which he found himself at the time—
persecuted by Saul and beholden to his patron, Achish, who had granted him
asylum?
In the present paper I hope to demonstrate, relying chiefly on a literary
analysis, that for the biblical narrator the possibility that David might fight
against his own people is absurd. Even though the narrator does not say this
in so many words, he provides ample hints that had David not been sent away
he would have acted as a fift h column and raised his sword against his patron,
Achish, and not against Saul and Israel.
I must emphasize that the discussion deals exclusively with David as a literary
character, as he is depicted in the stories about him, and not with the
historical figure, about whom we have no reliable information. Accordingly
I will not attempt to deal with the arguments of scholars who sought to
unveil the historical (as opposed to the literary) David and convicted him
not only of planning to join the Philistine army (or actually joining it, despite
2) Th ese “commanders” or “officers” (Heb. μyrç) are not the “lords” (μynrs) mentioned in
verse 2, despite the problems with the story. According to the narrator, the Philistine commanders
are angry with Achish for bringing David along and demand that he be dismissed
(vv. 3-5). By contrast, Achish initially tells David that the lords disapprove of his presence
(v. 6) and urges him to leave so as not to displease the lords (v. 7). Later, however, Achish
attributes the request that David be excluded from the army to the Philistine commanders
(v. 9), and this is consistent with what the narrator reports. In several manuscripts of the Septuagint,
the negative οὐκ is missing from the last clause of verse 6, indicating that Achish and
the lords approve of David, but not the commanders. Several scholars subscribe to this solution
(but it cannot explain the reference to the lords in verse 7). Alter proposes a literary solution:
in order to reinforce his words, Achish attributes the decision to send David away to the
very highest echelon, substituting the lords for the commanders. See R. Alter, Th e David Story
(New York and London, 1999), p. 181. See also H. J. Stoebe, Das Erste Buch Samuelis (KOM
8/1; Gütersloh, 1973), pp. 501, 503. Bar Efrat, for his part, suggests that the lords accepted
the commanders’ position. See S. Bar Efrat, 1 Samuel (A Bible Commentary for Israel; Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem, 1996), p. 355 (Hebrew).