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

80 Y. Shemesh / Vetus Testamentum 57 (2007) 73-90
Th is stance is not merely theological, of course; it is also based on far-sighted
political vision and an intention to establish a taboo that would protect his
own life when he in turn became king and the Lord’s anointed. 18 For our
purposes, however, it matters little whether David’s motives for not harming
Saul were theological or political. What is important is that it was crucial for
him to act according to the principle that one must not harm the Lord’s
anointed and to indoctrinate his men accordingly (1 Sam. xxiv 7; xxvi 9-11).
Th e narrator reports that David reproached himself even for the mild lèsemajesté
of cutting off the corner of Saul’s cloak (1 Sam. xxiv 6). Is it conceivable,
aft er all this, that he would agree to fight against Saul and raise his hand
against the Lord’s anointed?
David’s loyalty to Saul is attested by Jonathan, who, venting his deepest
emotions, begs his father not to harm David:
He has not wronged you; indeed, all his actions have been very much to your
advantage. He took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord
wrought a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then should
you incur the guilt of shedding the blood of an innocent man, killing David
without cause? (1 Sam. xix 4-5). 19
Th e priest Ahimelech, too, characterizes David as the most loyal of all of
Saul’s courtiers who always does his bidding (1 Sam. xxii 14). Saul himself, in
a passionate outburst, recognizes the injustice of his persecution of the innocent
David (1 Sam. xxiv 17-20; xxvi 21).
An indication of David’s allegiance to his people is the fact that even while
running for his life, he stops to assist the residents of Keilah and rescue them
from the Philistines (1 Sam. xxiii 5). Abigail has good cause for describing
him as a man who fights the battles of the Lord (1 Sam. xxv 28) when she
urges him to continue in this path so that no evil ever be found in him (ibid.).
While David was resident in Ziklag, under the patronage of King Achish of
Gath, he was careful not to attack his own people, instead fighting their enemies—the
Geshurites, the Gizrites, and especially the archetypical enemy of
Israel, Amalek (1 Sam. xxvii 8-9). As Herzberg notes, “David is already begin-
18) See, for example, W. Brueggemann, David’s Truth in Israel’s Imagination and Memory
(Philadelphia, 1985), p. 37; K. L. Noll, The Faces of David (Sheffield, 1997), p. 57.
19) See also Jonathan’s defense of David in 1 Sam. xx 32, where he asks his father, “Why should
he be put to death? What has he done?”