And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.
Parallel translations
- WEB He brought them before the king of Moab; and they lived with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
- BSB So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.
- NKJV So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
- NASB Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
- NLT So David’s parents stayed in Moab with the king during the entire time David was living in his stronghold.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David places his parents with the king of Moab for the duration of his time in the stronghold.
Overview
David entrusts his father and mother to Moab's protection while he remains in his mountain refuge. This arrangement secures his family during a perilous season of flight. The detail underscores both David's filial devotion and the precariousness of life as a fugitive from Saul.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 11:1In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
- Matt 10:23But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
- 1 Chr 21:9And the LORD spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,
- 1 Sam 23:1–6Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
- 2 Chr 29:25And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
- 2 Sam 24:11For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
- 1 Chr 12:16And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.
- Isa 8:12–14Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
- 1 Chr 29:29Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
- Neh 6:11And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
- 2 Sam 23:13–14And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 22:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.