Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
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.
- KJV And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.
- 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.
- 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 11:1For the Chief Musician. By David. In Yahweh, I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain!”
- Matt 10:23But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.
- 1 Chr 21:9Yahweh spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying,
- 1 Sam 23:1–6David was told, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and are robbing the threshing floors.”
- 2 Chr 29:25He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets.
- 2 Sam 24:11When David rose up in the morning, Yahweh’s word came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,
- 1 Chr 12:16Some of the children of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David.
- Isa 8:12–14“Don’t say, ‘A conspiracy!’ concerning all about which this people say, ‘A conspiracy!’ neither fear their threats, nor be terrorized.
- 1 Chr 29:29Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer,
- Neh 6:11I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
- 2 Sam 23:13–14Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was encamped 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.