Go and check again to be sure of where he is staying and who has seen him there, for I know that he is very crafty.
Parallel translations
- WEB Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he deals very crafty.
- KJV Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
- BSB Please go and prepare further. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning.
- NKJV Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty.
- NASB Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning.
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
Saul orders the Ziphites to verify David's exact location, calling him very crafty.
Overview
Saul instructs his informants to confirm precisely where David hides, wary of his cunning. His careful planning reveals the obsessive determination driving his hunt. Even as Saul schemes, the LORD's unseen hand continues to guard His anointed from capture.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Job 5:13He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
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 23:22 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.