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TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



tain that the king was aiming at his life. lie be- 

 took himself to Jonathan, who thought his sus- 

 picions groundless, but undertook to test them. 

 A plan was arranged by which Jonathan should 

 draw from the king an expression of his feelings, 

 and a tremendous explosion revealed that Saul 

 regarded David as the rival of his dynasty, and 

 Jonathan as little better than a fellow-conspira- 

 tor. The breach was plainly irreparable. Jon- 

 athan sought out his friend, and after mutual 

 pledges of unbroken friendship they parted, and 

 David fled. His first impulse was, to seek the 

 sanctuary at Nob, where he had been wont to 

 consult the priestly oracle (chapter xxii. 15), and 

 where, concealing his disgrace by a fictitious 

 story, he also obtained bread from the conse- 

 crated table, and the sword of Goliath. It was, 

 perhaps, after this that David made a last attempt 

 to find a place of refuge in the prophetic circle 

 of Samuel at Ramah, where he was admitted into 

 the prophetic ccenobium, and was for a time pro- 

 tected by the powerful and almost contagious 

 influences which the religious exercises of the 

 prophets exerted on Saul's emissaries, and even 

 on the king himself. The episode now stands in 

 another connection (chapter xix. 18 ct seq.), where 

 it is certainly out of place. It would, however, 

 fit excellently into the break that plainly exists 

 in the history at xxi. 10, after the affiiir at Nob. 

 Deprived of the protection of religion as well as 

 of justice, David tried his fortune among the 

 Philistines at Gath. But he was recognized, and 

 suspected as a redoubtable foe. Escaping by 

 feigning madness, which in the East has inviola- 

 ble privileges, he returned to the wilds of Judah, 

 and was joined at Adullam by his father's house 

 and by a small band of outlaws, of which he be- 

 came the head. Placing his parents under the 

 charge of the King of Moab, he took up the life 

 of a guerrilla-captain, cultivating friendly relations 

 with the townships of Judah (1 Samuel xxx. 26), 

 which were glad to have on their frontiers a pro- 

 tector so valiant as David, even at the expense 

 of the black-mail which he levied in return. A 

 clear conception of his life at this time, and of 

 the respect which he inspired by the discipline in 

 which he held his men, and of the generosity 

 which tempered his fiery nature, is given in 1 

 Samuel xxv. Biis force gradually swelled, and he 

 was joined by the prophet Gad and by the priest 

 Abiathar, the only survivor of a terrible massacre 

 by which Saul took revenge for the favors which 

 David had received at the sanctuary of Nob. He 

 was even able to strike at the Philistines, and to 

 rescue Kcilah, in the low country of Judah, from 



their attack. Had he been willing to raise the 

 standard of revolt against Saul, he might proba- 

 bly have made good his position, for ho was now 

 openly pointed to as divinely designed for the 

 kingship. But, though Saul was hot in pursuit, 

 and though he lived in constant fear of being be- 

 trayed, David refused to do this. His blameless 

 conduct retained the confidence of Jonathan (1 

 Samuel xxiii. 16), and he deserved that confidence 

 by sparing the life of Saul. But at length it be- 

 came plain that he must either resist by force or 

 seek foreign protection. He went to Achish of 

 Gath, and was established in the outlying town 

 of Ziklag, "where his troops might be useful in 

 chastising the Amalekites and other robber tribes 

 who made forays on Philistia and Judah, without 

 distinction. 



At Ziklag David continued to maintain amica- 

 ble relations with his friends in Judah, and his 

 little army received accessions even from Saul's 

 own tribe of Benjamin (1 Chronicles xii. 1). At 

 length, in the second year, he was called to join 

 his master in a great campaign against Saul. 

 The Philistines directed their forces toward the 

 rich valley of Jezreel ; and Saul, forsaken by 

 Jehovah, already gave himself up for lost. It 

 may be doubted whether the men of Judah took 

 part in this war ; and on his march David was 

 joined by influential deserters from Israel (1 

 Chronicles xii.). The prestige of Saul's reign was 

 gone ; and the Hebrews were again breaking up 

 into parties, each ready to act for itself. Under 

 such circumstances, David might well feel that 

 loyalty to his new master was his first duty. But 

 he was providentially saved from the necessity 

 of doing battle with his countrymen by the jeal- 

 ousy of the Philistine lords, who demanded that 

 he be sent back to Ziklag. He returned to find 

 the town pillaged by the Amalekites ; but, pursu- 

 ing the foes, he inflicted upon them a signal chas- 

 tisement, and took a great booty, part of which 

 he spent in politic gifts to the leading men of the 

 Judean towns. 



Meantime Saul had fallen, and Northern Is- 

 rael was in a state of chaos. The Philistines 

 took possession of the fertile lowlands of Jezreel 

 and the Jordan ; and the shattered forces of Is- 

 rael were slowly rallied by Abner in the remote 

 city of Mahanaim in Gilead, under the nominal 

 sovereignty of Saul's son Ishbaal. The tribe of 

 Judah, always loosely attached to the northern 

 Hebrews, was in these circumstances, compelled 

 to act for itself. David saw his opportunity, and 

 advanced to Hebron, where he was anointed 

 King of Judah at the age of thirty, and continued 



