And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
The Ziphites stirred up Saul afresh, and he caught at their information like tinder to a spark. How quickly the unsanctified heart vomits up its convictions and returns to its sin. David, meanwhile, acted with true valor by silent retirement into the wilderness, seeking his own safety, not Saul's ruin.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Samuel 26:1-5
And Saul pitched in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, by the way,.... To the wilderness; the very same place where the Ziphites suggested David was: but David abode in the wilderness; not in the hill of Hachilah, but in the wilderness of Ziph itself: and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness; he understood, by some information he had...
1Sa 26:3-4 When David saw (i.e., perceived) in the desert that Saul was coming behind him, he sent out spies, and learned from them that he certainly had come (אל־נכון, for a certainty, as in 1Sa 23:23).
Commenting on 1 Samuel 26:3-4