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1 Samuel 29

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1 And the Philistines brought·​·together all their camps toward Aphek; and Israel encamped by the fount which is in Jezreel.

2 And the satraps* of the Philistines crossed·​·over by hundreds and by thousands; and David and his men crossed·​·over in the rear with Achish.

3 And the commanders of the Philistines said, What do these Hebrews? And Achish said unto the commanders of the Philistines, Is not this David the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years, and I have· not ·found anything in him from the day that he fell away to this day?

4 And the commanders of the Philistines were·​·enraged against him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, Make the man return, that he may return to his place where thou hast appointed him, and let him not go·​·down with us to the battle, and let him not be for an opponent to us in the battle. And by what would this man be·​·well·​·pleasing to his lord; would it not be with the heads of these men?

5 Is not this David, of whom they answered one another in dances, saying, Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his myriads?

6 And Achish called David and said to him, As Jehovah lives, thou hast been upright, and thy going·​·out and thy coming into the camp with me is good in my eyes; for I have· not ·found evil in thee, from the day of thy coming to me even·​·to this day; but in the eyes of the satraps, thou art not good.

7 And now, return, and go in peace, that thou do not evil in the eyes of the satraps of the Philistines.

8 David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant, from the day that I have been before thee even·​·to this day, that I may not come and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

9 And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my eyes as an angel of God; still the commanders of the Philistines have said, He shall not go·​·up with us to the battle.

10 And now, get·​·up·​·early in the morning, and the servants of thy lord who have come with thee; and you shall get·​·up·​·early in the morning, and you shall have light, and go.

11 And David got·​·up·​·early, he and his men, to go in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went·​·up to Jezreel.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Philistines

  

The Philistines play a large role in the Bible as one of the longest-standing and most bitter rivals of the people of Israel, clashing with them in repeated wars. The Philistines were a remnant of the Ancient Church, or church of Noah, but had turned the deep wisdom of that church into a worship that focused solely on knowledge of religious ideas and the details of ritual, with no concept of putting religious ideas to work in living a good life. People would be esteemed for their knowledge, no matter how evil they might be in their lives. This was a particularly attractive trap for the people of Israel, who lived in a state of obedience to a long list of spiritually meaningful rules. It was easy for them to forget about the “obedience” part and focus instead on the “rules” part, which made them akin to the Philistines. This is also a threat to us in our own lives. We need to remember that simply knowing a lot and believing the right things will not make us good people -- we have to use that knowledge to treat other people in a loving, caring way.

In 1 Samuel 5,6, this signifies people in faith separated from charity. (Divine Providence 326[12])

In Jeremiah 47:2, 3, this represents people who hold false ideas, and reason about spiritual things from them. (Arcana Coelestia 705) Philistia signifies this religion. (Arcana Coelestia 727)