Rumor doth double, like the voice and echo,The Philistines marched north to try to take control of the prosperous Valley of Esdraelon, which was also a critical part of the trade route from Mesopotamia to Egypt. Saul and the Israelite army were on Mt. Gilboa, which protected the critical pass from the Jordan Valley to the Valley of Esdraelon. Achish insisted that David accompany him with the other Philistine forces. David and his men marched at the rear of the Philistine army, and rumors spread quickly among the Philistines and the Israelites.
The numbers of the feared.
-- William Shakespeare
A RUMOR FEARED. When Achish joined the other Philistine commanders at Aphek about 10 miles east of Joppa in the territory of Ephraim, they immediately asked (1 Sam. 29:3 ESV), “What are these Hebrews doing here?” They were afraid David’s men might turn against them during the battle. Years before when Saul had been powerless to stop the Philistine raiding parties, many Israelites had joined the Philistine forces. Then when the Philistines fled before Jonathan’s bold attack, the Israelites had turned on them and helped Saul’s army rout them (1 Sam. 14:20-23). Achish was sure David would not do such a thing saying that David had been loyal to him for more than a year. The other Philistine commanders, however, would not listen to him. They could not dispel the rumor they had heard about David: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Consequently, they refused to give David’s men the same opportunity. David and his men rose early the next morning to return the forty miles back to Ziklag.
A RUMOR DISPELLED. When David marched north with the Philistine armies, news spread among the Israelite soldiers. Seven commanders of thousands from the tribe of Manasseh deserted Saul’s army and joined David (1 Chron. 12:19-22). You can imagine the dimensions this story would take as it spread among Israelite troops: David was conspiring with the Philistines to overthrow Saul. In order to dispel any lingering remnants of that kind of rumor, the writer records David’s dismissal from the Philistine army and return to Ziklag before the battle in which Saul and his sons died. The seven commanders from Manasseh also accompanied David to Ziklag and helped him against the band of Amalekite raiders who burned Ziklag (v. 21). Neither they nor David participated in the battle on Mt. Gilboa (1 Chron. 12:19). David did not lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed either personally or in battle. God took the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David.
Rumors were the news of the day. (Even today, they may on occasion be more reliable than official media.) God used a rumor about David slaying tens of thousands, appropriately exaggerated, to get David dismissed from the Philistine army. But God also saw fit to dispel any rumor that David had conspired against Saul by making sure people knew that he had been dismissed from the Philistine army and had returned to Ziklag before the battle in which Saul died.
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