1 Samuel 22:1

David Goes to Adullam and Mizpah

22:1 So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family 1  learned about it, they went down there to him.

1 Samuel 23:25

23:25 Saul and his men went to look for him. 2  But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the desert of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the desert of Maon.

Psalms 142:1

Psalm 142 3 

A well-written song 4  by David, when he was in the cave; 5  a prayer.

142:1 To the Lord I cry out; 6 

to the Lord I plead for mercy. 7 

1 tn Heb “house.”

2 tn Heb “to search.”

3 sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

4 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

5 sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.

6 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”

7 tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”