27David said to himself, "One of these days Saul will kill me. The best thing for me to do is to escape to Philistia. Then Saul will give up looking for me in Israel, and I will be safe."H1732H559H3820H5595H259H3117H3027H7586H2896H3588H4422H4422H776H6430H7586H2976H1245H1366H3478H4422H30272So David and his six hundred men went over at once to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath.H1732H6965H5674H8337H3967H376H397H1121H4582H4428H16613David and his men settled there in Gath with their families. David had his two wives with him, Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel.H1732H3427H397H1661H582H376H1004H1732H8147H802H293H3159H26H3762H5037H8024When Saul heard that David had fled to Gath, he gave up trying to find him.H5046H7586H1732H1272H1661H1245H3254H32545David said to Achish, "If you are my friend, let me have a small town to live in. There is no need, sir, for me to live with you in the capital city."H1732H559H397H4672H2580H5869H5414H4725H259H5892H7704H3427H5650H3427H4467H58926So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag, and for this reason Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.H397H5414H6860H3117H6860H4428H3063H31177David lived in Philistia for sixteen months.H4557H3117H1732H3427H7704H6430H3117H702H23208During that time David and his men would attack the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek, who had been living in the region a very long time. He would raid their land as far as Shur, all the way down to Egypt,H1732H582H5927H6584H1651H1511H6003H2007H5769H3427H776H935H7793H776H47149killing all the men and women and taking the sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, and even the clothes. Then he would come back to Achish,H1732H5221H776H376H802H2421H3947H6629H1241H2543H1581H899H7725H935H39710who would ask him, "Where did you go on a raid this time?" and David would tell him that he had gone to the southern part of Judah or to the territory of the clan of Jerahmeel or to the territory where the Kenites lived.H397H559H408H6584H3117H1732H559H5045H3063H5045H3397H5045H701711David would kill everyone, men and women, so that no one could go back to Gath and report what he and his men had really done. This is what David did the whole time he lived in Philistia.H1732H2421H376H802H2421H935H1661H559H5046H559H6213H1732H4941H3117H3427H7704H643012But Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He is hated so much by his own people the Israelites that he will have to serve me all his life."H397H539H1732H559H5971H3478H887H887H5650H5769