Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 23:28
Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.
28. Sela-hammahlekth ] Either (1) “Rock of escapes;” or more probably (2) “Rock of divisions,” because there Saul had to relinquish the pursuit of David.
Lieut. Conder thinks he has discovered the scene of David’s escape. Between the ridge of El Klah and the neighbourhood of Maon there is a great gorge called “the Valley of the Rocks:” to part of this the name Wady Malki now applies, and there is no other place near Maon where cliffs, such as are to be inferred from the word Sela, can be found. See Tent Work, II. 91.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Sela-hammahlekoth – See the margin. (Identified by Conder with a narrow and impassable gorge between El Kolah and Maon, called Malaky).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. They called that place Sela-hammah-lekoth.] That is, the rock of divisions; because, says the Targum, the heart of the king was divided to go hither and thither. Here Saul was obliged to separate himself from David, in order to go and oppose the invading Philistines.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e.
The rock of divisions, because there Saul was separated, and in a manner pulled asunder from David, who was now almost within his reach.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Therefore Saul returned from pursuing after David,…. Stopped short at once, as soon as ever he received the message:
and went against the Philistines; to stop them in their progress, and drive them out of his country:
therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth, which signifies the rock of divisions. David and his men, very probably, gave it this name, not only because it divided between Saul and his men, and David and his men, when they were one on one side of it, and the other on the other side of it; but because Saul was, by the providence of God, divided and separated from David here, whereby he escaped falling into his hands. The Targum is,
“therefore they called that place the rock of division, the place where the heart of the king was divided to go here and there:”
he was divided in his own mind, and at a loss what to do; he was in two minds, as Jarchi says, and did not know which to follow, whether to return and deliver his country from the hands of the Philistines, or to pursue and take David; and others represent the soldiers of Saul as divided, some saying that since the son of Jesse was just falling into their hands, they should not leave him; others, that the war of Israel should be regarded before him, who might be found at any time u.
u Midrash apud Yalkut in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
From this occurrence the place received the name of Sela-hammahlekoth, “ rock of smoothnesses,” i.e., of slipping away or escaping, from , in the sense of being smooth. This explanation is at any rate better supported than “rock of divisions, i.e., the rock at which Saul and David were separated” (Clericus), since does not mean to separate.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(28) Sela-hammahlekoth.Literally, as in the margin of our Bibles, the rock (or, still better, the cliff) of divisions. Other scholars, with greater reason, prefer the derivation from a Hebrew word signifying to be smooththe cliff of smoothness: that is, of slipping away or escaping. Ewald rather fancifully interprets the term as the Cliff of Destiny or of Fate.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Sela-hammah-lekoth According to the ancient versions, the rock of divisions, so called because there Saul and David were divided or separated. According to Gesenius and other recent critics, the rock of escapes, from , to be smooth; then, to slip away and escape referring to David’s escape from Saul.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 23:28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth.
Ver. 28. They called that place Selahammahlekoth. ] Petram partitionum, the rock of Diremptions or partitions; because Saul’s forces were forced to forego David’s when they had hemmed them in.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Sela-hammahlekoth = the cliff of divisions or separations. Now Wady Malaky, where two forces could be inaccessible the one to the other, and yet within sight and hearing.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Selahammahlekoth
i.e. The Crag (or Cliff) of Divisions.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Selahammahlekoth: that is, the rock of divisions, Because, says the Targum, “the heart of the king was divided to go hither and thither.” Here Saul was obliged to separate himself from David, in order to go and oppose the invading Philistines; which deliverance of David was of such a nature as made the Divine interposition fully visible. 1Sa 23:28
Reciprocal: 1Sa 23:25 – into a rock 1Sa 24:1 – when Saul Isa 37:9 – he heard
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
23:28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place {l} Selahammahlekoth.
(l) That is, stone of division, because there they divided themselves one from another.