Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 22:4
And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.
4. in the hold ] “Hold” = stronghold or fortress: here apparently the Mizpeh of 1Sa 22:3. What became of David’s parents when he quitted the hold does not appear. A Jewish tradition affirms that the king of Moab betrayed his trust and murdered them, for which David exacted a heavy vengeance when he came to the throne (2Sa 8:2).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He brought them before … – The Septuagint renders it he persuaded (the face of) the king.
In the hold – Where David was after he left the cave of Adullam, probably in the land of Moab.
The phrase all the while, would indicate that David sojourned a considerable time in Moab.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Before the king of Moab; into his presence, that he might see them, and give them leave to dwell in his dominion.
In the hold; either,
1. In Mizpeh of Moab, which was a very strong hold. But it is apparent he speaks of some hold where his father and mother were exposed to fear and danger from Saul, which they were not in the king of Moabs royal city. Or,
2. In the cave of Adullam, mentioned above, 1Sa 22:1. Or,
3. In holes; the singular number being put for the plural, as is frequent; i.e. as long as David was forced to go from place to place, and from hold to hold, to secure himself; for it concerned David to secure his father, and he did doubtless secure him for all that time; and not only whilst he was in the hold of Mizpeh, or of Adullam, which was but a little while.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he brought them before the king of Moab,…. Having leave from him for it, and left them with him; so the Targum,
“caused them to remain before him:”
and they dwelt with him all the whole time that David was in the hold; either in the cave of Adullam, as some think; or rather at Mizpeh in Moab, which might be a fortified place; or the sense may be, while he was in any hold in those parts, as he might go from one to another; what became of David’s parents afterwards, we nowhere else read. The Jews z say the king of Moab slew his father and his mother, and his brethren, all but one, whom Nahash the Ammonite preserved; and is the kindness David speaks of, 2Sa 10:2; and if this was the case, now it was that his father and mother forsook him, and God took him up, Ps 27:10.
z Bemnidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 212. 1. Tanchuma apud Jarchium in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) While that David was in the hold.This hold is, of course, identical with the hold of 1Sa. 22:5, from which Gad the prophet directs David to depart, and to return into the land of Judah. It was, most likely, in the Land of Moab.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. The hold , a stronghold, a fortress, or citadel. The reference is to some fortified place at Mizpeh, where David and his company abode during their stay in the land of Moab. See note on next verse. This is the last we hear of David’s father and mother; but an old Jewish tradition has it, that after David returned to the land of Judah his parents and brothers were put to death by the king of Moab.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 22:4. They dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold David could not bear that his aged parents should be confined to a cold cave, exposed to all the hardships of a siege, to dearth, to damps, and dangers of various kinds; and therefore he commends them to the care of the king of Moab, under whose protection they continued all the time that he was in the hold, or, as some would have it, all the time he continued in a strong hold; during the whole time of his exile, while he was constrained to fly from one strong place to another, to avoid the fury of Saul.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Sa 22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.
Ver. 4. And he brought them before the king of Moab. ] To whom Jesse, a grave godly man, might haply be as useful and as dear as Solon was to Croesus, or Croesus afterwards to King Cyrus; by whose good counsel he was more enriched and benefited than by all his wealth.
That David was in the hold.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hold = stronghold, or fortified camp. First occurance.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in the hold: 2Sa 23:13, 2Sa 23:14, 1Ch 12:16, Gad, 2Sa 24:11, 1Ch 21:9, 1Ch 29:29, 2Ch 29:25, depart, 1Sa 23:1-6, Neh 6:11, Psa 11:1, Isa 8:12-14, David departed, Mat 10:23
Reciprocal: 2Sa 10:2 – as his father 1Ti 5:4 – learn
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Sa 22:4. All the while David was in the hold In holds; the singular number being put for the plural, as is frequent; that is, as long as David was forced to go from place to place, and from hold to hold, to secure himself; for it concerned David especially to secure his father, and he did doubtless secure him for all that time; and not only while he was in the hold of Mizpeh, or of Adullam, which was but a little while.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:4 And he {c} brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in {d} the hold.
(c) For he feared the rage of Saul against his house.
(d) That is, in Mizpeh, which was a stronghold.