1 Samuel 27:5
New International Version
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

New Living Translation
One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”

English Standard Version
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”

Berean Standard Bible
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

King James Bible
And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

New King James Version
Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”

New American Standard Bible
Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, have them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

NASB 1995
Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

NASB 1977
Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

Amplified Bible
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let me be given a place [of my own] in one of the cities in the country, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

Christian Standard Bible
Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

American Standard Version
And David said unto Achish, If now I have found favor in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David said to Akish: “If I have found friendship in your eyes, give to me a place in one of the towns that is in the wilderness, and I shall dwell there, and your Servant will not dwell in the city of the kingdom with you”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And David said to Anchus, If now thy servant has found grace in thine eyes, let them give me, I pray thee, a place in one of the cities in the country, and I will dwell there: for why does thy servant dwell with thee in a royal city?

Contemporary English Version
One day, David was talking with Achish and said, "If you are happy with me, then let me live in one of the towns in the countryside. I'm not important enough to live here with you in the royal city."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

English Revised Version
And David said unto Achish, If now I have found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
David said to Achish, "If you will permit me, let me have a place in one of the outlying towns so that I can live there. Why should I live in the royal city with you?"

Good News Translation
David 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."

International Standard Version
David told Achish, "If it pleases you, give me a place in one of the outlying towns, so I may live there. Why should your servant live with you in the royal city?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And David said unto Achish: 'If now I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there; for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?'

Literal Standard Version
And David says to Achish, “Now if I have found grace in your eyes, they give a place to me in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, indeed, why does your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”

Majority Standard Bible
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

New American Bible
David said to Achish: “If I meet with your approval, let me have a place to live in one of the country towns. Why should your servant live with you in the royal city?”

NET Bible
David said to Achish, "If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the country towns so that I can live there. Why should your servant settle in the royal city with you?"

New Revised Standard Version
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, so that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

New Heart English Bible
David said to Achish, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And David said to Achish, If I have now found grace in thy eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?

World English Bible
David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”

Young's Literal Translation
And David saith unto Achish, 'If, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, they give to me a place in one of the cities of the field, and I dwell there, yea, why doth thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David and the Philistines
4And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. 5Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 27:4
And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

1 Samuel 27:6
That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.


Treasury of Scripture

And David said to Achish, If I have now found grace in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?

some town

Genesis 46:34
That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

2 Corinthians 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

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1 Samuel 27
1. Saul, hearing David to be in Gath, seeks no more for him
5. David begs Ziklag of Achish
8. He, invading other countries, persuades Achish he fought against Judah.














(5) Why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?--The real reason why David wished a separate residence was that he might conduct his forays and other affairs apart from the supervision of his Philistine friends. They had one purpose in welcoming him and his band, he had quite another. Achish trusted that through David's assistance powerful military demonstrations in the southern districts of Saul's kingdom might be made. At this time the Philistine nation were preparing for that grand national effort against Saul which culminated in the battle of Mount Gilboa. David, on the other hand, intended, from a comparatively secure centre of operations somewhere in Philistia, to harry those nomad foes of Israel whose home was in the deserts to the south of Canaan.

Verses 5, 6. - If l have now found grace in thine eyes. Now is not an adverb of time, but means "I pray," i.e. If verily I have found favour with thee. David's position was one of difficulty. The fame of his exploits, and of Saul's vain pursuit of him, made Achish no doubt regard him as a bitter foe of the Israelite king, and expect valuable assistance from him; whereas David was unwilling to take up arms even against Saul, and much less against his own countrymen. He is anxious, therefore, to get away from a too close observation of his acts, and requests Achish to give him a place in some town in the country. Hebrew, "a place in one of the cities in the field." Why should thy servant, etc. David's presence with so large a following must in many ways have been inconvenient as well as expensive to Achish. In some small country town David and his men would maintain themselves. Achish accordingly gives him Ziklag, a small place assigned first of all to Judah (Joshua 15:31), but subsequently to Simeon (ibid. 19:5). Its exact position is not known. It seems to have been valued by David's successors, as it is noted that it still belonged unto the kings of Judah. This phrase proves that the Book of Samuel must have been compiled at a date subsequent to the revolt of Jeroboam, while the concluding words, unto this day, equally plainly indicate a date prior to the Babylonian exile.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then David
דָּוִ֜ד (dā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Achish,
אָכִ֗ישׁ (’ā·ḵîš)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 397: Achish -- king of Gath

“If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

I have found
מָצָ֨אתִי (mā·ṣā·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 4672: To come forth to, appear, exist, to attain, find, acquire, to occur, meet, be present

favor
חֵ֤ן (ḥên)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2580: Graciousness, subjective, objective

in your eyes,
בְּעֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ (bə·‘ê·ne·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - cdc | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

let me be assigned
יִתְּנוּ־ (yit·tə·nū-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

a place
מָק֗וֹם (mā·qō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4725: A standing, a spot, a condition

in one
בְּאַחַ֛ת (bə·’a·ḥaṯ)
Preposition-b | Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 259: United, one, first

of the outlying
הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land

towns,
עָרֵ֥י (‘ā·rê)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 5892: Excitement

so I can live
וְאֵ֣שְׁבָה (wə·’ê·šə·ḇāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

there.
שָּׁ֑ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

For why
וְלָ֨מָּה (wə·lām·māh)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

should your servant
עַבְדְּךָ֛ (‘aḇ·də·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

live
יֵשֵׁ֧ב (yê·šêḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in the royal
הַמַּמְלָכָ֖ה (ham·mam·lā·ḵāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4467: Kingdom, sovereignty, dominion, reign

city
בְּעִ֥יר (bə·‘îr)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5892: Excitement

with you?�
עִמָּֽךְ׃ (‘im·māḵ)
Preposition | second person feminine singular
Strong's 5973: With, equally with


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OT History: 1 Samuel 27:5 David said to Achish If now (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 27:4
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