And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

1 SAMUEL 27:7KJV
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1 Samuel 27:7 (KJV)

What does 1 Samuel 27:7 mean?

1 Samuel 27:7 gives the length of David’s stay among the Philistines: a full year and four months. The verse marks that stay as a sustained period, rather than a brief visit.

The narrator gives this measure of time after identifying Ziklag as David’s home in verse 6. The verse places David’s life there within the larger territory of the Philistines.

The Hebrew behind 1 Samuel 27:7

  • “country” — שָׂדֶה (sadeh): This word can mean a field or an area of land. Here, it describes the territory where David lived, rather than a single field.

Why 1 Samuel 27:7 matters

  • David’s stay in Philistine territory followed his flight from Saul. Earlier in the chapter, David went to Achish, a Philistine ruler, because he feared Saul would eventually catch him (verses 1–2).
  • Living in Philistine territory did not mean David was living in Achish’s own city throughout that time. Achish gave David Ziklag as a place to live (verses 5–6).

Where else these words appear

“time” Hebrew H4557 · used in 129 verses

  • Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
  • Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
  • Ezra 3:4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;