Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Samuel 23:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Keeps David in wilderness strongholds while Saul fails to capture him.
Wilderness, daily search, and a God who does not deliver David into Saul's hand
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18
1 Samuel 23:14–23:18 supplies the necessary frame for verse 23:14. Here the narrator keeps David in wilderness strongholds while Saul fails to capture him, within this larger movement: David remains hidden under pressure, Saul fails to find him, and Jonathan visits, strengthens his hand in God, names David's future kingship, and renews covenant.
Why This Verse Appears Here
At verse 23:14, the scene keeps David in wilderness strongholds while Saul fails to capture him. That movement matters to “Jonathan strengthens David in the wilderness” while the unit's uncertainty and ethical boundary continue to govern application.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: David remains hidden under pressure, Saul fails to find him, and Jonathan visits, strengthens his hand in God, names David's future kingship.
- Developing movement or outcome: renews covenant.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
First Samuel 23:14 does not stand alone from 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18: it keeps David in wilderness strongholds while Saul fails to capture him. Support does not require Jonathan to overthrow Saul personally, guarantee David's safety, or erase the danger of remaining connected to an abusive household.
What Remains True
Keeps David in wilderness strongholds while Saul fails to capture him. Within 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18, this contribution supports the unit's enduring claim: Faithful reading of “Jonathan strengthens David in the wilderness” keeps truth, power, and human cost together. Support does not require Jonathan to overthrow Saul personally, guarantee David's safety, or erase the danger of remaining connected to an abusive household.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Samuel 23:14's precise role in 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18. Include the first historical horizon, material uncertainty, one person or cost a leader-centered reading could obscure, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18 — Jonathan strengthens David in the wildernessSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Jonathan's succession statement is explicit, but why he returns to his house and how he imagined his own future role remain unstated.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology, with the two KJV-Hebrew versification shifts stated rather than silently offset.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Sam.xml, OSIS 23:14–23:18; KJV 20:42 spans Hebrew 20:42–21:1, KJV 21:1–15 maps to Hebrew 21:2–16, KJV 23:29 maps to Hebrew 24:1, and KJV 24:1–22 maps to Hebrew 24:2–23
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: 1 Samuel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only the translator notes actually printed for these verses, used for lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and older-English controls.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Notes, 1 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 504–543, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 23:14–23:18
Open source ↗open access doctoral thesis
Politics and Covenant in the Divine Davidic Kinship
Sophia Ruth Carter Johnson
University of Cambridge, 2023
Supports: A diachronic political-covenant study that keeps succession and affection visible without settling homoerotic interpretation.
Exact location: Johnson, Politics and Covenant in the Divine Davidic Kinship, Cambridge PhD thesis (2023), Jonathan covenant pp. 29–69; 1 Samuel 18:1–5 pp. 41–49; 20:1–42 pp. 50–62; 23:15–18 pp. 63–65
Open source ↗scholarly monograph frontmatter and table of contents
The Theology of the Book of Samuel
John Goldingay
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Supports: Only the publisher-visible book architecture and theological scope; the paywalled body is not treated as inspected.
Exact location: Goldingay, The Theology of the Book of Samuel (2024), official frontmatter and TOC: 1 Samuel 21:1[2]–2 Samuel 1:27, pp. 111–140
Open source ↗scholarly monograph abstract and contents
Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel
Rachelle Gilmour
Oxford University Press, 2021 online; 2022 print
Supports: One literary, ethical, and political account of divine and human violence; publisher-visible scope does not establish consensus.
Exact location: Gilmour, Divine Violence in the Book of Samuel (2021/2022), official abstract and TOC: relevant discussion for 1 Samuel 23:14–23:18, including 1 Samuel 12 pp. 71–81, Saul's rejection pp. 90–139, Eli's house pp. 140–150, or ark violence pp. 154–185 as applicable
Open source ↗