David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.
Here is an account of David's actions while he was in the land of the Philistines, a fierce attack he made upon some remains of the devoted nations, his success in it, and the representation he gave of it to Achish. 1.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 27:8-12
And David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Gath,.... How David had fallen upon these people, and destroyed great numbers of them, and carried off their substance; which would have given great offence to Achish, and caused him to have driven him out of his country once more; though Abarbinel is of opinion that these Geshurites, &c.
1Sa 27:10-11 Achish said, “Ye have not made an invasion to-day, have ye?” אל, like μὴ, is an interrogative sense; the ה has dropped out: vid., Ewald, §324, b. David replied, “Against the south of Judah, and the south of the Jerahmeelites, and into the south of the Kenites,” sc., we have made an incursion.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 27:10-11