1 Samuel 22:3 - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

Mizpeh of Moab - A good conjecture connects it with “Zophim” (a word of the same root as Mizpeh) on the top of Pisgah Numbers 23:14. It is probable that David’s descent from Ruth the Moabitess may have had something to do with his seeking an asylum for Jesse, Ruth’s grandson, in the land of her birth. It would be very easy to get to the Jordan from the neighborhood of Bethlehem, and cross over near its embouchure into the Dead Sea.

Come forth, and be with you - The construction of the Hebrew is very strange. The Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic seem to have read “dwell” instead of “come forth.”

1 Samuel 22:3

3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.