1 Samuel 29:10 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

With thy master’s servants. — The words have perplexed expositors. It is hardly the expression we should expect Achish to use of David’s followers. All Israelites were, of course, “subjects of Saul,” but the term would hardly be used except by one hostile to David, as Nabal was; he once (1 Samuel 25:10) made use of an insulting term of a like nature to David. Achish, we know, seemed ever kindly disposed to the outlawed son of Jesse. A probable suggestion has, however, been lately made, that the reference here is to those tribes of Manasseh (comp. 1 Chronicles 12:19-21) who had only lately come over to David. Was it not also possible that these very Manassites, who had only very recently deserted the king’s cause for David’s, were known to some of the Philistines as Saul’s soldiers, and that their suspicions had been awakened in the first place by finding them marching under David’s standard in the division of Gath?