1st Samuel Chapter 23 verse 24 Holy Bible
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
read chapter 23 in ASV
And they went back and came to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the waste land of Maon, in the dry land south of the waste land.
read chapter 23 in BBE
And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of the waste.
read chapter 23 in DARBY
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
read chapter 23 in KJV
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
read chapter 23 in WBT
They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
read chapter 23 in WEB
And they rise and go to Ziph before Saul, and David and his men `are' in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain, at the south of the desolate place.
read chapter 23 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 24. - While the Ziphites were conferring with Saul and gathering information David had moved about six miles to the south of Ziph, and was in the wilderness of Maon. This town is still called Main, and occupies a conical hill, whence Robinson ('Bibl. Res.,' 2:433) counted no less than nine cities belonging to the hill country of Judah. Conder ('Tent Work,' 2:90) calls it a great hump of rock. In the plain on the south of Jeshimon. Literally, "in the 'Arabah to the right of the desert." The 'Arabah was the name of the low-lying desert tract extending along the valley of the Jordan from the lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea. Maon lay upon the edge of this depression, in the southern portion of the Jeshimon or Solitude.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(24) In the wilderness of Maon.--Still further to the south. The name of this district is still preserved in the village or small town of Main, which is built on a prominent conical hill.In the plain.--This accurate description was, no doubt, inserted by the compiler of these books, owing to the intense interest which the wanderings of this favourite hero and king excited among his countrymen. We can well imagine how gladly the dwellers in Judea, especially in later days--after the glorious reign of David had changed the tribes struggling with the surrounding petty nations for very existence into a great and renowned nation--would trace out the itinerary of the great king as he fled for his life before Saul. Is it too much to assume that each of these spots, which to us is little more than a hard, dry name, for a long period were the resort of reverent and curious pilgrims, anxious to gaze on localities made sacred by the weary wanderings and the hair-breadth escapes of the glorious king of Israel?The plain.--Literally, the Arabah, the desert track which extends along the Jordan Valley from the Dead Sea to the Lake of Gennesareth; it is now called El-Ghor. The term is also applied to the desolate valley which lies between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba. Stanley, in his Sinai and Palestine, has given a picturesque description of these weird districts.
