Wilderness of Ziph

In the Bible

The Wilderness of Ziph appears in 1 Samuel as a setting for the period when Saul was pursuing David.

• 1 Samuel 23: David stays in the strongholds and hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. During this time Saul's son Jonathan comes to David in the wood (Hebrew horesh, which some take as a place name) and encourages him, and the two make a covenant before the LORD (1 Samuel 23:15-18). This is the last meeting between the two men recorded in Scripture. Afterward the Ziphites reveal David's hiding place to Saul, who sets out in pursuit. David flees south to the Wilderness of Maon and escapes the danger when Saul turns back on hearing that the Philistines have invaded the land.
• 1 Samuel 26: The Ziphites again report that David is hiding on the hill of Hachilah. David enters Saul's camp at night and takes only the spear and the water jug of the sleeping king. Though urged to kill Saul, David refuses, asking, "who can stretch forth his hand against the LORD's anointed, and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:9-11).
• The superscription of Psalm 54 identifies its setting as the time when the Ziphites told Saul where David was hiding.

Background

Ziph was a town in the hill country of Judah. Joshua 15 lists it among the towns of the tribe of Judah, together with Maon and Carmel (Joshua 15:55). The same chapter also lists a different town of the same name among the towns of the Negev (Joshua 15:24). 2 Chronicles 11:8 names it as one of the towns that Rehoboam fortified. The site is commonly identified with Tell Zif, southeast of Hebron, though scholars differ on the identification. The region descends eastward toward the Dead Sea in a succession of barren hills and ravines, which likely offered many places of concealment.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The narratives set in the Wilderness of Ziph depict the period in which David, though already anointed as king, endured hardship before ascending the throne. Twice he is betrayed by his own kinsmen, the people of Judah, and twice he has the opportunity to harm his enemy Saul yet refrains. For this reason the passages are read as illustrating faith that waits for God's timing and a refusal to take revenge. The New Testament does not mention the Wilderness of Ziph directly. Some preachers and interpreters, however, connect David's refusal to harm his enemy amid persecution with the teaching on love of enemies.

Interpretation and Debates

• The betrayal accounts in chapters 23 and 26, along with the account in chapter 24 of David sparing Saul at En Gedi, closely resemble one another. Traditionally they are read as separate historical events. Some scholars, however, regard them as variant traditions of a single event.
• Scholars disagree about whether the psalm superscriptions are original and whether the historical settings they give are accurate.
• Reading David as a type of Christ belongs to the interpretive tradition; the text itself does not state it directly.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, David's years in the wilderness are frequently presented as an example of trusting God in the midst of suffering. Two scenes from the Ziph passages are cited especially often. Jonathan's visit to encourage David is used to speak of true friendship and covenant, and David's sparing of Saul is used to speak of faith that waits for God's timing.