1 Chronicles 12 · a question people ask
12:19 says David "came with the Philistines against Saul to battle". Would he have fought against Israel?
The chapter doesn't say. It says only that men of Manasseh joined David "when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they didn’t help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, 'He will desert to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads'" (1 Chronicles 12:19). 1 Samuel 29 tells the same day. There David asks Achish what he has found in him "that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" (1 Samuel 29:8), and he doesn't name the king. Christians read this in two main ways, each resting on its verses, and 1 Samuel 29's notes give the same two. Both agree that the text never shows what David would have done, and that he was sent back before the battle (1 Chronicles 12:19; 1 Samuel 29:9-11).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Ready to go with Achish
Those who read it this way take the words at their plain sense. Chronicles says David "came with the Philistines against Saul to battle" (1 Chronicles 12:19). In 1 Samuel he marched "in the rear with Achish" (1 Samuel 29:2), and he was speaking to Achish, before whom he had been "to this day" (1 Samuel 29:8), so "my lord the king" (1 Samuel 29:8) was Achish. On this reading David was ready to fight in Achish's army, and the lords' decision kept him out of a battle he was on his way to (1 Chronicles 12:19; 1 Samuel 29:4).
1 Chronicles 12:19 · 1 Samuel 29:2 · 1 Samuel 29:4 · 1 Samuel 29:8
Words Achish would take one way
Those who read it this way note that twice David would not harm Saul: "who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:9; also 24:6). David calls Saul "my lord the king" (1 Samuel 26:19; also 24:8), and Chronicles has the Philistines call Saul David's master: "He will desert to his master Saul" (1 Chronicles 12:19). So they hear "my lord the king" (1 Samuel 29:8) as words Achish would take of himself and David could mean of Saul. On this reading David would not have fought against Israel.
1 Samuel 26:9 · 1 Samuel 24:6 · 1 Samuel 26:19 · 1 Samuel 24:8 · 1 Chronicles 12:19 · 1 Samuel 29:8
The verses
“Some of Manasseh also joined David when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they didn’t help them, for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, “He will desert to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.””