1 Samuel 23 · a question people ask
Why would the men of Keilah hand over the man who had just saved them?
The chapter doesn't say, and it doesn't say they chose to; it says the LORD told David they would (23:12). What it does say is what David had heard: "Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake" (23:10). And the chapter before has told what happened at Nob. After Doeg told Saul that Ahimelech the priest had given David food and Goliath's sword (22:9-10), Saul had the priests killed (22:18), and Nob, "the city of the priests", was struck "with the edge of the sword" (22:19). Saul called Keilah "a town that has gates and bars" (23:7), and he "summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men" (23:8). Past that, the text leaves the men of Keilah's reasons unsaid, and so does this answer.
The verses
“Saul was told that David had come to Keilah. Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into a town that has gates and bars.” Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.”
“Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake.”
“Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” The LORD said, “They will deliver you up.””
“Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of the LORD for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.””