Psalm 34 · a question people ask

The title says David "pretended to be insane before Abimelech" (34:1). Doesn't 1 Samuel 21 say it was Achish?

In the text

Each text says what it says. 1 Samuel 21 tells how "David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath" (1 Samuel 21:10), and "pretended to be insane in their hands" (1 Samuel 21:13); Achish said, "Look, you see the man is insane. Why then have you brought him to me?" (1 Samuel 21:14). The psalm's title reads, "By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed" (Psalm 34:1). In Hebrew the title's "pretended to be insane" has the words of 1 Samuel 21:13's "He changed his behavior". The title names Abimelech; 1 Samuel 21 names Achish. Neither passage explains the difference, 1 Samuel 21 doesn't mention the psalm, and these notes don't reconcile them. 1 Samuel 21's notes set the two titles that speak of David and the Philistines side by side (Psalm 34:1, 56:1).

The verses

“By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.”
Psalm 34:1 · World English Bible
“For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.”
Psalm 56:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 34

Psalm 34: Taste and see

"The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart" (34:18), and two verses on, "He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken" (34:20): in Hebrew one verb, shavar. The psalm doesn't promise no afflictions. It says they are many, and "the LORD delivers him out of them all" (34:19).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions