1 Samuel 27:8

“And David and his men went up, etc.] From Ziklag, where they dwelt: and invaded the Geshurites; some of the old inhabitants of the land of Canaan, the remains of the Amorites, whose land was given to the half tribe of Manasseh, but could never be expelled; and therefore David had a just right to invade them, and, if he could, either expel or destroy them; (see <050314>Deuteronomy 3:14 <061205>Joshua 12:5 13:11,13); these are the Geshurites which are joined with the Philistines, (<061302>Joshua 13:2); and the Gezrites; the inhabitants of Gezer, which place fell to the tribe of Ephraim; but that tribe could not drive out the inhabitants of it, and therefore David now fell upon them as the…”

“David . . . went up, and invaded the Geshurites--(See Jos 13:2). and the Gezrites--or the Gerizi [GESENIUS], (Jos 12:12), some Arab horde which had once encamped there. and the Amalekites--Part of the district occupied by them lay on the south of the land of Israel (Jdg 5:14; Jdg 12:15).”

“The Geshurites bordered upon the Philistines, and lived in the mountainous district which terminates the desert on the northeast (marginal reference). They were a different tribe, or, at least, a different branch of it, from the Geshurites who lived on the northeast border of Bashan, and were Arameans 2 Samuel 15:8. The Gezrites, or Gerzites, may be connected with those who gave their name to Mount Gerizim. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Amalekites - The remnant of those whom Saul destroyed, Sa1 15:3-9, who retired into remote and desert places. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 27:9”

“27:8 Geshurites . . . Girzites . . . Amalekites: These groups, who lived on the edges of the southern desert, had been troublesome to both Philistines and Israelites. (On the Amalekites, see 14:48; ch 15; on the Geshurites, see Josh 13:2, 13; 2 Sam 3:3.) • Shur was somewhere east of Egypt (1 Sam 15:7; Gen 16:7; 20:1; 25:18).”

“am 2948, bc 1056, An, Ex, Is, 435 the Geshurites: Jos 13:2, Jos 13:13; Sa2 13:37, Sa2 13:38, Sa2 14:23, Sa2 14:32, Sa2 15:8; Ch1 2:23 Gezrites: or, Gerzites, These people seem to be the Gerrhenians (2; Mac 13:24) whose chief city, Gerrha, is mentioned by Strabo as lying between Gaza and Pelusium in Egypt. the Amalekites: Jos 16:10; Jdg 1:29; Kg1 9:15-17 as thou goest: Sa1 15:7, Sa1 15:8, Sa1 30:1; Exo 17:14-16 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 27:9”

“From Ziklag David made an attack upon the Geshurites, Gerzites, and Amalekites, smote them without leaving a man alive, and returned with much booty. The occasion of this attack is not mentioned, as being a matter of indifference in relation to the chief object of the history; but it is no doubt to be sought for in plundering incursions made by these tribes into the land of Israel. For David would hardly have entered upon such a war in the situation in which he was placed at that time without some such occasion, seeing that it would be almost sure to bring him into suspicion with Achish, and endanger his safety. ויּעל, "he advanced," the verb being used, as it frequently is, to denote the…”