He was in fact a chief of outlaws and refugees like himself. To preserve the esprit de corps of this band -- which numbered between 400 and 600 men -- David became a kind of Robin Hood of Judah, offering aid to the needy and protection to the rich, but his criminal status haunted him. In one case, after saving the property of
the citizens of Keilah, a town threatened by the Philistines, David was warned that they intended to surrender him to Saul.

David had tried to secure the protection of the Philistine city of Gath, and was refused the first time; but upon his second appeal King Achish granted him protection. The Philistine nobles were suspicious of their former enemy, and they cancelled out their king's intention to deploy David as his bodyguard in a campaign against Saul. Forced out of the court, David returned to his Philistine residence at Ziklag, which had been looted by the Amalekites. Pursuing them, he overcame them and forced them to relinquish their stolen treasure, which he distributed to the elders of Judah, advancing his own cause in the last days of Saul's tragic reign.

David was a realist with the ideal of improving the lot of his countrymen. His sincere convictions led to important political results without the cynicism of political intrigue. He excelled in exercising patience, attempting at all times to avoid shedding the blood of any Israelites, knowing it would set back his program for national unification. He dramatized his belief in the sacredness of the royal person to impress King Saul's entourage, and when Saul was killed by the Philistines at Gilboa, David's moving elegy not only voiced his personal grief, but also served to reconcile Saul's following to David's movement. His message of gratitude to Jabesh-gilead for the burial of the royal dead was also a signal of the inauguration of his own reign as king, which was newly established at Hebron.

David had carefully cultivated the support of the elders of Judah, and upon the death of Saul they proclaimed David king of Judah. Saul's son, Ishbosheth, supported by Abner, set up his court at Mahanaim, as the Philistines overran Israel west of the Jordan. For the next seven years David ruled from the capital of Judah, Hebron, as the House of Saul self-destructed. The deteriorating condition of Israel led to a state

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