Book of 1 Samuel Quiz: David the Fugitive and Saul's Death

1. When David fled to Nob and met the priest Ahimelech, what did Ahimelech give him?

1. A new sword forged by Benjaminite smiths, and a pouch of silver to buy supplies along the way
2. A prophetic word from the LORD assuring David that Saul would not catch him and that his flight would end in the royal palace
3. A written letter of commendation addressed to the governors of Philistia so David could travel safely through enemy territory
4. The consecrated bread (the bread of the Presence) and the sword of Goliath the Philistine, which had been wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod

2. What happened to the priests of Nob because Ahimelech helped David?

1. Doeg the Edomite reported to Saul that Ahimelech had helped David. When Saul's guards refused to kill the priests, Doeg killed Ahimelech and eighty-five priests, then destroyed the entire town of Nob
2. Nothing immediately — Saul warned Ahimelech not to help David again but spared the priests because of their sacred office
3. Saul imprisoned the priests at Gibeah — they were released only after Jonathan negotiated their freedom
4. The priests fled to the wilderness before Saul could catch them — they joined David's band at Adullam

3. When David feigned madness at Gath before King Achish, what was his reason, and what was Achish's reaction?

1. David pretended to be deaf and mute — Achish threw him out, thinking he was cursed rather than mad
2. David pretended to worship Dagon so convincingly that Achish thought he was a Philistine sympathiser and gave him a position at court
3. David recognised he was in danger at Gath (the Philistines knew who he was), so he 'acted insane, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.' Achish said he had enough madmen already and sent him away
4. David was genuinely terrified and his trembling was so extreme that Achish thought it was a medical condition — he dismissed David out of compassion

4. At the cave of Adullam, who gathered around David to form his band of followers?

1. Gad the prophet and a band of sixty trained warriors who had served under Saul but refused to hunt David
2. His brothers and his father's household, plus about 400 men who were in distress, in debt or discontented
3. The elders of Judah who had secretly anointed David — they came with their armed households to establish his royal court in exile
4. The Levites and priests who had survived Saul's massacre at Nob — they came to David because he was their only protector

5. How did David respond when the men of Keilah, whom he had rescued from the Philistines, threatened to betray him to Saul?

1. He appealed to the elders of Keilah by reminding them he had saved their lives — they reconsidered and helped him escape through a secret gate
2. He inquired of the LORD through the ephod (via Abiathar). When God confirmed Keilah would surrender him, David and his men left the city — growing to about 600 men in the wilderness
3. He prepared to fight — he fortified Keilah and sent messengers to Saul challenging him to meet him there in single combat
4. He pretended to leave but set an ambush outside the city — when Saul arrived he attacked Saul's forces and escaped in the confusion

6. What was the content of Jonathan's final meeting with David in the wilderness?

1. Jonathan came to David at Horesh and 'helped him find strength in God,' saying David would become king over Israel and Jonathan would be second to him. They made a covenant before the LORD
2. Jonathan rebuked David for not trusting God — he said David should stop running and present himself to Saul to settle the matter
3. Jonathan revealed Saul's military plans so David could avoid being caught — it was primarily a tactical briefing
4. Jonathan warned David that Saul had hired assassins from the Philistines — he gave David detailed escape routes through the wilderness of Judah

7. What happened when David found Saul asleep in the cave at En Gedi?

1. David killed Saul with a sword stroke but immediately repented and wept over the body before carrying him to his family for burial
2. David passed by Saul without acting — he refused to enter the cave because he felt it was a trap set by Saul to lure him into an ambush
3. David woke Saul and confronted him face to face — Saul wept and acknowledged David would be king but resumed the pursuit the next morning
4. David's men urged him to kill Saul, but David secretly cut off a corner of Saul's robe only. He was stricken with guilt even for this, telling his men it was wrong to harm 'the LORD's anointed'

8. Who was Nabal, and what did he do to provoke David?

1. Nabal was a Philistine merchant who had been selling weapons to Saul's army — David intercepted a supply caravan
2. Nabal was a priest who had given Saul information about David's movements — David was furious at this betrayal
3. Nabal was a tax collector who had extorted David's relatives in Bethlehem — David sought payment and justice for his family
4. Nabal was a wealthy Calebite sheep farmer in Maon. When David sent men to ask for provisions (since his men had protected Nabal's shepherds), Nabal contemptuously refused: 'Who is this David? Why should I take my bread and water for this David?'

9. How did Abigail prevent David from taking revenge on Nabal?

1. She appealed to the elders of the town who sent armed men to block David's approach — diplomacy rather than personal intervention
2. She gathered the household servants and armed them to defend against David's attack — the show of force persuaded David to withdraw
3. She sent messengers to Saul warning him that David was about to commit murder — Saul's pursuit diverted David from Nabal
4. Without telling her husband, Abigail loaded donkeys with food and went to meet David. She bowed before him, apologised for her husband, and appealed to David's conscience not to take blood vengeance — reminding him God would establish his dynasty and he should have no wrongful bloodshed on his record

10. When David spared Saul a second time at the hill of Hakilah, what did he take and what was Abner's embarrassment?

1. David took nothing physical — he only listened to the camp's plans and then called out to Saul, proving he had penetrated the camp's defences without taking anything
2. David took Saul's crown while he slept — when Saul woke he found it gone and only then believed David truly had an opportunity to kill him but had not
3. David took Saul's signet ring — the official seal of the king of Israel. When Saul discovered it missing he understood it as a prophetic sign of transfer of power
4. David took Saul's spear and water jug from beside Saul's head while the entire camp slept. From the opposite hill, David called out to Abner — shaming him for not guarding 'the LORD's anointed,' then called to Saul across the distance

11. Why did David return to Achish king of Gath the second time, and what territory was he given?

1. David despaired of surviving in Israel ('One of these days I shall be destroyed by Saul') and moved with his men to Achish — Achish gave him the town of Ziklag. David raided non-Israelite tribes while telling Achish he was raiding Judah
2. David negotiated a formal peace treaty with Achish — in exchange for military service, Achish gave David control of the southern Negev including Beersheba
3. David went to Achish because Jonathan had died and he no longer had protection in Israel — Achish gave him a position as a military commander
4. David went to Achish to gather intelligence for Jonathan — Achish gave him Ziklag as a base for what he believed was Philistine espionage

12. What happened at Ziklag while David and his men were away with the Philistine army?

1. Jonathan sent messengers to Ziklag warning David not to fight against Israel with the Philistines — the messengers arrived to find the town burning
2. Saul finally tracked David down and burned Ziklag — taking David's wives and children as prisoners to Gibeah
3. The Amalekites raided Ziklag, burned it, and carried off all the women and children. David's men wept until they had no strength and spoke of stoning David. David found strength in God and pursued — recovering everything
4. The Philistines themselves burned Ziklag when the Philistine commanders refused to let David fight alongside them — the commanders suspected David was a spy for Israel

13. Why did the Philistine commanders send David away before the battle where Saul died?

1. A Philistine oracle declared that if any Israelite fought in the Philistine ranks, their army would be defeated — David was sent back for superstitious reasons
2. David himself asked to be excused from the battle — he told Achish he could not fight against the men of Israel because of his previous oath to Saul's family
3. David's men refused to fight — they mutinied and demanded to return to Ziklag
4. The commanders said: 'What are these Hebrews doing here?' They did not trust David — fearing he would turn against them in battle to regain favour with Saul. Achish defended David but sent him back to Ziklag

14. What did Saul do the night before the battle of Mount Gilboa, and what did he hear?

1. Saul consulted the court astrologers and they predicted victory — he went into battle the next day falsely confident
2. Saul consulted the medium (Witch) of Endor, asking her to bring up Samuel. Samuel appeared and told Saul that God had rejected him, Israel would fall to the Philistines, and Saul and his sons would be with Samuel the next day
3. Saul had a vision of the LORD that night — God appeared to him as a consuming fire and Saul fell on his face. God told him his reign was over
4. Saul prayed all night at the tabernacle at Gibeon — but God did not answer and Saul fell into a catatonic state

15. How did Saul die on Mount Gilboa?

1. Saul fought bravely until the last — he killed many Philistines before being overwhelmed and dying from multiple sword wounds
2. Saul was captured by the Philistines and publicly executed in their camp — they cut off his head and paraded him before their armies
3. Saul was critically wounded by Philistine archers. Fearing torture if captured, he fell on his own sword — but he did not die immediately. An Amalekite who found him claims he finished him off at Saul's own request (though 1 Samuel says he died on his sword)
4. Saul was struck by a single arrow from a Philistine archer — he died instantly on the battlefield

16. What happened to Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua — Saul's sons — at Mount Gilboa?

1. All three were killed in the battle alongside their father — the Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa
2. Jonathan and Abinadab were captured by the Philistines; only Malki-Shua escaped to tell David the news
3. Jonathan escaped the battle and fled to David at Ziklag — but died of his wounds three days after arriving
4. Jonathan was the last to die — he was captured and executed in Philistia when the Philistines learned of his covenant with David

17. What did the men of Jabesh Gilead do for Saul's body after the Philistines hung it on the wall of Beth Shan?

1. All the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead travelled through the night, retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons from Beth Shan, burned them at Jabesh, buried the bones under a tamarisk tree, and fasted seven days
2. They informed David of the desecration — David led a military raid on Beth Shan to retrieve the bodies with honour
3. They left the bodies as they were — desecrating Saul's body was seen as divine judgment for his sin
4. They petitioned the Philistines diplomatically for the bodies — paying a ransom and giving proper burial in the royal tomb at Gibeah

18. What recurring theme in 1 Samuel 21–31 shows David's integrity despite his difficult circumstances?

1. David consistently gave God credit for military victories — he held no victory celebrations and attributed every success to divine power alone
2. David consistently refused to kill Saul despite multiple opportunities ('he is the LORD's anointed'), sought divine guidance before major decisions, and returned to God in distress rather than taking matters into his own hands
3. David maintained perfect honesty in his dealings with the Philistines — he never deceived Achish about his military activities
4. David never shed innocent blood — he consistently avoided killing civilians in all his military actions

19. How does 1 Samuel 21–31 set up the transition narrative in 2 Samuel 1?

1. David has been anointed king a second time at Hebron — 2 Samuel begins with the formal coronation ceremony
2. Israel is completely leaderless — 2 Samuel 1 opens with a period of anarchy before Abner establishes Ish-Bosheth as a rival king
3. Saul and Jonathan are dead; David is at Ziklag and does not yet know the outcome at Gilboa. The Amalekite messenger's arrival to tell David of the deaths — and his claim to have killed Saul — opens 2 Samuel 1 and triggers David's lament
4. The elders of Judah have already sent messengers to David at Ziklag offering him the southern kingdom — 2 Samuel 1 begins with David accepting

20. What does the arc of Saul's reign in 1 Samuel teach about the nature of kingship under God?

1. Human kings are inherently corrupt — Saul proves that Israel should have remained a theocracy with judges rather than asking for a king
2. Kingship is legitimate but conditional — the king must be submitted to the word of God as spoken by the prophet. Saul's failure was not weakness but wilful disobedience (Amalek, Agag) and the attempt to secure his kingdom without God. The contrast with David — who waits on God and will not grasp power by murder — defines what a true king under God looks like
3. Military success is the measure of divine approval — Saul failed when his armies began losing, and God withdrew his blessing because the victories stopped
4. The king's primary duty is temple worship — Saul's downfall began when he offered the sacrifice at Gilgal and ended when he consulted a medium instead of a priest