C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 17:1-11

1Sa 17:1-11

Some time after David first came to Saul for the purpose of playing, and when he had gone back to his father to Bethlehem, probably because Saul’s condition had improved, the Philistines made a fresh attempt to subjugate the Israelites. They collected their army together (machaneh, as in Exo 14:24; Jdg 4:16) to war at Shochoh, the present Shuweikeh, in the Wady Sumt, three hours and a half to the south-west of Jerusalem, in the hilly region between the mountains of Judah and the plain of Philistia (see at Jos 15:35), and encamped between Shochoh and Azekah, at Ephes-dammim, which has been preserved in the ruins of Damûm, about an hour and a half east by north of Shuweikeh; so that Azekah, which has not yet been certainly traced, must be sought for to the east or north-east of Damûm (see at Jos 10:10).