=Scenes of David's Outlaw Life in Southeastern Judah.= In a walled city David was in great danger of being captured by Saul. He therefore fled to the borders of southern Judah. Here pursuit was more difficult and escape into the rocky wilderness, which extended eastward to the Dead Sea, was easy. David kept close, however, to the settled territory. To the south of Hebron lay the second most fertile spot in all Judah. It was a level plateau, about nine miles long and three wide, covered with fertile though rocky fields and studded with prosperous villages. The town of Ziph, which evidently gave its name to the wilderness to the east where David took refuge, is in the heart of this plateau. The name of the hill, Hachilah, where, according to the oldest tradition, David spared the life of the sleeping Saul, is perhaps still echoed in the name Dhahret el-Kolah, which is given to the range of hills which runs far out into the wilderness east of Ziph.^{(90)} South of Ziph are the towns of Carmel and Maon. They are encircled by fruitful fields and pasture lands. On the borders of these the Bedouin still encamp and exact their toll of the villagers, even as David demanded a gift from Nabal in return for the protection given to his flocks.^{(26)} David's marriage with Abigail, which followed the death of Nabal, strengthened the loyalty of the southern tribes and gave him wealth and a settled place of abode; but, as at Keilah, it exposed him to great danger of capture by Saul. =David at Gath.= The necessity of providing occupation for the restless warriors who followed him was probably another reason why David at last sought refuge among Saul's foes, the Philistines. Gath, which is probably to be identified with Tell el-Safi, commanded the point where the Valley of Elah opens into the Philistine Plain. It was the Philistine city nearest to the scene of David's first great victory, as well as to Adullam, whither he had first fled. Throughout the reigns of David and Solomon, Gath figures as the gateway to the land of the Philistines. Its king, or tyrant, received David readily and showed him the hospitality that is eagerly accorded in the East to a fugitive from the court of a rival king. David's rare personal charm also won this Philistine chieftain, even as it did all with whom he came in contact. The region about Gath, however, was thickly settled and presented no field of activity for David's followers. Hence he was assigned a frontier town and thereby made the guardian of the Philistine border.