[256] So the older story, 1 Sam. xxii. The priestly point of view from which it is written causes it, in order to prove the innocence of the priests, to represent David as saying on his flight to Ahimelech that he had a hasty mission from the king, so that Ahimelech can explain to Saul that he knew nothing about the flight. From the same point of view we must derive the statement that the body-guard hesitated to lay hands on the holy men, and that an Edomite slew them. That the punishment of Nob took place long after David's flight and rebellion, is clear from the fact that the fugitive Abiathar finds David already in possession of Kegilah, 1 Sam. xxii. 20; xxiii. 6, 7. [257] 1 Sam. xxv. 2-12, 18-42. [258] 1 Sam. xxx. 26-31. [259] That David saved and won Kegilah from the Philistines, and obtained a great victory over them, as we find it in the older account (1 Sam. xxiii. 1-5), is more than improbable. David certainly could not undertake to fight with Saul and the Philistines at one time with 600 men. How could he meet an army of the Philistines in the field, when he does not trust himself to maintain the walls of Kegilah against Saul with his troop. The citizens of Kegilah would hardly have been prepared to give him up, if just before he had done them such a kindness. Finally, this battle contradicts the position in which we find David before and afterwards with regard to the Philistines. Achish at any rate has unbounded confidence in David since his desertion, and will even make him "keeper of his head," 1 Sam. xxviii. 2. [260] 1 Sam. xxiii. 9-13. [261] 1 Sam. xxiii. 25-28.