What did the Philistine commanders expect David to do if he were to join them in battle?
1 Samuel 29:4 (ESV)
4But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?
The Philistine commanders expected David to switch sides and fight with the armies of Saul during the heat of the battle.1 They had some experience of Israelites doing something similar in the past (see 1 Samuel 14:20–21).2
4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here?