Hachilah

The hill of Hachilah was a wilderness ridge in the Judean Desert south of Jeshimon, on the eastern fringe of the Wilderness of Ziph. David and his band of outlaws took refuge there during their years on the run from King Saul. Twice the Ziphites betrayed his location: "Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds of Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?" (1 Samuel 23:19, 26:1). In one of the most famous moments of restraint in Scripture, David and Abishai crept down into Saul's camp on the hill of Hachilah by night, found the king and his army "lying in a deep sleep from the Lord that had fallen on them," and walked away with Saul's spear and water jug — David refused to harm "the Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel 26:3-12). The next morning David called out across the ravine and Saul wept, confessing, "I have sinned. Return, my son David."