The number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
Ziklag evidently stood on the southwestern edge of Philistia about 27 miles south-southwest of Gerar, but its exact site is not certain. [Note: J. D. Ray, "Two Etymologies: Ziklag and Phicol," Vetus Testamentum (July 1986):355-58.] It continued under Israelite control from the time David moved there until David incorporated it into his kingdom. This town became David’s headquarters until he moved to Hebron 16 months later (1 Samuel 27:7; cf. 2 Samuel 1:1). In Ziklag David could come and go without constant observation by the Philistines who lived mainly to the north of Ziklag.