David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?
"Ziklag" was an ideal location for David.  "Scholars now generally agree that Ziklag is the modern Tel el-Khuweilifeh, about twelve miles north-northeast of Beersheba."[5]  Following the Conquest, Ziklag was assigned to Simeon but later incorporated into the territory of Judah  (Joshua 19:5).  Although David had suggested this change as a convenience to Achish, that could not possibly have been his real motive.  David needed to be at a distance from the observation of Achish in order to carry out his plans for deceiving the king of Gath.  Furthermore, as Young wrote, "In a district of his own David could observe his own religious rites without being under the surveillance of the king."[6]