David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
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.