Achish

Ay´kish

The ruler of the Philistine city of Gath from whom David sought asylum when he fled from Saul. At first David was distrustful of Achish and feigned madness to escape when he was recognized as a successful military leader (1Sam 21:10-15); but later Achish accepted David and his men as mercenaries and gave David the city of Ziklag in exchange for his raids on southern tribes hostile to the Philistines (1Sam 27:1-12). However, because of the suspicions of some of his commanders, Achish excused David from raids on Israel (1Sam 29:1-11).