According to 1 Samuel 22:5, David would have been in the forests of Hereth, somewhere in the vicinity of Ziph (see 1 Samuel 23:15). This was quite some distance from Keilah, which was a fortified town in the Shephelah region of Judah, approximately thirteen kilometres northwest of Hebron and five kilometres south of Adullam.1 Its location so close to Gath would make it especially vulnerable to Philistine raids.2 Possibly there were some men in David’s company who came from Keilah, or David just had a generally good relationship with the town (due to the time spent previously in the caves of Adullam, see 1 Samuel 22:1–2). In either case someone from Keilah comes to David to inform him of their trouble.3
1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”