David's "ruffians" again

[Joel S. Berson]

Might the word "ruffian" have had a less
derogatory, less condemnatory sense in the 17th century than this?
1. A man of a low and brutal character; one
habitually given to acts of violence or crime; a cut-throat villain.

David's fellow exiles are described thus in I Samuel 22:

1.  David therefore departed thence, and escaped
to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and
all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.
2.  And every one that was in distress, and every
one that was in debt , and every one that was
discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and
he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

The OED also has this, which might be somewhat less low and brutal:
†2. One distinguished as a swaggering bully or
dissolute person by his dress or appearance (esp.
by wearing the hair long). Obs.

(I don't know of any association of David's men with long hair.)

Joel

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