1 Samuel 30
30
David’s Wives Are Captured
1Now when David and his men came to #ch. 29:4, 11 Ziklag on the third day, #ch. 27:8; [ch. 15:3, 7] the Amalekites had #ver. 14made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2and taken captive the women and all#30:2 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5David’s #See ch. 25:42, 43two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke #[Ex. 17:4; Num. 14:10]of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul,#30:6 Compare 22:2 each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 # ch. 23:6, 9 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8#See ch. 22:10 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this #[1 Chr. 12:21] band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake #ver. 18and shall surely rescue.” 9So David set out, and #See ch. 23:13the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10But David pursued, he and four hundred men. #ver. 21Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
11They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, #Judg. 15:19; [ch. 14:27]his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14#ver. 1 We had made a raid against the Negeb of #2 Sam. 8:18; 15:18; 20:7, 23; 1 Kgs. 1:38, 44; 1 Chr. 18:17; [Ezek. 25:16; Zeph. 2:5]the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this #[ch. 25:3]band.”
David Defeats the Amalekites
16And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18#ver. 8David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. #[See ver. 18 above]David brought back all. 20David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him,#30:20 The meaning of the Hebrew clause is uncertain and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21Then David came to #ver. 10the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left #ver. 10at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24Who would listen to you in this matter? #[Num. 31:27; Josh. 22:8]For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
26When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” 27It was for those in #Gen. 28:19; See Judg. 1:22-26 Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in #Josh. 15:48Jattir, 28in #Deut. 2:36; Josh. 13:16 Aroer, in Siphmoth, in #Josh. 15:50Eshtemoa, 29in Racal, in the cities of #ch. 27:10 the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of #See Judg. 1:16the Kenites, 30in #Judg. 1:17Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31in #Josh. 14:13-15; Judg. 1:10; 2 Sam. 2:1-4Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 30
30
1Three days later David and his men arrived back in Ziklag. Some Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down. 2They had captured the women and everyone else there, young and old. They hadn't killed anyone, but they took everyone with them as they left.
3When David and his men arrived back in town, they found it burned to the ground, and their wives and children captured. 4David and his men cried loudly until they couldn't cry any more. 5David's two wives had also been taken as prisoners—Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. 6David was in a great deal of trouble, because the men were so upset over losing their children that they began to talk of stoning him.
But trusting in the Lord his God, 7David went to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, and said, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him. 8David asked the Lord, “Should I chase after these raiders? Will I catch up with them?”
“Yes, chase after them,” the Lord replied, “for you will definitely catch up with them and rescue the prisoners.”
9David and six hundred of his men set off for the Besor Valley. 10Two hundred of them remained behind there because they were too tired to cross the valley while David continued on with four hundred men.
11They came across an Egyptian in the countryside and they took him to David. They gave him some food to eat and water to drink. 12They also gave him a piece of a fig cake and two raisin cakes. He ate them and recovered, because he hadn't had any food or water for three days and nights.
13“Whose slave are you, and where do you come from?” David asked him.
“I'm an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master left me behind three days ago when I got sick. 14We raided the Kerethites in the Negev, as well as the part that belongs to Judah, and the Negev of Caleb. We burned Ziklag too.”
15“Can you lead me to these raiders?” David asked.
“If you swear to me by God that you won't kill me or hand me over to my master, then I'll take you to them,” the man replied.
16He led David to the Amalekites, where they were spread out all over the place, eating, drinking, and dancing because of the large haul of plunder they had taken from the lands of the Philistines and of Judah. 17David attacked them from dusk until the following evening. Nobody escaped, except for four hundred men who managed to get away, riding on camels. 18David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. 19Everything was accounted for—all the adults and children, as well as all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back. 20He also recovered all the flocks and herds. His men drove them ahead of the other livestock, shouting, “This is David's plunder!”
21When David got back to the two hundred men who had been too tired to continue with him from the Besor Valley, they came to meet him and the men with him. As David approached the men to greet them, 22all the unpleasant, good-for-nothing men of those who had gone with David said, “They weren't with us, so we won't share the plunder that we took, except to give them back their wives and children. They can take them and leave.”
23But David intervened, saying, “No, my brothers, you shouldn't do this with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the raiders that had attacked us. 24Who's going to listen to you when you say such things? Whatever share those who went into battle receive will be the same as those who stayed to guard the supplies.” 25David made this the rule and regulation for Israel from that day until now.
26When David got back to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to each of his friends among the elders of Judah, saying, “Here's a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies.” 27David sent it to those who lived in Bethuel,#30:27. “Bethuel”: far more likely than “Bethel” as in the Hebrew text. Ramoth Negev, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29Racal, the towns of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites, 30Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, 31Hebron—all the places David and his men had gone to.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com