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1 Samuel Chapter 30
David's Wives Are Captured
- 1Samuel 30:1 And it
came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the
third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag,
and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
- 2 And had taken the
women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either
great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
Perhaps this was revenge for David's
previous attack on the Amalekites recorded in 1 Samuel 27 or just a
wandering band of trouble makers. Revenge seems more likely. This
happened in the southern part of which later became Judah.
- 1Samuel 30:3 So
David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned
with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters,
were taken captives.
- 4 Then David and the
people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until
they had no more power to weep.
- 5 And David's two
wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail
the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
- 6 And David was
greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because
the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons
and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD
his God.
Looks pretty bad for David. They blamed
David for this it seems. David is grieved also since both his wives
were taken too. At least they didn't slaughter any of them. No doubt
God intervened in that and protected the wives and kids. It could be
that the Amalekites needed slaves or desired to sell them for
profit.
- 1Samuel 30:7 And
David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee,
bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the
ephod to David.
- 8 And David enquired
at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I
overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt
surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
David decides to seek out the will of
God which is what we all should try to do when making tough life
changing decisions. We probably wouldn't get into so much trouble
afterwards if we sought the Lord. We now through faith in Jesus, can
be filled with the Holy Spirit and look to him for guidance. Because
of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, all who believe in Him can
now be baptized in the Holy Spirit and go to the Lord for guidance
in all things. We no longer have to go to a priest, prophet or
intercessor for answers although having good praying people agree
with us in prayer is always good.
- 1Samuel 30:9 So
David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and
came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind
stayed.
- 10 But David
pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind,
which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
- 11 And they found an
Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him
bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
- 12 And they gave him
a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when
he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no
bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.
- 13 And David said
unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he
said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my
master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.
According to some scholars the man was
an Egyptian whe was dwelling with the Amalekites until he got sick
and they left him to find for himself and starve. They probably
figured he was of no use to them as a slave any longer so they left
him to die.
- 1Samuel 30:14 We
made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the
coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and
we burned Ziklag with fire.
- 15 And David said to
him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said,
Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor
deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee
down to this company.
The Egyptian decides to tell David
where the camp of the Amalekites were. We could say he betrayed his
own people but since he was a servant or slave that was just one
that followed orders, I would not call this a betrayal, after all
they left him to die. The man also told David of the invasion of
Ziklag and burning it down with fire. He begs David not to deliver
him back into the hands of his master if he shows them where their
company was.
Caleb was north of Zeklag and the place
where Caleb from the tribe of Judah originally settled.
David Defeats the Amalekites
-
1Samuel 30:16 And when he
had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all
the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the
great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the
Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
They Amalekites were so busy enjoying
their bounty they were not thinking about being invaded but eating,
drinking and dancing. This gave David and his men a great advantage.
-
1Samuel 30:17 And David
smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next
day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred
young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
Only four hundred escaped David's
invasion. Swift camels which are called dromedaries were the way
they escaped. A Jewish historian, Josephus writes about the
dromedaries that were used by the Arabs.
- 1Samuel 30:18 And
David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and
David rescued his two wives.
- 19 And there was
nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons
nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken
to them: David recovered all.
- 20 And David took
all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those
other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.
The though of rescuing their wives and
goods gave tired men renewed strength to go and rescue their people.
They got back every single one of the people that were taken plus
the cattle that had been taken by the Amalekites from Ziklag. This
was now considered David's spoils.
-
1Samuel 30:21 And David
came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could
not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook
Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people
that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he
saluted them.
These were those too weak to accompany
the men who helped David defeat the Amalekites.
-
1Samuel 30:22 Then answered
all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with
David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give
them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every
man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and
depart.
There are always trouble makers around that
do not have compassion and mercy on the weak. People like that is
why the Eygptian was left behind when he was sick. However in that
case it turned out good for David and his men.
- 1Samuel 30:23 Then
said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the
LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the
company that came against us into our hand.
- 24 For who will
hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the
stuff: they shall part alike.
- 25 And it was so
from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an
ordinance for Israel unto this day.
Here is an example of that ordinance in
the book of Joshua:
-
Joshua 22:8 And he
spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your
tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold,
and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment:
divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Also in the book of Numbers:
David was a man of compassion and
always shared the spoils of war with those that stayed by the stuff.
Guards in other many cases and perhaps those that took care of many
other things while the men went to battle. I remember reading about
women in the United States who had to take jobs in factories when the men were drafted
into the war.
- 1Samuel 30:26 And
when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders
of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you
of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;
- 27 To them which
were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to
them which were in Jattir,
- 28 And to them which
were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them
which were in Eshtemoa,
- 29 And to them which
were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the
Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the
Kenites,
- 30 And to them which
were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them
which were in Athach,
- 31 And to them which
were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and
his men were wont to haunt.
David was never a selfish person. He could
have made himself and his fighting men rich here but he even shared
his spoils of war with the elders of Judah in other cities. These
were mostly those the helped him when he was in exile after fleeing
from Saul. DC
1 Samuel Chapter 31
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