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Texts -- 1 Samuel 30:1-18 (NET)

Context
David Defeats the Amalekites
30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag . Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag . They attacked Ziklag and burned it. 30:2 They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest , but they did not kill anyone . They simply carried them off and went on their way . 30:3 When David and his men came to the city , they found it burned . Their wives , sons , and daughters had been taken captive . 30:4 Then David and the men who were with him wept loudly until they could weep no more . 30:5 David’s two wives had been taken captive – Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite , Nabal’s widow . 30:6 David was very upset , for the men were thinking of stoning him; each man grieved bitterly over his sons and daughters . But David drew strength from the Lord his God . 30:7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech , “Bring me the ephod .” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David . 30:8 David inquired of the Lord , saying , “Should I pursue this raiding band ? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue , for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!” 30:9 So David went , accompanied by his six hundred men . When he came to the Wadi Besor , those who were in the rear stayed there. 30:10 David and four hundred men continued the pursuit , but two hundred men who were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor stayed there. 30:11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David . They gave him bread to eat and water to drink . 30:12 They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat . This greatly refreshed him, for he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights . 30:13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” The young man said , “I am an Egyptian , the servant of an Amalekite man . My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days . 30:14 We conducted a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites , on the area of Judah , and on the Negev of Caleb . We burned Ziklag .” 30:15 David said to him, “Can you take us down to this raiding party ?” He said , “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master , and I will take you down to this raiding party .” 30:16 So he took David down , and they found them spread out over the land . They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah . 30:17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening . None of them escaped , with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels . 30:18 David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken ; he also rescued his two wives .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Moses included this relatively short genealogy (toledot) in the sacred record to show God's faithfulness in multiplying Abraham's seed as He had promised. He also did so to provide connections with the descendants of Esau ref...
  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • I. Eli and Samuel chs. 1-3A. The change from barrenness to fertility 1:1-2:101. Hannah's condition 1:1-82. Hannah's vow 1:9-183. Hannah's obedience 1:19-284. Hannah's song 2:1-10B. The contrast between Samuel and Eli's sons 2...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • In chapters 21-30 we see David's forces growing stronger and stronger while Saul's forces get weaker and weaker. This is a further demonstration of the fertility theme. However these chapters also develop the motif of the pro...
  • The town of Ziph was 12 miles southeast of Keilah, and the wilderness of Ziph was near the town. Ziph lay in the wilderness area of Judah whereas Keilah was in the more hospitable Shephelah. The sites of Horesh (v. 15) and Ha...
  • As Saul reached the depth of his fortunes, David attained the height of his popularity thus far. This chapter seems to antedate the previous one slightly. The writer appears to have incorporated it in his narrative here to hi...
  • This chapter reveals many qualities that marked David as an outstanding leader. As Saul continued to decline, God perfected the characteristics of leadership in David that prepared him for the throne. The Amalekites' capture ...
  • David took three days to return from Aphek (29:11) to Ziklag. The Amalekites, whom David had previously raided (27:8), took advantage of the Philistines' and David's absence to retaliate in the Negev and on Ziklag. They plund...
  • David obtained an answer through the Urim and Thummim, which the high priest carried in the breastpiece of his ephod (cf. 23:2, 4, 9). God no longer responded to Saul's prayers (28:15), but He did answer David's (v. 8). David...
  • The Amalekites were feasting on the plunder that they had taken even though the Egyptian servant had received nothing to eat or drink when he fell ill (cf. v. 12). David launched his attack early in the morning the next day a...
  • David also distributed some of the war plunder to the elders of Judah.293He evidently did so because he viewed the booty as coming from the enemies of all Judah, even the enemies of the Lord (v. 26). He may have also done thi...
  • The scene shifts back to Mt. Gilboa in the North. Saul's battle with the Philistines in this chapter may have been simultaneous with David's battle against the Amalekites in the previous one."Chapters 30 and 31 gain in poigna...
  • The other Israelite soldiers retreated when they heard that Saul and his sons had died. This left towns in the region open for Philistine seizure. Instead of driving the native inhabitants out of the land Saul had made it pos...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. The First Book of Samuel. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible series. Cambridge, Eng.: University Press, 1971._____. "The Verb Love--'Aheb in the David-Jonathan Narratives--A Footnote."Vetus ...
  • The young Amalekite must have been a mercenary soldier who had joined Saul's army. It seems more likely that this man's account of Saul's death was not accurate rather than that he had had some hand in killing Saul in view of...
  • Students of David's lament over Saul and Jonathan's deaths have called it the Song of the Bow (cf. v. 22).10Many people in Judah learned and sang it (v. 18). The Book of Jasher (v. 18) is no longer extant (cf. Josh. 10:13)."H...
  • "From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130Chapter 8 evidently desc...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • 25:15-16 The Philistines to Judah's west had also scorned the Israelites and had sought to destroy them (cf. Judg. 13-16; 1 Sam. 4; 13; 31; 2 Sam. 5; 2 Kings 18:8; 2 Chron. 21:16-17; 28:18). Therefore the Lord would stretch o...
  • References to the work and word of the Lord frame this section. Obadiah announced that a reversal of rolls was coming for Edom and all the nations.v. 15 "The day of the Lord"here is a future day in which God will reverse the ...
  • 2:4 The prophet announced that destruction would overtake four of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis (cf. Isa. 14:28-32; Jer. 47; Ezek. 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8). He listed them from south to north. Gath had evidently d...
  • That this section is distinct from the five that precede it is evident from two facts. Paul introduced it differently, and the emphasis in it is on God's resources. Earlier Paul urged the strengthening and growth of the body ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • 1 Samuel 30:6David was at perhaps the very lowest ebb of his fortunes. He had long been a wandering outlaw, and had finally been driven, by Saul's persistent hostility, to take refuge in the Philistines' country. He had gathe...
  • 1 Samuel 31:1-13The story of Saul's tragic last days is broken in two by the account, in 1 Samuel 29, 30., of David's fortunate dismissal from the invading army, and his exploits against Amalek. The contrast between the two l...
  • David was now about thirty years old, and had had his character tested and matured by his hard experiences. He learned in suffering what he taught in song.' Exile, poverty, and danger are harsh but effectual teachers, if acce...
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