1 Samuel 30
David’s city, raided and burned
The raider gets raided
1It took David and his men three days to get back home to Ziklag. By then, it was gone. Burned down. Amalekite raiders had attacked the town and others throughout the Negev wasteland. 2The raiders didn’t kill anyone in Ziklag, but they took them all captive, as slaves. 3So, David’s soldiers returned to find that their wives and children were gone, and their homes destroyed and burned.4David and the people traveling with him screamed and cried themselves into exhaustion. 5David’s two wives were gone as well, Ahinoam from Jezreel along with Nabal’s widow, Abigail of Carmel.
6David’s men got so angry with him that they talked about stoning him out of their lives. But the LORD gave David the strength to deal with their anger. 7David wanted to know what to do, so he told the priest Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod apron.” [1] So, Abiathar did.
8David asked the LORD, “Should we chase these raiders? And if we do, will we catch them?” The LORD said, “Yes and yes. Hunt them down and rescue your people.”
David’s posse finds Egyptian scout
9So, David and all 600 of his men began the chase. But when they reached Besor River Gulch, [2] some stayed behind. 10David and 400 men continue the hunt, but 200 were too exhausted to cross the river gulch.11David’s men found an Egyptian in the wide-open land down there. They brought him to David. They fed him. They gave him some bread and water. 12They gave him a chunk of dried figs that had been pressed into plugs. And they filled his hands with two clusters of raisins, from grapes that had dried on the vine. The food revived him because he hadn’t eaten or drunken water for three days.
13David asked the man. “Where do you live and who are your people?” He said, “I’m a young Egyptian, and the slave of an Amalekite. My master left me here three days ago because I got sick. 14We raided two towns in the Negev. One is where the Cherethite people live. The other is on land that belongs to the tribe of Judah. It’s where the families of Caleb live. We also burned the town of Ziklag.”
15David said, “Would you take me to these raiders?” The Egyptian said, “Swear to God you won’t kill me when you’re done with me, or give me back to my master. If you can promise that, I will take to them.”
David breaks up the party
16When David and his men caught up with the raiders, they were scattered all over, like people at a city picnic. They were eating, drinking, and dancing. It was a big celebration over a lot of treasures they stole from the Philistines and the people in Judah.17David’s men hit them hard as the sun began to set. [3] And he continued fighting them for hours, into the dark night of the next day. The only group that managed to escape was the camel calvary—400 men who mounted camels and rode off into the sunset.
18David’s men recovered everything the Amalekites had taken from them, including David’s two wives. 19Not a thing was missing, big or small, son or daughter, this or that. David brought back everything. 20And there was a bonus. David took the Amalekite livestock—all the flocks and herds and cattle. The people said, “It belongs to David now.”
David’s greedy men not wanting to share
21When David’s army returned to the Besor River Gulch, the 200 exhausted men he left there were waiting. They went ahead to greet David as he arrived.22Some greedy men among the 400 didn’t want to share anything with the 200. They argued, “They didn’t do a thing, so they don’t get a thing. They stayed behind. So, all we’re going to do for them is give them back their wives and children. That’s it.”
23David said, “That’s not it. My brothers, you can’t do that. The LORD gave this to all of us. He saved all of us when he dropped those raiders right into our laps. 24Don’t hold your breath, waiting for folks to do what you just said. We divide the rewards evenly. Those who fight the battle get the same as those who stay behind to protect our property.”
25From then on, David enforced this as his law. It’s still the law today.
David shares confiscated property
26When David got back to Ziklag, he distributed the confiscated property to his friends and leaders in his tribe of Judah. He told them, “This is my gift to you. We took this from the LORD’s enemies.”27He sent gifts to the following locations: [4] Bethuel, Ramoth of the Negev, Jattir, 28Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29Racal, and towns of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites, 30Hormah, Bor-ashan, Athach, 31Hebron and wherever David and his men traveled.
Footnotes
“Apron” is a guess. Scholars aren’t sure what an ephod looked like. Several centuries before Samuel, in the time of Moses, an ephod was an apron or vest worn by the high priest. Some scholars describe it as a skirt or a shift-like garment that covered the body from about the waist to the mid-thigh. Inside the ephod the priest carried the Urim and Thummim, objects described as meaning “lights” and “perfection.” These were two objects never described in the Bible. They show up first in Exodus 28:30. They might have been stones, marked or colored in different ways. The high priest used them to answer questions with a “yes” or “no” or “wait.” It might have worked a bit like tossing two coins in the air and seeing how they land. Two heads for “yes.” Two tails for “no.” One of each for “wait.” It might seem foolish to make an important decision that way, such as whether to go to war. But the people of Israel seemed to believe that God controlled these sacred objects that the priests used.
Literally, “Wadi Besor.” A wadi in usually a dry riverbed. But it can quickly become a river during a rainstorm or in the springtime. Location of the wadi is uncertain, but possible a wadi now called HaBesor Stream, about 13 miles (21 km) south of Ziklag. That’s a little more than half a day’s walk.
The writer’s description of the battle is too vague to allow for a solid translation. Scholars have to guess. It’s unclear if David attacked at dawn or twilight and if the battle lasted a few hours or a day—maybe longer. This is why Bible translations of this verse run in different directions.
All these places are in the southern part of Judah, David’s tribe. He’s building goodwill among his own people. It will pay off after Saul dies (next chapter).
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