1 Samuel 30:11

11 They found an Egyptian in the countryside and brought him to David. They gave him bread, and he ate, and they gave him water to drink.

1 Samuel 30:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:11

And they found an Egyptian in the field
As they passed along, lying there, having been sick, and was half starved, almost dead:

and brought him to David;
to know what was to be done with him; being in the habit of a soldier, they concluded he might be one of the company they were in pursuit of; but whether they should kill him, or make use of him for intelligence and as a guide, could they bring him to himself, they knew not, and therefore brought him to David:

and gave him bread, and he did eat, and they made him drink water;
both which they had with them for their own use; had he been an Amalekite, and not an Egyptian, they might not have relieved or spared him, but must have destroyed him at once; see ( Deuteronomy 25:19 ) .

1 Samuel 30:11 In-Context

9 So David set off with six hundred men. They came to the Besor ravine, where some stayed behind.

10 David and four hundred men continued the pursuit, while two hundred men stayed there, too exhausted to cross the Besor ravine.

11 They found an Egyptian in the countryside and brought him to David. They gave him bread, and he ate, and they gave him water to drink.

12 They also gave him a piece of fig cake and two raisin cakes. He ate and regained his strength because he hadn't eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.

13 Then David asked him, "Whose slave are you? Where do you come from?" "I'm an Egyptian servant boy," he said, "and the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.