1 Samuel 30:11

11 David's men found an Egyptian in a field. They brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat.

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 David and his 600 men came to the Besor Valley. Some of them stayed behind there.

10 That's because 200 of them were too tired to go across the valley. But David and the other 400 continued the chase.

11 David's men found an Egyptian in a field. They brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat.

12 They gave him part of a cake of pressed figs. They also gave him two raisin cakes. After he ate them, he felt as good as new. That's because he hadn't eaten any food for three days and three nights. He hadn't drunk any water during that time either.

13 David asked him, "Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?" The man said, "I'm from Egypt. I'm the slave of an Amalekite. My master deserted me when I became ill three days ago.