1 Samuel 30:3

3 David and his men came to Ziklag. They saw that it had been destroyed by fire. They found out that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured.

1 Samuel 30:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:3

So David and his men came to the city
Or however to the place where it had stood, and where it now lay in ruins:

and, behold, [it was] burnt with fire;
the whole city was laid in ashes:

and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken
captives;
as it appeared afterwards; for upon their first coming they knew not but they were all destroyed; and which they might reasonably suppose from their former treatment of them, unless there were any left upon the spot which could inform them how things were, which does not appear, and which must make their distress the greater.

1 Samuel 30:3 In-Context

1 On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag. The Amalekites had attacked the people of the Negev Desert. They had also attacked Ziklag and burned it.

2 They had captured the women and everyone else who was in Ziklag. They had taken as prisoners young people and old people alike. But they didn't kill any of them. Instead, they carried them off as they went on their way.

3 David and his men came to Ziklag. They saw that it had been destroyed by fire. They found out that their wives and sons and daughters had been captured.

4 So David and his men began to sob out loud. They sobbed until they couldn't sob anymore.

5 David's two wives had been captured. Their names were Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail from Carmel. Abigail was Nabal's widow.