Shmuel Alef 30:23

23 Then said Dovid, Ye shall not do so, my achim, with that which Hashem hath given us, Who hath been shomer over us, and delivered the gedood that came against us into our yad.

Shmuel Alef 30:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:23

Then said David, ye shall not do so, my brethren
Though he saw through their wickedness, and disapproved of the bad sentiments they had embraced, yet he deals gently with them, calling them brethren, being of the same nation and religion, and his fellow soldiers; yet at the same time keeps up and maintains his dignity and authority as a general, and declares it should not be as they willed, and gives his reasons for it, that it was not fit they should do as they pleased:

with that which the Lord hath given us;
what they had was given them, and therefore, as they had freely received, they should freely give; and what was given them, was not given to them only, but to the whole body, by the Lord:

who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us
into our hand;
it was not by their own power and might that they got the victory over the enemy, and the spoil into their hands, but it was through the Lord only; and therefore, as they should not assume the honour of the victory to themselves, so neither should they claim the spoil as wholly belonging to them.

Shmuel Alef 30:23 In-Context

21 And Dovid came to the two hundred anashim, which were so exhausted that they could not follow Dovid, whom they had left behind also at the brook Besor; and they went forth to meet Dovid, and to meet HaAm that were with him; and when Dovid came near to the people, he gave them a shalom greeting.

22 Then answered all the ish rah and the Beliyaal among the anashim of those that went with Dovid, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them any of the shalal that we have recovered, except to every ish his isha and his banim, that they may take them and leave.

23 Then said Dovid, Ye shall not do so, my achim, with that which Hashem hath given us, Who hath been shomer over us, and delivered the gedood that came against us into our yad.

24 For who will pay heed unto you in this matter? But as his chelek is that goeth down to the milchamah (battle), so shall his chelek be that tarrieth by the kelim (supplies): their chelek they shall share alike.

25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a chok (statute) and a mishpat for Yisroel unto this day.