1 Samuel 30:13

13 Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

1 Samuel 30:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:13

And David said unto him, to whom [belongest] thou?
&c.] To what country or people? and to whom among them?

and whence [art] thou?
of what nation? where wast thou born? what countryman art thou? for his being called an Egyptian before seems to be by anticipation, unless it was guessed at by his habit; for until he had eaten and drank he could not speak, and so could not be known by his speech:

for he said, I [am] a young man of Egypt;
that was the country he belonged to, and came from; he was an Egyptian by birth:

servant to an Amalekite;
one of those that had invaded the country, and burnt Ziklag, as it follows:

and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick;
which was very barbarous and cruel to leave him at all, when they had camels with them, ( 1 Samuel 30:17 ) ; and no doubt carriages for their arms, provision, and spoil, and men; and more so to leave him without anybody with him to take care of him, and without any food, when he capable of eating any; but so it was ordered by the providence of God, that should be left to be the instrument of the just ruin of his master, and of the whole troop.

1 Samuel 30:13 In-Context

11 Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat—
12 a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.
13 Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” “I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.
14 We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15 “Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”
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