1 Samuel 30:1

The Amalekite raid on Ziklag

1 Three days later, David and his soldiers reached Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided the arid southern plain and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down,

1 Samuel 30:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:1

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to
Ziklag, on the third day
Either from their departure from thence, when they went out with Achish, or rather from the time of their leaving Achish, and the camp of the Philistines; so long they were upon their march homewards, see ( 2 Samuel 1:1 2 Samuel 1:2 ) ; and no wonder, if it was the distance of eighty eight miles, (See Gill on 1 Samuel 29:11);

that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag;
the southern parts of the land of the Philistines, and of Judah, as appears from ( 1 Samuel 30:14 ) ; taking the opportunity of the Philistines being gone into the land of Israel, and particularly of David's absence from Ziklag, to whom they bore a grudge for his invasion, destruction, and spoil of them not long ago, see ( 1 Samuel 27:8 ) ;

and smitten Ziklag, and burnt it with fire;
not that they smote the inhabitants of it, there were no men in it, and the women and children they carried captive; but they demolished the buildings in it, pulled down the houses after they had rifled them, and burnt them with fire, that David and his men might dwell there no more.

1 Samuel 30:1 In-Context

1 Three days later, David and his soldiers reached Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided the arid southern plain and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it down,

2 taking the women and everyone in the city prisoner, whether young or old. They hadn't killed anyone but carried them off and went on their way.

3 When David and his soldiers got to the town and found it burned down, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters taken prisoner,

4 David and the troops with him broke into tears and cried until they could cry no more.

5 David's two wives had been captured as well: Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow from Carmel.