1 Samuel 30:17

17 David attacked them from dawn until the evening of the next day. Not one of them escaped, except for 400 young men who jumped on camels and got away.

1 Samuel 30:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:17

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening
of the next day
As there are two twilights, the twilight of the morning, and the twilight of the evening; this is differently understood some take it for the twilight of the morning, and that it was night when David came to them, and let them alone till they were drunk and asleep, and then early in the morning fell upon them, and smote them until the evening; so Josephus F19 relates it; but others take it to be the twilight of the evening, and that he fell upon them that night, and continued the slaughter of them to the evening of the next day, with which agrees the Targum; nay, some take the next day, or the morrow, to be that which followed after the two evenings; so that this slaughter was carried on to the third day:

and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men that
rode upon camels, and fled;
that sort of camels called dromedaries, according to Josephus F20, and which were very swift, and much used by the Arabians, near whom these people dwelt, see ( Isaiah 60:6 ) ( Jeremiah 2:23 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 6.
F20 Ibid.

1 Samuel 30:17 In-Context

15 David asked him, "Will you lead me down to this raiding party?" He said, "If you will swear by God to me that you won't kill me or hand me back to my master, I will lead you down to the raiders."
16 He led them down, and there they were, spread out all over the ground, eating, drinking and celebrating how much spoil they had taken from the territory of the P'lishtim and the territory of Y'hudah.
17 David attacked them from dawn until the evening of the next day. Not one of them escaped, except for 400 young men who jumped on camels and got away.
18 David recovered all that the 'Amaleki had taken; he also rescued his two wives.
19 They found nothing missing, big or little - not sons, not daughters, not plundered goods or anything else they had taken - David brought it all back.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.