1 Samuel 30:1

David's Defeat of the Amalekites

1 David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag.

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 David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag.

2 They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it from the youngest to the oldest. They had killed no one but had carried them off as they went on their way.

3 When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned down. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.

4 David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

5 David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.