1 Samuel 30:8

8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

1 Samuel 30:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:8

And David inquired of the Lord
That is, by Abiathar, who reported his questions to the Lord in his name:

saying, shall I pursue after this troop?
the large company of the Amalekites, as it appears by what follows they were:

shall I overtake them?
two questions are here put together, and answers returned to them, contrary to a notion of the Jews; (See Gill on 1 Samuel 23:11);

and he answered him, pursue;
which respects the first question:

for thou shall surely overtake [them];
which is an answer to the second question, and a full one, giving full assurance of overtaking; to which is added more than what was inquired about;

and without fail recover [all];
their wives, sons, and daughters, and the spoil that was taken; or "in delivering thou shall deliver" ^F16, out of the hands of the Amalekites, whatsoever they had taken.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (lyut luh) "eruendo erues", Pagninus, Montanus; "eripiendo erepturus es", Piscator.

1 Samuel 30:8 In-Context

6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was bitter, each one for his sons and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

7 And David said to Abiathar, the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring the ephod here to me. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all.

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where some stayed behind.

10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.