1 Samuel 30:3

3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

1 Samuel 30:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:3

So David and his men came to the city
Or however to the place where it had stood, and where it now lay in ruins:

and, behold, [it was] burnt with fire;
the whole city was laid in ashes:

and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken
captives;
as it appeared afterwards; for upon their first coming they knew not but they were all destroyed; and which they might reasonably suppose from their former treatment of them, unless there were any left upon the spot which could inform them how things were, which does not appear, and which must make their distress the greater.

1 Samuel 30:3 In-Context

1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,

2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.

3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.

4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

5 And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.