1 Samuel 30:1

1 Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground.

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, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground.

2 They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone.

3 When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families,

4 they wept until they could weep no more.

5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured.