1 Samuel 30:1-9

1 And it came to pass, when David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag and burned it with fire,

2 and had taken the women captive, who were therein. They slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away and went on their way.

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

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

5 And David's two wives were taken captive: Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man 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 me hither the ephod." And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

8 And David inquired of 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 who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.

1 Samuel 30:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 30

This chapter relates the condition Ziklag was in when David and his men came to it, the city burnt, and their families carried captive by the Amalekites, which occasioned not only a general lamentation, but mutiny and murmuring in David's men, 1Sa 30:1-6; the inquiry David made of the Lord what he should do, who is bid to pursue the enemy; and being directed by a lad where they were, fell upon them, and routed them, and brought back the captives with a great spoil, 1Sa 30:7-20; the distribution of the spoil, both to those that went with him, and to those who through faintness were left behind, 1Sa 30:21-25; and the presents of it he sent to several places in the tribe of Judah, who had been kind to him when he dwelt among them, 1Sa 30:26-31.