Bible Commentaries

1Sa 30:1-5.

THE AMALEKITES SPOIL ZIKLAG.

1. Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag--While the strength of the Philistine forces was poured out of their country into the plain of Esdraelon, the Amalekite marauders seized the opportunity of the defenseless state of Philistia to invade the southern territory. Of course, David's town suffered from the ravages of these nomad plunderers, in revenge for his recent raid upon their territory.

2. they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away--Their conduct seems to stand in favorable contrast to that of David

(1Sa 27:11).

But their apparent clemency did not arise from humane considerations. It is traceable to the ancient war usages of the East, where the men of war, on the capture of a city, were unsparingly put to death, but there were no warriors in Ziklag at the time. The women and boys were reserved for slaves, and the old people were spared out of respect to age.

3. David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire--The language implies that the smoke of the conflagration was still visible, and the sacking very recent.

1Sa 30:6-15.

BUT DAVID, ENCOURAGED BY GOD, PURSUES THEM.

6. David was greatly distressed--He had reason, not only on his own personal account

(1Sa 30:5),

but on account of the vehement outcry and insurrectionary threats against him for having left the place so defenseless that the families of his men fell an unresisting prey to the enemy. Under the pressure of so unexpected and widespread a calamity, of which he was upbraided as the indirect occasion, the spirit of any other leader guided by ordinary motives would have sunk;

but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God--His faith supplied him with inward resources of comfort and energy, and through the seasonable inquiries he made by Urim, he inspired confidence by ordering an immediate pursuit of the plunderers.

9. came to the brook Besor--now Wady Gaza, a winter torrent, a little to the south of Gaza. The bank of a stream naturally offered a convenient rest to the soldiers, who, through fatigue, were unable to continue the pursuit.

11-15. they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David--Old and homeborn slaves are usually treated with great kindness. But a purchased or captured slave must look to himself; for, if feeble or sick, his master will leave him to perish rather than encumber himself with any additional burden. This Egyptian seems to have recently fallen into the hands of an Amalekite, and his master having belonged to the marauding party that had made the attack on Ziklag, he could give useful information as to the course taken by them on their return.

14. the Cherethites--that is, the Philistines

(Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5).

15. Swear unto me by God--Whether there was still among these idolatrous tribes a lingering belief in one God, or this Egyptian wished to bind David by the God whom the Hebrews worshipped, the solemn sanction of an oath was mutually recognized.