30:1 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it.
While David and his army were away from his city of Ziklag, the Amalekites attacked the city and burned it to the ground. Saul did not exterminate all of the Amalekites, so they now began to become a thorn in Israel’s side.
2 They took captive the women who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest, but they did not kill anyone. They simply carried them off and went on their way.
The Amalekites plundered the city and took the women and children away to become slaves.
3 When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive.
When David returned, his city was burnt to the ground and his family was enslaved.
4 Then David and the men who were with him wept loudly until they could weep no more.
David and his men cried loudly, as they had lost their family, their property, their livestock, and their wealth.
5 David’s two wives had been taken captive—Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow.
David’s two wives were taken captive. Usually, the women were raped and killed by the conquering army.
6 David was very upset, for the men were thinking of stoning him; each man grieved bitterly over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.
David was human and made a military blunder. He joined King Achish’s army without contacting Jehovah. The soldiers were so upset that they considered stoning David. David was upset also, but he drew his strength from Jehovah.
7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
David was going to use the Urim and Thummin to communicate with God and find out His will on this issue.
8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”
Jehovah gave David assurance that he would be able to defeat the Amalekites.
9 So David went, accompanied by his six hundred men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there.
David and his 600 soldiers pursued the Amalekites.
10 David and four hundred men continued the pursuit, but two hundred men who were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor stayed there.
David took his men on a long, hard, rigorous, and fast ride. Two hundred soldiers were too fatigued to finish the trip.
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink.
The army found an Egyptian in the field. They fed him and gave him water to drink.
12 They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat. This greatly refreshed him, for he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.
This verse recorded some of the military rations of the Israelite army. The Egyptian had not eaten or drank for three days.
13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” The young man said, “I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days.
The Egyptian was an abandoned slave. The slave grew sick, so his Amalekite master abandoned him and left him to die. The Amalekite owner did not want to provide a sick slave with rations.
14 We conducted a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, on the area of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb. We burned Ziklag.”
The Egyptian slave gave David vital military intelligence. This was God’s sovereignty in action.
15 David said to him, “Can you take us down to this raiding party?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to this raiding party.”
The slave agreed to reveal the location of the Amalekite military camp in return for protection.
16 So he took David down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
The Amalekites were enjoying their plunder. Many brutal ancient pagan nations did not want to perform manual labor, so they resorted to raiding.
17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of four hundred young men who got away on camels.
The Amelkites were brutal people who hated Israel and wanted to exterminate them. David killed every Amalekite except for 400 of them.
18 David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.
David retrieved the plunder and both of his wives.
19 There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
God had protected the families and the plunder.
20 David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, “This is David’s plunder!”
The people wanted to give all of the plunder to David.
21 Then David approached the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him, those whom they had left at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and the people who were with him. When David approached the people, he asked how they were doing.
The two hundred men who stayed with the supplies because of fatigue were curious to know about the results of the battle.
22 But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us, we won’t give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!”
Some of the fighting soldiers did not want to share the plunder with those who were too fatigued to fight.
23 But David said, “No! You shouldn’t do this, my brothers. Look at what the Lord has given us! He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us.
David did not want any division in his army. He reminded his army that it was Jehovah who gave them the victory. Jehovah decided to use only these four hundred men.
24 Who will listen to you in this matter? The portion of the one who went down into the battle will be the same as the portion of the one who remained with the equipment! Let their portions be the same!”
David ruled that those fighting and those guarding the supplies were to receive equal plunder.
25 From that time onward it was a binding ordinance for Israel, right up to the present time.
This became standing operating procedure for the Israelite military.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends, saying, “Here’s a gift for you from the looting of the Lord’s enemies!”
Many of the cities of Judah had supported David during his fugitive days. Therefore, David shared some of the plunder with the elders of Judah. David was from the tribe of Judah. He would later need Judah’s support in order to make him King over all of Israel.
27 The gift was for those in the following locations: for those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir; 28 for those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 and Racal; for those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites; 30 for those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, 31 and Hebron; and for those in whatever other places David and his men had traveled.
David assisted the cities of Judah. The people of Judah never forgot this generosity on the part of David. In the future, they would become strong supporters of David as king.