1 Samuel 30:13
Ver. 13. And David said unto him, to whom [belongest] thou?.... To what country or people? and to whom among them?
and whence [art] thou? of what nation? where wast thou born? what countryman art thou? for his being called an Egyptian before seems to be by anticipation, unless it was guessed at by his habit; for until he had eaten and drank he could not speak, and so could not be known by his speech:
for he said, I [am] a young man of Egypt; that was the country he belonged to, and came from; he was an Egyptian by birth:
servant to an Amalekite; one of those that had invaded the country, and burnt Ziklag, as it follows:and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick; which was very barbarous and cruel to leave him at all, when they had camels with them, 1Sa 30:17; and no doubt carriages for their arms, provision, and spoil, and men; and more so to leave him without anybody with him to take care of him, and without any food, when he capable of eating any; but so it was ordered by the providence of God, that should be left to be the instrument of the just ruin of his master, and of the whole troop. 1 Samuel 30:14Ver. 14. We made an invasion [upon] the south of the Cherethites,.... The Philistines so called, or at least one nation of them, such that dwelt to the south of the land, 1Sa 30:16;See Gill on "Zep 2:5";and upon [the coast] which [belongeth] to Judah; the south of Judah, where David pretended he had been, and had spoiled, and which was now actually done by the Amalekites, 1Sa 27:10;and upon the south of Caleb; that part of the tribe of Judah which belonged to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and his posterity, and which was the southern part of it, Jos 15:19;and we burnt Ziklag with fire; and then departed. 1 Samuel 30:15Ver. 15. And David said unto him, canst thou me down to this company?.... That is, show him, or direct him where they were:and he said, swear unto me by God; the Targum is, by the Word of the Lord; but it is highly probable this man had no notion of Jehovah, and his Word, or of the true God; only that there was a God, and that an oath taken by him was solemn, sacred, and inviolable, and might be trusted to and depended on:that thou wilt neither kill me; for he found now he was in the hands of those whose city he had been concerned in plundering and burning, and so might fear his life was in danger:nor deliver me into the hands of my master; who had been a cruel one to him, and therefore would gladly be clear of him; and if he had nothing else against him, his late usage of him was sufficient to raise his resentment of him:and I will bring thee down to this company; or show him where they were, having heard them say where they would stop, and make merry, and divide their spoil; and perhaps his master might tell him they would be at such a place at such a time, where, if he was better, he might come to them; the Vulgate Latin version adds, "and David swore to him": which, though not expressed in the original text, was no doubt done by him; and the Syriac and Arabic versions begin 1Sa 30:16 thus, "when David had sworn to him". 1 Samuel 30:16Ver. 16. And when he had brought him down,.... To the place where the company of the Amalekites were, or near it:behold, [they were] spread abroad upon all the earth; they were not in any regular order, and much less in any military form, but lay about in the fields, scattered here and there, were in detached parties:some eating and drinking; in one place:and dancing; others, in another place, expressing their joy, and perhaps their thankfulness to their idolsbecause of the great spoil they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah; from Ziklag, and from the south of the Cherethites, and the south of Judah, they had invaded, 1Sa 30:14; and here they were in the greatest security; knowing: that the armies of the Philistines were gone into the land of Israel, and were about to engage in battle with the Israelites, and David they supposed was with the Philistines, so that they had nothing to fear from any quarter; and thus it is often, that when men cry peace, peace, sudden destruction comes upon them. 1 Samuel 30:17Ver. 17. And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day,.... As there are two twilights, the twilight of the morning, and the twilight of the evening; this is differently understood some take it for the twilight of the morning, and that it was night when David came to them, and let them alone till they were drunk and asleep, and then early in the morning fell upon them, and smote them until the evening; so Josephus {s} relates it; but others take it to be the twilight of the evening, and that he fell upon them that night, and continued the slaughter of them to the evening of the next day, with which agrees the Targum; nay, some take the next day, or the morrow, to be that which followed after the two evenings; so that this slaughter was carried on to the third day:and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men that rode upon camels, and fled; that sort of camels called dromedaries, according to Josephus {t}, and which were very swift, and much used by the Arabians, near whom these people dwelt, see Isa 60:6.{s} Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 6. {t} Ibid. 1 Samuel 30:18Ver. 18. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away,.... The wives and children of the Israelites, and their goods, excepting the provisions they had eaten:and David rescued his two wives; which is particularly observed, because a special concern of his. 1 Samuel 30:19Ver. 19. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,.... Not any of the least or youngest, nor any of them that were grown up; for as these were not slain but carried captive, so they were brought back, and not one missing, see 1Sa 30:2;neither spoil, nor any [thing] they had taken to them: except the food they had eaten and the liquor they had drank, as before observed; and perhaps what they had ate and drank were none of theirs, but the Philistines: so thatDavid recovered all; taken in the utmost extent. 1 Samuel 30:20Ver. 20. And David took all the flocks, and the herds,.... Which they had taken from the land of the Philistines, or which belonged to the Amalekites properly:[which] they drave before those [other] cattle; which had been carried from Ziklag; first went the spoil taken from other places, and then those taken from David and his men, or what was found at Ziklag. Abarbinel supposes the meaning to be this, that the herds were driven before the flocks, that the oxen were led out first, and then the sheep followed, as being the weaker sort, and more easily to be driven, and carried off; but the former sense seems best:and said, this [is] David's spoil; either the whole of it, it being owing to him that it was got or brought back; or this may respect some peculiar part of it made a present of to him; or it may design what the Amalekites had taken from others, which was at the disposal of David, as distinguished from what was taken from Ziklag, and was restored, or to be restored to the proper owners: it may be taken in the first and more general sense, as being the song, or the burden of the song, sung by David's men as they returned with the spoil, giving him all the honour of it, of whom, but a little before, they talked of stoning. 1 Samuel 30:21Ver. 21. And David came to the two hundred men,.... Left at the brook Besor:who were so faint that they could not follow David; or, as the Targum, were restrained from going over after him; either through faintness of spirits, and weakness of body, or through the order of David that they should not follow him; and which seems to receive some countenance from what follows:whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor; to guard the passage there, and to tarry by and keep the stuff:and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that [were] with him; to congratulate them upon the victory they had obtained, and to see and receive their wives and children, and what portion of the spoil might be divided to them:and when David came near to the people, he saluted them; asked them of their welfare, whether they were in better health, and recovered of their faintness and weakness, as it should seem they were, by their coming forth to meet him. 1 Samuel 30:22Ver. 22. Then answered all the wicked men, and [men] of Belial, of those that went with David,.... Who were ill natured men, and of covetous dispositions, as what is called their answer shows; and it seems by that as if the two hundred men had moved that they might have their share in the spoil, or that David had given some intimation that they should:and said, because they went not with us, we will not give, them [ought] of the spoil that we have recovered: which was very unreasonable not to let them have what was before their own which was recovered; and indeed it was but right they should have their share in the spoil that was taken which was of others, as will appear hereafter: but they were of opinion and were come to a resolution, they should have no more,save to every man his wife and his children; which was very unkind and ungenerous:that they may lead [them] away, and depart; but whither? Ziklag was burnt, the land of Israel they would not return unto, where they must fall a sacrifice to Saul; these men cared not where they went, so that they were rid of them, that they might not have any share with them in the spoil. 1 Samuel 30:23Ver. 23. Then said David, ye shall not do so, my brethren,.... Though he saw through their wickedness, and disapproved of the bad sentiments they had embraced, yet he deals gently with them, calling them brethren, being of the same nation and religion, and his fellow soldiers; yet at the same time keeps up and maintains his dignity and authority as a general, and declares it should not be as they willed, and gives his reasons for it, that it was not fit they should do as they pleased:with that which the Lord hath given us; what they had was given them, and therefore, as they had freely received, they should freely give; and what was given them, was not given to them only, but to the whole body, by the Lord:who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand; it was not by their own power and might that they got the victory over the enemy, and the spoil into their hands, but it was through the Lord only; and therefore, as they should not assume the honour of the victory to themselves, so neither should they claim the spoil as wholly belonging to them. 1 Samuel 30:24Ver. 24. For who will hearken unto you in fit is matter?,.... No wise and just man will take on your side of the question, and join with you in excluding your brethren from a share in the spoil:but as his part [is] that goeth down to the battle, so [shall] his part [be] that tarrieth by the stuff; as these two hundred men did; they were placed to abide by and watch the carriages, the bag and baggage the rest had left there, that they might be the lighter, and make their pursuit more swiftly: besides, they guarded the pass here, and were also exposed to danger; for if the four hundred had been cut off, and the enemy had returned, they must all have perished; and therefore as they had their post assigned them, and were liable to danger, it was but just and reasonable they should have the share in the spoil; especially since it was not want of will in them they did not go with them, but weakness of body:they shall part alike; this was David's determination and decision, and it was an equitable one: something similar to this was directed by the Lord in the war of Midian, Nu 31:25, &c. and was practised in the times of Abraham, Ge 14:24; and is agreeable to the light of nature, and what has been practised by the Heathens, particularly the Romans, as Polybius {u} relates; who tells us, that every man brought booty into the camp, when the tribunes divided it equally to them all; not only to those which remained in battle, but to those that guarded the tents and the baggage, to the sick, and to those that were appointed to any service, see Ps 68:12; and so the Turkish historian says {w}, that the Pisidians, who lived on spoil, gave a part not contemptible to those that abode at home with their wives.{u} Hist. l. 10. p. 365. {w} Chalcocondyl. de reb. Turc. l. 5. p. 161. 1 Samuel 30:25Ver. 25. And it was [so] from that day forward,.... Or "upwards" {x}, of old, formerly; and so may refer either to what was done at the war with Midian, Nu 31:27; or in the times of Abraham, Ge 14:23; and so Jarchi observes, it is not said, "henceforward", but "upwards", it being a statute and custom in the days of Abraham; the same he notes on Ge 14:24; where he, David, learnt this from thence; though Josephus {y} is express for it, that this law obtained from the time of David; and such was his authority, though as yet not king, but a wise and just commander:that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day; it appeared so reasonable and equitable, that it was always regarded and attended to.{x} hlemw "et supra", Pagninus, Montanus; "et jam olim", Tigurine version. {y} Antiqu. l. 6. c, 14. sect. 6. 1 Samuel 30:26Ver. 26. And when David came to Ziklag,.... Perhaps with an intention to rebuild it, and make it still the place of his residence; and it is possible there might be some houses that escaped flames, and if not, tents might be pitched until the city was rebuilt, and it appears that he continued there some time:he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah: of that part of it which belonged to himself as a general:[even] to his friends; such as had been kind to him when he sojourned among them; so that this was a piece of gratitude, as well as of policy in him, to make his way to the throne the easier, he perceiving the time drawing on for the expiration of the kingdom in the family of Saul; and besides, some in those parts he sent of the spoil to might have been sufferers by the Amalekites, so that it was but a point of justice to restore to them what had been taken from them; for they had invaded the south of Judea, and took spoils from thence, 1Sa 30:14; it was to his friends in those parts he sent, not to the inhabitants of Ziph and Keilah, which were places in the tribe of Judah; but these having attempted to betray him, were not entitled to his favours, though they were not the objects of his vengeance:saying, behold, a present for you, of the spoil of the Lord's enemies; or a "blessing" {z}, which he sent them with a good will, wishing health and happiness to them; which they might without hesitation receive, seeing it was not the spoil of private enemies, or of what was taken from them in a way of private revenge, but the spoil of the enemies of the Lord, his and their common enemies; nor need they scruple eating and enjoying it, though the spoil of those that cursed the Lord, Abarbinel observes, since this they had with the blessing of the Lord.{z} hkrb "benedictio", Pagninus, Montanus. 1 Samuel 30:27Ver. 27. To [them] which [were] in Bethel,.... One part of the spoil was sent to them; not to those in Bethel, in the tribe of Benjamin, but in Kirjathjearim, called Bethel, or the house of God, because the ark was there, see 1Sa 7:1; moreover, this place was also called Baalah, which some think is referred to here, see Jos 15:9;and to [them] which [were] in south Ramoth; a city of the tribe of Simeon, which lay within the lot of Judah; of which see Jos 19:8;and to [them] which [were] in Jattir; a city of the tribe of Judah,See Gill on "Jos 15:48". 1 Samuel 30:28Ver. 28. And to [them] which [were] in Aroer,.... Not Aroer in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan, where David is never said to be, but some city of this name in the tribe of Judah; the Greek version ofJos 15:22, instead of Adadah, has Arouel:and to [them] which [were] in Siphmoth; which very probably was in the tribe of Judah, though nowhere else mentioned:and to [them] which [were] in Eshtemoa; a Levitical city given to the Levites by the children of Judah, Jos 21:14. 1 Samuel 30:29Ver. 29. And to [them] which [were] in Rachal,.... Another city of the tribe of Judah, but nowhere else spoken of:and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Jerahmeelites: which lay to the south of Judah, 1Sa 27:10;and to [them] which [were] in the cities of the Kenites; who dwelt in the wilderness of Judah, in the south of Arad, Jud 1:16. 1 Samuel 30:30Ver. 30. And to [them] which [were] in Hormah,.... This was a city also in the tribe of Judah; of which see Jos 15:30;and to [them] which [were] in Chorashan; or the lake of Ashan, which was in the same tribe, see Jos 15:42;and to [them] which [were] in Athach; nowhere else mentioned; the Greek version has Nombe instead of it, which some take to be the same with Nob; but that was in the tribe of Benjamin. 1 Samuel 30:31Ver. 31. And to [them] which [were] in Hebron,.... A noted city in the tribe of Judah, in the mountainous part of it, and a city of refuge, and where David was afterwards anointed, first king over Judah, and then over Israel, 2Sa 2:4;and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt; where they had their walks, and went to and fro when persecuted by Saul; all such places, and the inhabitants of them, David had a grateful remembrance of, who sheltered and relieved him in the times of his distress.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.