1 Samuel 30:1-6. Sack of Ziklag in David's absence 1. _on the third day_ After leaving the Philistine army. Evidently he had not accompanied them far beyond the frontier. See note on 1 Samuel 29:2. _the Amalekites_ Possibly they had got information of David's absence, and took the opportunity to m... [ Continue Reading ]
_wept_ See on 1 Samuel 11:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_spake of stoning him_ Cp. Exodus 17:4; Numbers 14:10. They laid the blame on him, because he had left no force to guard Ziklag. _was grieved_ WAS EXASPERATED, lit. "was bitter." Cp. 1 Samuel 22:2. _encouraged himself_ STRENGTHENED HIMSELF. Cp. 1 Samuel 23:16; Ephesians 6:10; and many of the Psalms... [ Continue Reading ]
The pursuit 7. _bring me hither the ephod_ He desired to consult God by means of the Urim and Thummim, as before at Keilah (1 Samuel 23:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_inquired at_ = inquired _of_. Cp. Genesis 24:57. _pursue … overtake_ Cp. Exodus 15:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the six hundred men_ For a rapid pursuit a small force of picked men was most suitable. Cp. 1 Samuel 27:2. No doubt by this time he had a much larger force at his command. _the brook Besor_ The Heb. word is _nachal_, which means _a ravine_, or _torrent-bed_, with a stream at the bottom. The brook... [ Continue Reading ]
_abode behind_ STAYED, as in 1 Samuel 30:9. The condensed expression of the last clause of 1 Samuel 30:9 is explained by 1 Samuel 30:10. _were so faint_ A verb found only here and in 1 Samuel 30:21, connected with a substantive meaning _a corpse;_as we should say, they were _dead-beat_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bread_ FOOD: what it was is specified in the next verse: a piece of fig-cake and two lumps of raisins. See on 1 Samuel 25:18. The Sept. (B) omits the raisins.... [ Continue Reading ]
_his spirit came again to him_ He revived. Cp. Judges 15:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
_To whom belongest thou_ His appearance shewed that he was a slave. _servant_ SLAVE: captured in some Amalekite foray. _three days agone_ So that more than three days had elapsed since the sack of Ziklag, for they had gone at least one long day's march before he was deserted. "Agone," now usually... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Cherethites_ Evidently a tribe of Philistines living on the southern border of Philistia, as the spoil is said in 1 Samuel 30:16 to have been taken "out of the land of the Philistines." Cp. 2 Samuel 8:18 (note); Ezekiel 25:16; Zephaniah 2:5. The name may possibly be connected with _Crete_, _co... [ Continue Reading ]
_company_ TROOP, as in 1 Samuel 30:8, and again in 1 Samuel 30:23. It is the regular word for a band of roving plunderers. Cp. Psalms 18:29. Is it fanciful to think that David there refers to this successful pursuit of the Amalekites? He must always have remembered it as one of the signal mercies of... [ Continue Reading ]
_dancing_ Or, FEASTING.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And David smote_, &c. He reached the neighbourhood of their camp in the evening, and found them scattered about in disorder, carousing over the spoil. As soon as the morning began to dawn he attacked them (cp. 1 Samuel 11:11), and the fight lasted till nightfall. After the first surprise, the Amale... [ Continue Reading ]
_recovered … rescued_ Different renderings of the same Heb. word, used also in 1 Samuel 30:8. Rescue is the best equivalent. "Recovered" in 1 Samuel 30:19 is a different word; literally meaning "BROUGHT BACK.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that they had taken to them_ i.e. which the Amalekites had taken for themselves. They carried off the women and children alive to use or sell for slaves.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse as it stands admits of no satisfactory explanation. It is best to follow the Vulgate, with which the Sept. in the main agrees, and read, AND HE TOOK ALL THE FLOCKS AND THE HERDS, AND DRAVE THEM BEFORE HIM: AND THEY SAID, THIS IS DAVID'S SPOIL: i.e. he not only recovered his own property,... [ Continue Reading ]
The division of the spoil 22. _Then answered_, &c. THEN ANSWERED EVERY WICKED MAN AND EVERY WORTHLESS MAN … BECAUSE THEY WENT NOT WITH ME. Each spoke for himself, in the true spirit of selfishness.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For who_, &c. Better, AND WHO WILL HEARKEN UNTO YOU AS REGARDS THIS SAYING? A negative answer is implied: No one; for, &c. The Sept. adds, "for they are not inferior to us." _as his part_, &c. The rule for the division of the spoil between combatants and non-combatants was an ancient one. See Numb... [ Continue Reading ]
The presents sent to the elders of Judah 26. _he sent of the spoil_, &c. In gratitude for the assistance he had received from them during his wanderings, and to secure their good will when Saul's death should open the way for him to the throne. On the _elders_see at 1 Samuel 8:4. _a present_ Lit.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bethel_ Not the well known Bethel in the tribe of Benjamin, but _Bethul_or _Bethuel_, called also _Chesil_, a city in the neighbourhood of Ziklag and Hormah, originally assigned to Judah, and subsequently transferred to Simeon (Joshua 15:30; Joshua 19:4; 1 Chronicles 4:30). _south Ramoth_ RAMOTH-NE... [ Continue Reading ]
_Aroer_ Obviously not the famous city on the R. Arnon. Perhaps the name survives in the _Wady Arârah_, some 20 miles south of Hebron, where Robinson found evident traces of an ancient village or town (II. 199). "Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite" are mentioned in the catalogue of Davi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rachal_ Nowhere else mentioned. The Sept. reads CARMEL, but its list is corrupt and not to be trusted. _the Jerahmeelites_ See on 1 Samuel 27:10. _the Kenites_ See on 1 Samuel 15:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hormah_ Or _Zephath_(Judges 1:17), an ancient Canaanite city (Joshua 12:14), assigned to Judah (Joshua 15:30) and transferred to Simeon (Joshua 19:4). _Chor-ashan_ The true reading is BOR-ASHAN (_Cistern of Ashan_). It was doubtless the same as _Ashan_, a Simeonite city in the Negeb originally giv... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hebron_ One of the most ancient cities in the world (Numbers 13:22). When Abraham entered Canaan it was already existing under the name of _Kirjath Arba_. In its neighbourhood he often sojourned, and there he bought the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite for a family sepulchre for himself an... [ Continue Reading ]