1 Samuel 30:7-20

David's Pursuit of His Enemies. 1 Samuel 30:7-20

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 enquired at 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 that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.

14 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.
16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.
19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them. David recovered all.

20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

6.

How were the captives of Ziklag recovered? 1 Samuel 30:7 ff.

David inquired of the Lord concerning the advisability of going out against the Amalekites. God answered him by telling him that he should go out in pursuit of the enemy and added the promise that he would be blessed in the endeavor. An Egyptian, a slave of one of the plundering Amalekites, had grown faint while the plunderers were returning from Ziklag; and when he was unable to proceed with the army his master left him by the highway to die. This man was found by David, and his spirits were revived by their kind ministrations. He said that he would guide them to the camp of the pillagers if only David would promise not to take his life nor deliver him again into the hands of his master. Led by the slave, the men came upon the Amalekites as they were spread upon the ground eating and drinking, all of which was probably some sort of religious festival celebrating their successful plundering of Ziklag. The attack was sudden and soon decided, and the success was complete. David rescued all that had been carried away. Nothing was missing; and in addition to recovering his own, David captured a large amount of other property.

7.

What was the nature of David's inquiry? 1 Samuel 30:8

David asked the Lord if he should pursue after the Amalekites, He puts it in the form of a question that could be answered by a full statement from the Lord, It would be better not to consider this as a question to be answered with a yes or a no. He was asking the Lord what would happen if he did pursue. The Lord answered his question. As he continued to be more specific, he asked if he could overtake the enemy. The Lord revealed to him that he would not only catch up with the Amalekites but he would recover everything he had lost.

8.

Where was the brook Besor? 1 Samuel 30:9

This brook is mentioned only at this point. It must have been south of Ziklag on the road to Egypt. Wady Gazze or Wady Sheria would fit a description of the events which transpired. Probably it was near Ziklag, because the men who stayed behind knew they would have to cross it in order to pursue the enemy.

9.

Why were the 200 so faint? 1 Samuel 30:10

David's men had been on a forced march from the rallying point at Aphek before they pursued their enemies from Ziklag. In addition, they had been under a great deal of mental strain as they had posed as friendly towards the Philistines. The final blow to their stamina came as they returned to find their wives, children, and supplies, carried away by marauders. Two hundred evidently stayed at Ziklag to protect the site. They knew that they would have to cross this valley and were not even able to begin the campaign.

10.

Who was the straggler? 1 Samuel 30:13

The young man whom David's men found in the field was an Egyptian. He was so faint that he was like a corpse according to the original text. After he had been given something to eat and drink, his spirit came again to him. When he was asked about his background, he explained that he was an Egyptian but was a servant to an Amalekite. He had been left behind because he was sick and unable to keep up with the rest of the company.

11.

Who were the Cherethites? 1 Samuel 30:14

The Cherethites were tribes of the Philistines who lived in the southwest part of Canaan. Ezekiel mentioned them (Ezekiel 25:16) as did Zephaniah (Zephaniah 2:5). In these references they are synonymous with the Philistines. The Greek version called these people Cretans. It is now understood that the Philistines originally came from Crete. David had Cherethites and Pelethites as body guards (2 Samuel 8:18; 2 Samuel 15:18; 2 Samuel 20:7; 2 Samuel 20:23; 1 Kings 1:38; 1 Kings 1:44; 1 Chronicles 18:17). Later on these men were called captains and the guard (2 Kings 11:4; 2 Kings 11:19).

12.

Why did David overcome the Amalekites with ease? 1 Samuel 30:16-20

When David came on the campsite of the Amalekites, they were spread all around over the ground eating and drinking and dancing. They were celebrating the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. Just how long David smote them is not clear, but it must have been only one evening. It was the next day after they had left Ziklag that he began the attack at twilight. He continued the attack after dark and recovered everything.