UNROLL
Dawn over Ziklag after the raid: the small town on its low mound above a dry wadi, mud-brick walls and flat roofs blackened, roof beams fallen, thin gray smoke rising, the gate open and empty, under a calm pale sky.

The Book of

1 Samuel 30

David comes home to ashes, his family gone and his own men ready to stone him. What he does next changes everything.

31 verses≈ 6 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–7SamuelA boy who listened
  2. 8–15SaulA king like the nations
  3. 16–20David risesThe LORD looks at the heart
  4. 21–27David huntedThe anointed one waits
  5. 28–31Saul fallsEndor and GilboaChapter 30

The Amalekites Raid Ziklag

On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down. They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.

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Morning in the burned street of Ziklag between blackened doorways and fallen beams: David’s men weeping, some kneeling with heads in their hands, some with torn cloaks and dust on their heads, David among them on his knees.

When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep.

David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive. And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters.

But David found strength in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

Reflect

Strength in the LORD

Everything was gone, and even David’s own men turned on him. “But David found strength in the LORD his God.” Where do you go first when everything falls apart? Write down one truth about God you can hold on to in that place.

David Destroys the Amalekites

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought it to him,

David

and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?”

God

“Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”

Now his men found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave the man water to drink and food to eat— a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. So he ate and was revived, for he had not had any food or water for three days and three nights.

David

Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?”

The Egyptian

“I am an Egyptian,” he replied, “the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me three days ago when I fell ill.

We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

David

“Will you lead me to these raiders?”

David asked.

The Egyptian

And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man escaped, except four hundred young men who fled, riding off on camels.

Morning on the desert road north: a long joyful procession coming home, women and children walking free beside David’s men, two women near David at the head, flocks and herds driven ahead, laden donkeys behind.

So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back. And he took all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

0:20

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Question

Quick question

Six hundred men set out after the raiders, but not all of them could go on.

How many of David’s men stayed behind at the Brook of Besor?

The Spoils Are Divided

When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,

The worthless men

but all the wicked and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered, except for each man’s wife and children. They may take them and go.”

David

But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us. Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”

The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.

And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute and ordinance for Israel to this very day.

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

Gifts sent to

To the elders of Judah

  1. Towns of the south

    Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir

    He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir;

  2. Aroer, Siphmoth and Eshtemoa

    to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa;

  3. Clans of the Negev

    Racal, Jerahmeelite and Kenite towns

    to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;

  4. Towns of the south

    Hormah, Bor-ashan and Athach

    to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach;

  5. Where he roamed

    Hebron and every place they roamed

    and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed.

Ziklag (site uncertain)HebronHormah (site uncertain)EshtemoaJattirAroerRamoth Negev (site uncertain)

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Gifts to the towns of Judah

From Ziklag David sent gifts to “the elders of Judah” in the southern towns that had sheltered him and his men. Hebron, the largest, is where Judah will soon make him king. Bethel here is a town of the south, not the Bethel near Ai. Siphmoth, Racal, Bor-ashan and Athach are unknown, and the sites of Ziklag and Ramoth Negev are uncertain.

Pray

What the LORD has given

David told his men that the plunder was “what the LORD has given us,” so no one had earned more than another. Thank God that every good thing you have is His gift. Ask Him for strength in Him when everything is lost, and for a generous heart toward those who stay behind and serve.

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1 Samuel 30

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A verse to carry with you

But David found strength in the LORD his God.

1 Samuel 30:6

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