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1 Samuel 30

YHWH directs David’s recovery of the captives, and David treats the victory as God’s gift to be shared.

David and his men return to Ziklag to find it burned and their families taken captive by Amalekite raiders. They weep until their strength is gone, and the men speak of stoning David. David seeks YHWH’s direction through Abiathar the priest, then pursues the raiders with those able to continue. An abandoned Egyptian servant leads them to the camp. After recovering everyone and everything taken, David settles a dispute over sharing the plunder and sends gifts to Judah’s elders.

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1When David and his men had come to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid on the South and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire,
2and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They didn’t kill any, but carried them off and went their way.
3When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive.
4Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep.
5David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
7David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8David inquired of the LORD, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.”
10But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn’t go over the brook Besor.
11They found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he ate; and they gave him water to drink.
12They gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten, his spirit came again to him; for he had eaten no bread, and drank no water for three days and three nights.
13David asked him, “To whom do you belong? Where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I got sick.
14We made a raid on the South of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the South of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this troop?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and not deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.”
16When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread around over all the ground, eating, drinking, and dancing, because of all the great plunder that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
17David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
19There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither plunder, nor anything that they had taken. David brought them all back.
20David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s plunder.”
21David came to the two hundred men, who were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they had made to stay at the brook Besor; and they went out to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. When David came near to the people, he greeted them.
22Then all the wicked men and worthless fellows of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they didn’t go with us, we will not give them anything of the plunder that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away and depart.”
23Then David said, “Do not do so, my brothers, with that which the LORD has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand.
24Who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage. They shall share alike.”
25It was so from that day forward that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, “Behold, a present for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”
27He sent it to those who were in Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth of the South, to those who were in Jattir,
28to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa,
29to those who were in Racal, to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, to those who were in the cities of the Kenites,
30to those who were in Hormah, to those who were in Borashan, to those who were in Athach,
31to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Samuel 30:6With his own wives captive and his men threatening him, David finds strength in YHWH before taking action.
1 Samuel 30:8YHWH’s answer authorizes the pursuit and promises the complete recovery that the account goes on to describe.
1 Samuel 30:18The recovery of all the captives, including David’s wives, fulfills YHWH’s promise made before the pursuit.
Where this chapter reaches

David’s strengthening himself in YHWH shares with Psalm the theme of trust in God amid distress and threats from others. The closing list shares place names with Joshua, including Hebron and Eshtemoa, locating David’s gifts within the towns of Judah.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about David’s grief and his seeking YHWH before pursuing the raiders?

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How does David’s account of the victory shape his treatment of the exhausted men?

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Questions people ask about 1 Samuel 30

How did David strengthen himself in YHWH in 1 Samuel 30:6?

The verse states that David strengthened himself in YHWH his God, without describing his words or thoughts. His next recorded action is to ask Abiathar for the ephod and seek YHWH’s direction. The account places his trust amid grief and danger, before any recovery has begun.

Does 1 Samuel 30:8 promise that everyone will recover what they have lost?

The promise answers David’s specific question about pursuing the troop that raided Ziklag. YHWH tells him to pursue and assures him of complete recovery; verses 18–19 report its fulfillment. The passage records God’s faithfulness to that promise. It does not state a guarantee that every loss will be reversed.

Why did David share the plunder with the men who stayed behind?

Two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. When some fighters wanted to exclude them from the plunder, David said YHWH had given the victory and preserved the company. He established equal shares for those who fought and those who stayed with the baggage.

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What the Bible says about grief →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).