1 Samuel 30
New English Translation
David Defeats the Amalekites
30 On the third day David and his men came to Ziklag. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They attacked Ziklag and burned it.[a] 2 They took captive the women and all[b] who were in it, from the youngest to the oldest, but they did not kill anyone. They simply carried them off and went on their way.
3 When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned.[c] Their wives, sons, and daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the men[d] who were with him wept loudly[e] until they could weep no more.[f] 5 David’s two wives had been taken captive—Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the Carmelite, Nabal’s widow. 6 David was very upset, for the men[g] were thinking of stoning him;[h] each man grieved bitterly[i] over his sons and daughters. But David drew strength from the Lord his God.
7 Then David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I pursue this raiding band? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue, for you will certainly overtake them and carry out a rescue!”
9 So David went, accompanied by his 600 men. When he came to the Wadi Besor, those who were in the rear stayed there.[j] 10 David and 400 men continued the pursuit, but 200 men who were too exhausted to cross the Wadi Besor stayed there.
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David. They gave him bread to eat and water to drink. 12 They gave him a slice of pressed figs and two bunches of raisins to eat. This greatly refreshed him,[k] for he had not eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” The young man said, “I am an Egyptian, the servant of an Amalekite man. My master abandoned me when I was ill for three days. 14 We conducted a raid on the Negev of the Kerethites, on the area of Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb. We burned Ziklag.”[l] 15 David said to him, “Can you take us down to this raiding party?” He said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to this raiding party.”
16 So he took David[m] down, and they found them spread out over the land. They were eating and drinking and enjoying themselves because of all the loot[n] they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 But David struck them down from twilight until the following evening. None of them escaped, with the exception of 400 young men who got away on camels.[o] 18 David retrieved everything the Amalekites had taken; he[p] also rescued his two wives. 19 There was nothing missing, whether small or great. He retrieved sons and daughters, the plunder, and everything else they had taken.[q] David brought everything back. 20 David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, “This is David’s plunder!”
21 Then David approached the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him,[r] those whom they had left at the Wadi Besor. They went out to meet David and the people who were with him. When David approached the people, he asked how they were doing. 22 But all the evil and worthless men among those who had gone with David said, “Since they didn’t go with us,[s] we won’t give them any of the loot we retrieved! They may take only their wives and children. Let them lead them away and be gone!”
23 But David said, “No! You shouldn’t do this, my brothers. Look at what the Lord has given us![t] He has protected us and has delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. 24 Who will listen to you in this matter? The portion of the one who went down into the battle will be the same as the portion of the one who remained with the equipment! Let their portions be the same!”
25 From that time onward it was a binding ordinance[u] for Israel, right up to the present time.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah who were his friends, saying, “Here’s a gift[v] for you from the looting of the Lord’s enemies!” 27 The gift was for those in the following locations:[w] for those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir; 28 for those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, 29 and Racal; for those in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites; 30 for those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, 31 and Hebron; and for those in whatever other places David and his men had traveled.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 30:1 tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
- 1 Samuel 30:2 tc The MT omits “and all,” while the LXX includes it. That the next verse refers to the children as well as the women argues in favor of it.
- 1 Samuel 30:3 tn Heb “and David and his men came to the city, and look, it was burned with fire.”
- 1 Samuel 30:4 tn Heb “people.”
- 1 Samuel 30:4 tn Heb “lifted up their voice and wept.”
- 1 Samuel 30:4 tn Heb “until there was no longer in them strength to weep.”
- 1 Samuel 30:6 tn Heb “people.”
- 1 Samuel 30:6 tn Heb “said to stone him.”
- 1 Samuel 30:6 tn Heb “for bitter was the soul of all the people, each one.”
- 1 Samuel 30:9 tn Heb “stood.” So also in v. 10.
- 1 Samuel 30:12 tn Heb “his spirit returned to him.”
- 1 Samuel 30:14 tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
- 1 Samuel 30:16 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Samuel 30:16 tn Heb “because of all the large plunder.”
- 1 Samuel 30:17 tn Heb “who rode on camels and fled.”
- 1 Samuel 30:18 tn Heb “David.” The pronoun (“he”) has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Samuel 30:19 tn Heb “there was nothing missing to them, from the small even unto the great, and unto sons and daughters, and from loot even unto all which they had taken for themselves.”
- 1 Samuel 30:21 tn Heb “David.” The pronoun (“him”) has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Samuel 30:22 tc Heb “with me.” The singular is used rather than the plural because the group is being treated as a singular entity, in keeping with Hebrew idiom. It is not necessary to read “with us,” rather than the MT “with me,” although the plural can be found here in a few medieval Hebrew mss. See also the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate, although these versions may simply reflect an understanding of the idiom as found in the MT rather than a different textual reading.
- 1 Samuel 30:23 tc This clause is difficult in the MT. The present translation accepts the text as found in the MT and understands this clause to be elliptical, with an understood verb such as “look” or “consider.” On the other hand, the LXX seems to reflect a slightly different Hebrew text, reading “after” where the MT has “my brothers.” The Greek translation yields the following translation: “You should not do this after the Lord has delivered us.” Although the Greek reading should be taken seriously, it seems better to follow the MT here.
- 1 Samuel 30:25 tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.” The expression is a hendiadys.
- 1 Samuel 30:26 tn Heb “blessing.”
- 1 Samuel 30:27 tn This sentence is not in the Hebrew text. It is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
1 Samuel 30
World English Bible
30 When 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, 2 and 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. 3 When 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. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. 5 David’s two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 David 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 Yahweh his God. 7 David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring the ephod here to me.”
Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of Yahweh, 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.”
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But 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. 11 They 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. 12 They 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. 13 David 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. 14 We 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.”
15 David 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.”
16 When 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. 17 David 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. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 There 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. 20 David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s plunder.”
21 David 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. 22 Then 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.”
23 Then David said, “Do not do so, my brothers, with that which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that came against us into our hand. 24 Who 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.” 25 It was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. 26 When 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 Yahweh’s enemies.” 27 He sent it to those who were in Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth of the South, to those who were in Jattir, 28 to those who were in Aroer, to those who were in Siphmoth, to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 to 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, 30 to those who were in Hormah, to those who were in Borashan, to those who were in Athach, 31 to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay.
Read full chapterNET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.