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. 1Sa 15:71Sa 29:11Jos 11:61Sa 27:8-101Sa 29:42Sa 1:2Gen 24:62 They had taken captive the women and all 1who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way. 1Sa 27:111Sa 30:19Isa 27:8-9Job 38:11Psa 76:10
When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Psa 34:191Pe 1:6-7Heb 12:6Rev 3:9 So David and the troops with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no strength left to weep. 1Sa 11:41Sa 4:13Gen 37:33-35Jdg 2:4Jdg 21:2Num 14:1Num 14:39Ezr 10:1
David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken captive. 1Sa 25:42-432Sa 2:21Sa 1:21Sa 27:32Sa 3:2-3 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. Psa 56:3-4Psa 56:11Psa 62:5Psa 27:1-3Psa 18:6Psa 25:17Psa 40:1-22Co 1:8-10
David Destroys the Amalekites
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” 1Ki 2:261Sa 22:20-211Sa 23:2-9Mrk 2:26
So Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” 1Sa 30:181Sa 23:2Pro 3:5-62Sa 5:192Sa 5:23Psa 91:151Sa 23:4Jdg 20:23
“Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”
So David and his six hundred men went to the Brook of Besor, where some stayed behind 1Sa 27:2 because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit. 1Sa 30:211Sa 30:91Sa 14:201Sa 14:31Jdg 8:4-5
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— Deu 23:7Rom 12:20-21Deu 15:7-11Luk 10:36-37Mat 25:35Pro 25:21 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. Jdg 15:191Sa 14:271Sa 30:13Est 4:16Isa 40:29-31Jon 1:17Mat 27:63
Then David asked him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” Jas 2:13Pro 12:10Job 31:13-15
“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.” 1Ki 1:381Ki 1:442Sa 8:18Ezk 25:16Zep 2:51Sa 30:11Sa 30:16Jos 14:13
“Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. 1Sa 29:6Deu 23:15-16Ezk 17:13Ezk 17:16Ezk 17:19Jos 2:12Jos 9:15Jos 9:19-20
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. Rev 11:10-131Sa 30:141Th 5:32Sa 13:28Dan 5:1-4Jdg 16:23-30Job 20:5Luk 12:19-20 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. 1Sa 11:11Psa 18:421Ki 20:29-301Sa 15:3Jdg 4:16
So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Gen 14:16 Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back. 1Sa 30:8Psa 91:9-10Job 1:10Mat 6:33Psa 34:9-10Gen 14:14-16Num 31:49 And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!” 1Sa 30:262Ch 20:25Isa 53:12Num 31:9-12Rom 8:37
The Spoils Are Divided
When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them, 1Sa 30:10Heb 13:1Jdg 8:151Pe 3:8 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.” Deu 13:13Mat 7:121Ki 21:101Ki 21:131Sa 22:21Sa 25:171Sa 25:25Jdg 19:22
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. Deu 8:18Psa 121:7-8Psa 44:2-71Sa 2:7Act 22:1Act 7:2Deu 8:10Gen 19:7 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.” Jos 22:8Num 31:27Psa 68:121Sa 25:13
And so it has been from that day forward. David established this statute as an ordinance for Israel to this very day. 1Sa 16:13
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.” 1Sa 25:271Ch 12:1-152Co 9:52Ki 5:15Gen 33:11Isa 32:8Pro 18:16-24Psa 35:27 He sent gifts to those in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, and Jattir; Jos 15:48Jos 19:8Gen 28:19Jdg 1:22-23Jos 21:141Ki 12:29Jos 16:2Jos 7:2 to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, and Eshtemoa; Jos 13:16Jos 15:50Jos 21:14 to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites; 1Sa 27:10Jdg 1:161Sa 15:61Sa 23:19 to those in Hormah, Bor-ashan, and Athach; Jdg 1:17Jos 19:4Jos 15:42Num 14:45 and to those in Hebron and in all the places where David and his men had roamed. 2Sa 2:12Sa 15:102Sa 2:42Sa 4:1Jos 14:13-15