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1 Samuel 30

BLIVRE · Chapter 30/31

1E Quando Davi e os seus vieram a Ziclague o terceiro dia, os de Amaleque haviam invadido o sul e a Ziclague, e haviam assolado a Ziclague, e posto-a a fogo.

2E haviam-se levado cativas às mulheres que estavam nela, desde a menor até a maior; mas a ninguém haviam matado, mas sim levado, e ido seu caminho.

3Veio, pois Davi com os seus à cidade, e eis que estava queimada a fogo, e suas mulheres e seus filhos e filhas levadas cativas.

4Então Davi e a gente que com ele estava, levantaram sua voz e choraram, até que lhes faltaram as forças para chorar.

5As duas mulheres de Davi, Ainoã jezreelita e Abigail a que foi mulher de Nabal do Carmelo, também eram cativas.

6E Davi foi muito angustiado, porque o povo falava de apedrejá-lo; porque todo aquele povo estava com ânimo amargo, cada um por seus filhos e por suas filhas: mas Davi se esforçou no SENHOR seu Deus.

7E disse Davi ao sacerdote Abiatar filho de Aimeleque: Eu te rogo que me tragas o éfode. E Abiatar trouxe o éfode a Davi.

8E Davi consultou ao SENHOR, dizendo: Seguirei esta tropa? Poderei alcançá-la? E ele lhe disse: Segue-a que de certo a alcançarás, e sem falta livrarás a presa.

9Partiu-se, pois, Davi, ele e os seiscentos homens que com ele estavam, e vieram até o ribeiro de Besor, de onde se restaram alguns.

10E Davi seguiu o alcance com quatrocentos homens; porque se restaram atrás duzentos, que cansados não puderam passar o ribeiro de Besor.

11E acharam no acampamento um homem egípcio, o qual trouxeram a Davi, e deram-lhe pão que comesse, e a beber água;

12Deram-lhe também um pedaço de massa de figos secos, e dois cachos de passas. E logo que comeu, voltou nele seu espírito; porque não havia comido pão nem bebido água em três dias e três noites.

13E disse-lhe Davi: De quem és tu? E de onde és? E respondeu o jovem egípcio: Eu sou servo de um amalequita, e deixou-me meu amo hoje há três dias, porque estava enfermo;

14Pois fizemos uma incursão à parte do sul dos queretitas, e a Judá, e ao sul de Calebe; e pusemos fogo a Ziclague.

15E disse-lhe Davi: Tu me levarás a essa tropa? E ele disse: Faze-me juramento por Deus que não me matarás, nem me entregarás nas mãos de meu amo, e eu te levarei a essa gente.

16Então o levou-o; e eis que estavam dispersos sobre a face de toda aquela terra, comendo e bebendo e fazendo festa, por toda aquela grande presa que haviam tomado da terra dos filisteus, e da terra de Judá.

17E feriu-os Davi desde aquela manhã até à tarde do dia seguinte: e não escapou deles nenhum, a não ser quatrocentos rapazes, que haviam subido em camelos e fugiram.

18E livrou Davi tudo o que os amalequitas haviam tomado: e também libertou Davi a suas duas mulheres.

19E não lhes faltou coisa pequena nem grande, tanto de filhos como de filhas, do roubo, e de todas as coisas que lhes haviam tomado: todo o recuperou Davi.

20Tomou também Davi todas as ovelhas e gados maiores; e trazendo-o todo adiante, diziam: Esta é a presa de Davi.

21E veio Davi aos duzentos homens que haviam restado cansados e não haviam podido perseguir a Davi, aos quais haviam feito restar no ribeiro de Besor; e eles saíram a receber a Davi, e ao povo que com ele estava. E quando Davi chegou à gente, saudou-os com paz.

22Então todos os maus e perversos dentre os que haviam ido com Davi, responderam e disseram: Pois que não foram conosco, não lhes daremos da presa que tiramos, a não ser a cada um sua mulher e seus filhos; os quais tomem e se vão.

23E Davi disse: Não façais isso, irmãos meus, do que nos deu o SENHOR; o qual nos guardou, e entregou em nossas mãos a caterva que veio sobre nós.

24E quem vos escutará neste caso? Porque igual parte será a dos que vem à batalha, e a dos que ficam com a bagagem; que repartam juntos.

25E desde aquele dia em diante foi isto posto por lei e ordenança em Israel, até hoje.

26E quando Davi chegou a Ziclague, enviou da presa aos anciãos de Judá, seus amigos, dizendo: Eis aqui uma bênção para vós, da presa dos inimigos do SENHOR.

27Aos que estavam em Betel, e em Ramote ao sul, e aos que estavam em Jattir;

28E aos que estavam em Aroer, e em Sifmote, e aos que estavam em Estemoa;

29E aos que estavam em Racal, e aos que estavam nas cidades de Jerameel, e aos que estavam nas cidades dos queneus;

30E aos que estavam em Hormá, e aos que estavam em Corasã, e aos que estavam em Atace;

31E aos que estavam em Hebrom, e em todos os lugares de onde Davi havia estado com os seus.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

While David is away, the Amalekites attack and burn Ziklag, capturing the families of David's men. Strengthened in God, David pursues the raiders and recovers everything, generously dividing the spoil even with those who stayed behind exhausted.

Explanation

David's personal crisis reaches a breaking point when even his own men, anguished over the loss of their families, consider stoning him — but the text notes that 'David encouraged himself in the Lord his God' (v.6), a rare moment of explicit spiritual self-encouragement recorded in Scripture in the midst of a leadership crisis. His careful inquiry of God through the ephod before pursuing the enemy, even in a situation of extreme urgency, shows David's spiritual discipline holding firm even under immense emotional pressure. The principle David established — that the two hundred exhausted men who stayed behind to guard the baggage should receive the same share of the spoil as the four hundred who fought directly (v.24-25) — became a permanent law in Israel, reflecting a value of justice and solidarity that recognizes different forms of contribution to a shared victory.

Fun facts

  • The principle of equal division of the spoil established by David in this chapter (v.24) became 'a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day,' showing how practical leadership decisions can turn into lasting, permanent law.
  • The young Egyptian left behind sick by the Amalekites, whom David rescues and feeds before using him as a guide (v.11-15), is a small but significant example of how an act of practical compassion led directly to the success of the rescue mission.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Samuel 30:1While David was away fighting alongside the Philistines, the episode of chapter 29, the Amalekites themselves seized the chance to raid the undefended city — a bitter irony right after escaping the fight against Israel.
  2. 1 Samuel 30:2The Amalekites chose to carry off captives rather than kill them — probably because captives had value as slaves or hostages, making the raid more profitable than a simple massacre.
  3. 1 Samuel 30:3The scene David finds on returning, the city in ashes and every family gone, is the worst possible outcome after already going through so much tension just to escape the battle against Israel.
  4. 1 Samuel 30:4The collective weeping until physically exhausted describes a grief so intense it literally drained the whole group’s energy before any practical action could begin.
  5. 1 Samuel 30:5David’s personal loss, including his own wives, makes the tragedy even more direct and urgent than just a collective loss for the group.
  6. 1 Samuel 30:6At the moment of greatest personal danger, with his own men talking of stoning him out of rage and grief, David finds strength not in himself but deliberately in his relationship with God.
  7. 1 Samuel 30:7Turning to the ephod at this moment of maximum crisis repeats the same pattern of divine consultation David had already used at Keilah — seeking guidance before acting, even under extreme pressure.
  8. 1 Samuel 30:8Before setting out after the Amalekites, David consults the Lord through the ephod, the same yes-or-no method used at Keilah, making sure the pursuit had divine approval before risking his already exhausted men.
  9. 1 Samuel 30:9Some men already begin falling behind from sheer exhaustion before the real pursuit even starts — a sign the group was physically spent from the recent battle and the hurried march.
  10. 1 Samuel 30:10The group’s split in two, those who press on and those left behind by exhaustion, will later spark a dispute over how to divide the spoils of victory, settled by David’s ruling at the end of the chapter.
  11. 1 Samuel 30:11Stumbling upon this abandoned man by chance becomes the key piece that lets David pinpoint the Amalekite camp exactly — a stroke of providential luck in the middle of a desperate chase.
  12. 1 Samuel 30:12The Egyptian’s extreme dehydration and hunger, left to fend for himself for three full days, shows how brutally the Amalekites treated even their own servants.
  13. 1 Samuel 30:13Simply being abandoned in the wilderness for falling sick, with no care at all, reveals the kind of casual cruelty that marked the Amalekite band David is about to face.
  14. 1 Samuel 30:14The Egyptian’s account confirms that the raid on Ziklag was part of a larger campaign of pillaging across several territories, not an isolated attack aimed specifically at David.
  15. 1 Samuel 30:15The Egyptian negotiates his own safety before cooperating — a rational bargain from someone already abandoned by one side, now needing assurance the other side would not treat him worse.
  16. 1 Samuel 30:16Finding the Amalekites completely off guard, deep in a careless celebration with no watch posted, gives David the perfect tactical edge for a surprise attack.
  17. 1 Samuel 30:17The battle stretches on for nearly a full day, showing that despite the element of surprise, the Amalekite band was large enough to demand a prolonged fight.
  18. 1 Samuel 30:18The complete recovery of everything, including his own wives, turns the chapter’s opening tragedy into a total, restorative victory.
  19. 1 Samuel 30:19Recovering everyone without a single human loss, not even one child, is an almost miraculous outcome after the utter despair at the start of the chapter.
  20. 1 Samuel 30:20Beyond recovering what had been stolen, David also gains extra plunder from the Amalekites themselves — real profit on top of recovering the original loss.
  21. 1 Samuel 30:21David’s warm, immediate greeting to the men who had stayed behind already signals his intent not to treat them as less deserving, even though they missed the final fight.
  22. 1 Samuel 30:22Some of David’s own men propose excluding the exhausted stragglers from the division of the spoils — a pettiness David will firmly reject in his response.
  23. 1 Samuel 30:23David credits the victory entirely to God, not to the military merit of those who fought — an argument that automatically undercuts the logic of excluding those left behind.
  24. 1 Samuel 30:24David sets out a principle of practical justice: guarding the rear and the supplies was a function just as essential to the victory as fighting on the front line.
  25. 1 Samuel 30:25The rule David sets here, that those who fought and those who guarded the baggage receive an equal share of the plunder, becomes permanent law in Israel, recognizing that guarding the rear was just as essential to the victory.
  26. 1 Samuel 30:26Distributing part of the plunder among the towns of Judah was both a gesture of gratitude and a shrewd political move — building popular support in a region that would soon acclaim him as king.
  27. 1 Samuel 30:27The long list of towns that benefited shows the geographic reach of the network of relationships David had already built during his years as a fugitive across the region of Judah.
  28. 1 Samuel 30:28Each named town likely represents a place where David and his men received help or shelter during their flight — the gift now repays that concrete hospitality.
  29. 1 Samuel 30:29Including the Kenites, Israel’s longtime allies since the days of Moses, underscores how much David valued keeping good relations with groups beyond the strict borders of his own tribe of Judah.
  30. 1 Samuel 30:30The sheer length of this list of names, most of them mentioned nowhere else in the Bible, suggests the text preserves a remarkably specific and detailed geographic record from the period.
  31. 1 Samuel 30:31Ending the list with Hebron anticipates the next step in David’s career: it is exactly there, in 2 Samuel, that he will first be anointed king over Judah.

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