Annotations Upon the Historical Books Part 2, 1 Samuel · Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX.
Verſ. 1. ANd the Amalekites had invaded the ſouth and Ziklag, and ſmitten Ziklag, and burnt it with fire.] That is, they had invaded the ſouth of Judah, and of the Philiſtines countrey, and amongſt the reſt particularly they had ſacked Ziklag, and deſtroyed it with fire; for ſo we find this place explained afterwards, ver. 14. where the Egyptian they took confeſſeth to David, We made an invaſion upon the ſouth of the Cherethites (that is, the Philiſtines) and upon the coaſt which belongeth to Judah, and upon the ſouth of Caleb, &c. This no doubt the Amalekites did, to revenge the ſpoyl which David and his men had made in their countrey, chap. 27.8, taking the opportunity of doing it at this time, when the Philiſtines and Davids men were gone out to make an invaſion into the land of Iſrael. But God had herein a further end; for by this means, firſt, David was chaſtened for his ſinnes, who out of his diſtruſt of Gods promiſes and providence, had ſought to help himſelf by unlawfull means, by fleeing to the Philiſtines, by lying and diſſembling, and now of late by pretending to Achiſh that he had a deſire to fight againſt Saul, and againſt the Iſraelites: ſecondly, his faith was exceedingly tried; for never was he in greater ſtraights then he was at this time: thirdly, the Amalekites Gods enemies, were ſmitten with a great deſtruction: and fourthly, David was indeared to his own people, when there was moſt need of it, becauſe they were now immediately to receive him to be their king, both by the fame of his victory, and the preſents he ſent them, verſ. 26. &c.
Verſ. 2. And had taken the women captives, that were therein; they ſlew not any, &c.] And this no doubt was of God, that they might by David be recovered again; for otherwiſe how unlikely a thing was it, that they ſhould be ſo carried away with a covetous deſire to make a gain of them, by keeping them priſoners; that they ſhould not think of uſing theſe that were now in their power, as David and his ſouldiers had a while before uſed them, chap. 27.8, 9. And David ſmote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, &c.
Verſ. 5. And Davids two wives were taken captives, &c.] This is inſerted, firſt, to ſet forth in what a ſad condition David was at preſent: ſecondly, to ſhew how wholly he ſubmitted himſelf to the will of God, that could depend upon Gods direction, whether he ſhould purſue the Amalekites or no, verſ. 8. notwithſtanding, that his wives that were ſo precious in his eyes, were by them carried away.
Verſ. 6. And David was greatly distreſſed; for the people spake of ſtoning him, &c.] As laying all the blame upon him: firſt, becauſe he had provoked the Amalekites by ſpoiling their countrey, chap. 27.8. ſecondly, becauſe he had now to no purpoſe carryed them all away after Achiſh, and left the citie without any defence.
But David incouraged himſelf in the Lord his God.] David was at this time in great diſtreſſe; his wives were taken captives to Achiſh, he durſt not return, (for he would have been inraged at him for the loſſe of Ziklag, burnt by the Amalekites in revenge of his former inrodes upon them) to flie to Saul was in vain; for he was his deadly enemy, and at this time invaded by the Philiſtines; yea his town followers began to ſpeak of ſtoning him. But though all this were ſo, yet now David raiſed up his heart, by remembring the power and the goodneſſe and the promiſes of God, and ſo by this means he incouraged himſelf.
Verſ. 10. For two hundred abode behind, which were ſo faint that they could not go over the brook Beſor.] And theſe therefore David left with the carriages, that with the other foure hundred he might the more ſpeedily purſue the Amalekites, as we ſee, verſ. 24. And thus the Lord both tried the faith of David, by depriving him of the third part of his forces, when he was to go againſt an enemy that had a mighty great army: (for there fled away as many of the Amalekites, as David had in all with him, to wit, foure hundred, verſ. 17.) and withall, he made it the more manifeſt, that the victory which afterward they obtained, was of him; and not of themſelves.
Verſ. 11, And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, &c.] Thus the Lord by his providence provided a guide for David, to lead him readily to the enemies whom he now purſued; and withall puniſhed the inhumane cruelty of that Amalekite, who had in ſo barbarous a manner caſt off this his ſick ſervant, by making that very ſervant the means of bringing deſtruction upon the whole army.
Verſ. 14. We made an invaſion upon the South of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the South of Caleb.] By the Cherethites are meant the Philiſtines, verſ. 16. They were eating, and drinking, and dancing, Becauſe of all the great ſpoil which they had taken out of the land of the Philiſtines, &c. Some part of the land of the Philiſtines was it ſeems called Cherith, and thence the Philiſtines are in ſeverall places of Scripture called Cherethims or Cherethites, as Ezek. 25.15, 16. Thus ſaith the Lord, Becauſe the Philiſtines have dealt by revenge, &c. I will ſtretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, &c. So again in Zeph. 2, 5. Where plainly judgement is denounced againſt the Philiſtines under theſe words, Wo unto the inhabitants of the ſea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites. And for the ſouth of Caleb, thereby is meant the ſouth of Judah belonging to Calebs poſterity, Joſh. 14.13.
Verſ. 15. And I will bring thee down to this company.] Hereby it appears, that this Egyptian had heard them ſay where they meant to encamp; yea, perhaps they had told him, that if he recovered he might come to them.
Verſ. 17. And David ſmote them from the twilight, even unto the evening of the next day.] That is, from the evening when he came upon them to the evening of the next day. Some think it was onelyonly from the twilight of the morning unto the evening, (which was the beginning of the next day.) But it is evident, that David began to ſmite them when they were eating and drinking and dancing, &c. and it is more likely that this was in the evening, then ſo early in the morning.
Verſ. 20, And David took all the flocks and the heards which they drave before the other cattell, and ſaid, This is Davids ſpoil.] That is, he took all the flocks and the heards which the Amalekites had taken from other places, and not from Ziklag: He did not onelyonly recover all which they had carried away from Ziklag, as it is ſaid in the former verſe; but beſides, he took all the cattell which they had driven away from other places. And theſe the ſouldiers drave before thoſe other cattell which belonged to the inhabitants of Ziklag, and extolled David as they went along (even the ſame men that ere while had ſpoken of ſtoning him) acknowledging, that it was of him that they had gotten this great booty; for that is the meaning of theſe words, This is Davids ſpoil. Songs of triumph they ſung as they went along, and the foot of their ſong was ſtill, This is Davids ſpoil.
Verſ. 22. Becauſe they went not with us we will not give them of the ſpoil, &c.] This was the baſe reſolution of ſome of thoſe, that had with David vanquiſhed the Amalekites, concerning thoſe two hundred of their brethren that had ſtaid behind at the brook Beſor; for which they are termed in the foregoing words wicked men and men of Belial. Though firſt, it was not cowardiſe, but mere faintneſſe and wearineſſe that made thoſe men ſtay behind: and ſecondly, in ſtaying behind with the carriages to defend the ſtuff, and in being in a readineſſe to aid their fellows, had they been forced to retire, they did good ſervice as well as the other: yet ſo partiall were they in their own cauſe, that they would have had all the ſpoyl, and theſe their brethren muſt have nothing but onelyonly their wives and children again.
Verſ. 23. Then ſaid David, You ſhall not do ſo, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, &c.] As if he had ſaid. The Lord hath given us the victory, and we ſhould ill repay the Lord for this mercy, if we ſhould aſcribe ſo much to our ſelves, as upon that ground to deal ſo injuriouſly with our brethren. It is the very ſame argument which our Saviour uſeth, Freely you have received, freely give, Matth. 10.8.
Verſ. 24. For who will hearken unto you in this matter?] In theſe words David implies, that this which they deſired was ſo unequall, that they would ſcarce find any body of their mind; every body that ſhould heare of it, would blame them for it.
Verſ. 25. And it was ſo from that day forward, that he made it a ſtatute, and an ordinance, &c.] To wit, that the ſpoyl of warre ſhould be equally divided betwixt thoſe that fought with the enemy, and thoſe that ſtayed with the ſtuff. And indeed in making this ordinance, David had not onelyonly the clear light of nature to direct him, but alſo a preſident of the Lords own preſcribing, Numb. 31.26, 27. Take the ſumme of the prey that was taken, &c. And divide the prey into two parts, between them, who took the warre upon them, who went out to battell, and between all the congregation.
Verſ. 26. And when David came to Ziklag, he ſent of the ſpoyl unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends.] To wit, firſt, by way of reſtitution, becauſe much of this prey had been taken by the Amalekites from the ſouth parts of Judah, v. 14. and ſecondly, by way of thankfulneſſe, becauſe of the many courteſies he had received from them in thoſe places, when Saul hunted him from one place to another▪ And this was a good preparation to encline the hearts of men in all places to him at this time: for juſt about this time, Saul and his ſonnes were ſlain by the Philiſtines, and ſo way was made for him to come to the crown.
Verſ. 31. And to all the places where David himſelf and his men were wont to haunt.] Whereby it appears, that the Lord provided David ſome friend or other, in every place where he came.