Year of the Bible
1 Samuel 30
Access your family's weekly resource for the Year of the Bible HERE
Commentary on the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 30:
David and his men leave King Achish and return to the town where they had settled with their families. Upon arrival, they discover the city in flames and the women and children taken captive by Amalekites. When David’s men turn on him, he turns to God in prayer. He receives direction to follow the enemies, and along the way David’s concern for others is illustrated. First, when some soldiers are too exhausted to complete the journey, David allows them to stay behind with the baggage. Second, David rescues a servant that the Amalekites had abandoned and left to die. This servant leads David to the enemy, and David and his army are able to recover everything that was stolen. In a final act of fairness, David demands that those who were too tired to fight be able to benefit from the rescue. David recognizes that their role in protecting the baggage was as important as the fighting the other soldiers did.
The First Book of Samuel, Chapter 30:
David Avenges the Destruction of Ziklag
1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid upon the Negeb and upon Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag, and burned it with fire, 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great; they killed no one, but carried them off, and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue; for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But David went on with the pursuit, he and four hundred men; two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
11 They found an Egyptian in the open country, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, they gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived; for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We had made a raid upon the Negeb of the Cherethites and upon that which belongs to Judah and upon the Negeb of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God, that you will not kill me, or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”
16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 And David struck them from twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken; and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken; David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds; and the people drove those cattle before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Then David came to the two hundred men, who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor; and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him; and when David drew near to the people he saluted them. 22 Then all the wicked and base fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil which we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us; he has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” 25 And from that day forward he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”; 27 it was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Borashan, in Athach, 31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
David--possibly due to experiencing God's mercy in the previous chapter--returns to seeking The Lord for direction, and is victorious against his enemies. He also acknowledges to his men that the victory is because of God's mercy, so that mercy must be shown to those of his company that stayed behind and did not go on to battle with David. What is the impact of my own experience of being treated mercifully, on how I treat others?
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.
1 Cuando David y los suyos llegaron
a Siquelag, al tercer día, los
amalecitas habían hecho una incursión
contra el Négueb y Siquelag. Habían
asaltado Siquelag incendiándola, 2 y se
habían llevado cautivas a todas las mujeres
y a todos los que habían quedado,
pequeños y grandes. No mataron a nadie,
sino que se los llevaron consigo y
siguieron su camino. 3 Cuando David y
los suyos llegaron a la ciudad se la encontraron
quemada y comprobaron que
sus mujeres, sus hijos y sus hijas habían
sido llevados cautivos. 4 David y los que
estaban con él alzaron sus voces y lloraron
hasta quedarse sin fuerzas, 5 pues
también las dos mujeres de David habían
sido llevadas al cautiverio, Ajinóam,
la de Yizreel, y Abigaíl, mujer de
Nabal, el de Carmel. 6 David estaba muy
angustiado porque la tropa hablaba de
apedrearlo. Todos estaban afligidos,
cada uno por sus hijos y por sus hijas.
David, por su parte, fue confortándose
en el Señor, su Dios, 7 y dijo al sacerdote
Abiatar, hijo de Ajimélec:
–Tráeme el efod.
Y le llevó el efod.
8 David entonces consultó al Señor:
–¿Debo perseguir a esa banda? ¿Los
alcanzaré?
El Señor le contestó:
–Persíguela, porque con seguridad
la alcanzarás y librarás a todos.
9 Inmediatamente marchó David
con sus seiscientos hombres y llegaron
al torrente Besor; 10 desde allí continuó
la persecución con sólo cuatrocientos
hombres; se quedaron doscientos que
estaban demasiado fatigados para poder
atravesar el torrente Besor.
11 Encontraron en el campo a un
egipcio y lo llevaron a David. Le dieron
pan para comer, agua para beber 12 y
también un trozo de pan de higos y dos
racimos de uvas pasas. Comió y recobró
el aliento, pues no había comido ni bebido
durante tres días con sus noches.
13 David le preguntó:
–¿A quién perteneces y de dónde
eres?
Él respondió:
–Soy un egipcio, siervo de un amalecita,
pero mi señor me ha abandonado
porque caí enfermo hace tres días. 14 Nosotros
hemos hecho incursiones contra
el Négueb de los Quereteos, contra el Négueb
de Judá y contra el Négueb de Caleb.
A Siquelag la hemos prendido fuego.
15 David le dijo:
–¿Y tú podrías llevarme hasta esa
banda?
Él contestó:
–Júrame por Dios, que no me matarás
y que no me entregarás en manos
de mi señor, y yo te conduciré hasta esa
banda.
16 Los condujo hasta ellos. Estaban
diseminados por el campo comiendo,
bebiendo y festejando por el enorme
botín que se habían llevado de la tierra
de los filisteos y de la tierra de Judá.
17 David los estuvo atacando desde el
alba hasta el anochecer del día siguiente.
No se salvaron más que cuatrocientos
jóvenes que montaron sus camellos
y huyeron. 18 David recobró todo lo que
los amalecitas habían capturado; también
rescató a sus dos mujeres. 19 No faltó
nada, ni los pequeños ni los grandes,
ni los hijos ni las hijas; ni nada del botín
que se habían llevado los amalecitas.
Todo lo recobró David. 20 Se apoderaron
de todas las ovejas y vacas, y las hacían
pasar ante él diciendo:
–¡Éste es el botín de David!
21 Llegó David hasta los doscientos
hombres que, por estar fatigados para
seguirle, había dejado junto al torrente
Besor. Ellos salieron al encuentro de
David y de la tropa que estaba con él.
David se acercó y los saludó con la paz;
22 sin embargo, los más perversos y mezquinos
de entre los que habían ido con
David dijeron:
–Puesto que no han venido con nosotros,
no les daremos parte en el botín
que se ha salvado; sólo su mujer y sus
hijos. Que los tomen y se vayan.
23 Pero David dijo:
–No hagáis eso después de lo que el
Señor nos ha concedido. Nos ha protegido
y ha entregado en nuestras manos
esa banda que había salido contra
nosotros. 24 Nadie os daría la razón en
este asunto, porque lo mismo participa
el que sale a la batalla que el que queda
guardando el bagaje; todos deben participar
a partes iguales.
25 Desde aquel día se ha venido haciendo
así y ha quedado establecido
como norma para Israel hasta el día de
hoy.
26 Cuando llegó David a Siquelag envió
parte del botín a los ancianos de
Judá, compañeros suyos, diciendo:
–Aquí tenéis un presente del botín
de los enemigos del Señor.
27 Se lo envió a los de Betul, a los de
Ramá del Négueb, a los de Yatir, 28 a los
de Aroer, a los de Sifmot, a los de Estemoa,
29 a los de Carmel, a las ciudades de
Yerajmeel, a las ciudades de los quenitas,
30 a los de Jormá, a los de Bor-Asán,
a los de Atac, 31 a los de Hebrón, y a todos
los lugares por donde caminó David
con sus hombres.
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
David -posiblemente debido a la experiencia de la misericordia de Dios en el capítulo anterior- vuelve a buscar la dirección del Señor, y sale victorioso contra sus enemigos. También reconoce ante sus hombres que la victoria se debe a la misericordia de Dios, por lo que hay que mostrar misericordia a los de su compañía que se quedaron atrás y no fueron a la batalla con David. ¿Cuál es el impacto de mi propia experiencia de ser tratado con misericordia, en mi forma de tratar a los demás?
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).