Jump to:
I Samuel
Chapter
30
1~~'Then
it happened'/'And it came to pass'
{change in historical narrative},
when
David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day,
that
the Amalekites had invaded
{Amalekites are apparently descendents of Esau - brother of Jacob
(though they were in existence as a nation before Esau)
- they are famous for being Arab marauders/land pirates},
the
'south country'/
'high
desert country in from of mountains' {negeb},
and
had hit Ziklag and burned it {saraph} with fire {'esh}.
{Note: Saraph is the word from which the highest rank in the elect angelic order was taken - the Seraphim. They have 6 wings and was a rank apparently created by God after the highest ranking angel to that point - Lucifer - a Cherub with rank of 4 wings, sinned and revolted against God.}
{David
Does NOT Know This - this is Retrospective - (Important When
Studying Verse 3)}
2~~And
had taken 'all the distressed women' {ha nachim (sp)}
who
were in it captive.
They
were not motivated to slay any {women}, either great or small
but
carried them away rapidly
{large camel corps - fastest for the desert},
and
went on their way.
{Note: The women here are called 'distressed'. That is because they know they will be treated brutally. They will be force marched to get far away from their home city and potential counter-attack. Then Amalekites will start to celebrate - meaning rape, torture and death for some and slavery for the rest. However, the Amalekites are also known to treat the children with great kindness. So, though the children are also taken, this verse concentrates on those under great distress - the women.}
{David
and His Men See the Ruins of Their City}
3~~So
when David and his men/battalion
began
to arrive at the city,
BEHOLD,
it was still burning with fire!
{3 days later things were still burning}
Furthermore
their wives, and their sons, and their daughters,
were
missing/'not there'.
{Note: This is important, because when David and his army hit the Arabs remember they killed all the women and children. Direct Retribution would mean his women and children were dead at this point also.}
4~~Then
David and the troops with him
'screamed
loudly'/'lifted up their voice'/'were in hysteria'
and
kept on weeping
{from shock and frustration - maximum lamentations},
until
they had no more strength to weep.
{David
Shares in the Hysteria Also - His Grief is also Great}
5~~And
David's two wives had been carried away captives,
Ahinoam
the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
{David
Under Great Stress - Still Reaping the Wages of His Reversionism -
But Back in Fellowship - Now Turns to the Lord}
6~~Moreover,
David was 'greatly distressed from his imagination'
{David's imagination was working overtime - he could vividly
imagine the rape and the torture of his wives}
{furthermore}
because the troops for a long time spoke
of
stoning him
{additional pressure on David - troops need to blame someone} . . .
{additionally}
because the soul of each of the troops was bitter
{grief turned to bad mental attitude of bitterness} . . .
every
man for his sons and for his daughters.
But
David kept on
'strengthening
himself'/
'showing
himself courageous' {chazaq -Hithpael stem} . . .
in
Jehovah/God his 'Elohiym/Godhead.
{Note: At this point, RBT says Psalm 22 comes in - how David used the celebrity-ship of Jesus Christ.}
{Obedience
of Acting High Priest to Authority of David}
7~~And
David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son,
"Please/'I
pray you,
bring
me here the ephod
{the breastplate of Urim and Thummim of the High Priest}."
And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8~~And
David kept on enquiring of Jehovah/God, saying,
"Shall
I pursue after this 'raiding party' {g@duwd}?
Shall I overtake them?"
And
He {God} answered him,
"Pursue.
For pursuing, you shall surely overtake them {nasag nasag},
and
in rescuing you shall surely rescue {natsal natsal}."
{Note: Doubling a verb is very strong in the Hebrew. It means not only will David recover all that he lost but you will 'rescue' a lot more besides - millions - David and his men have the capacity from doctrine now to enjoy being millionaires and this is a SuperGrace blessing God will give David.}
9~~So
David went,
he
and the six hundred men that were with him,
and
came to the brook/river Besor,
where
those who were left behind stayed.
{Note: Here two hundred men are too exhausted to cross over the brook Besor and will be left behind.}
10~~But
David pursued,
he
and four hundred men . . .
but
two hundred {stragglers} remained behind,
who
were so exhausted
that
they could not go over the brook/river Besor
{this is not a small brook, but a pretty good size river to cross}.
11~~And
they {members of David's point guard}
suddenly
discovered {matsa'} an Egyptian in the field
{David is now reaping what God sows - he 'luckily' found this dying
man},
and
'picked him up and hauled' him to David,
and
kept on giving him pieces of bread
{little at a time or a starving man would gorge himself},
and
he did keep on eating.
And
they rationed him water
{again a little at a time or he would kill himself}.
{Refreshed
Egyptian}
12~~Then
they {David's men} kept on giving him
a
piece {at a time} of a cake of figs,
and
two clusters of raisins.
And
when he had eaten,
his
life/spirit {ruwach} revived
for
he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water,
three
days and three nights.
{David
Begins Low Key Interrogation}
13~~Then
David began to interrogate him,
"To
whom . . . {do} you {belong}?
{David sees the man is wearing the clothes of a slave}
And
where are you from?"
And
he {the Egyptian} said,
"I
. . . {am} a young man of Egypt,
and
a slave to an Amalekite.
And
my master abandoned me {for dead},
because
three days ago I became sick and exhausted."
14~~"As
for us, we had raided
upon
the negeb of the Cherethites
{a tribe of Philistines originally from Crete},
and
upon the negeb which belongs to Judah
{had to circle south of Ziklag to hit Judah next},
and
upon the negeb which belongs to Caleb
{located to the North - a Jewish tribe again}
and
we burned Ziklag with fire."
{Note: Negeb an area of high altitude surrounded by mountains or seashore. Also means the south.}
{Note: RBT says that the Amalekite are trying to figure out who killed their women and children. So they think of the Cherethites as a good possibility since they were mean sea pirates. Later on David used them as a body guard made up of these foreigners loyal only to the king - they were tough men.}
15~~And
David said to him,
"Can
you lead me {in the position to pounce on them}
to
this raiding party?"
And
he said,
"Swear/'make
a solemn promise'
unto
me by 'Elohiym/Godhead,
that
you will neither kill me,
nor
cause me to be delivered into the hands of my master,
and
I will lead you to this raiding party
{he knows their escape routes from previous raids}."
16~~So
when he {the Egyptian}
had
lead them down {to where the raiding party was},
behold,
they {the Amalekites}
were
spread out over the face of all the land
{they were spread out greatly partying it up in a secret
valley - a pirate's den with 400 years of wealth from
robbing desert caravans going through Amalekite country},
feasting/'celebration
type eating'
and
drinking {alcoholic beverages - tying it on},
and
'sensuous type dancing' {chagag - leading to party sex},
because
of all the great plunder/booty/spoil {shalal}
that
they had seized from the land of the Philistines,
and
from the land of Judah.
17~~So
David kept on slaughtering them
{nakah - Hiphil imperfect - this is violent torture and slow death
these men had burned their town and are raping their women
David and his men take their time and really give it to them}
from
the twilight
even
unto the evening of the next day
{26 to 28 hours of hard fighting and killing - these 400 men were
in great physical condition - 5 days of force marching first}.
Not
a man escaped, except four hundred young men,
who
rode upon camels, and fled
{400 out of maybe 3000 veteran warriors escaped
point being David only started with 400 men!}.
{Note: These Amalekites were spread out. Some were drunk and others exhausted from gorging on food and rape. These conditions were part of God's pouring to David now.}
18~~Therefore
David kept on rescuing all
that
the Amalekites had taken away.
Also,
David rescued his two wives.
19~~Furthermore
there was nothing missing to them,
neither
small nor great,
neither
sons nor daughters, neither plunder/spoil,
nor
any thing that they had taken to them.
David
was caused to recover everything
{David is now reaping what God sows}.
{David
takes ALL the Wealth of the Amalekites}
20~~And
David seized all the sheep and the cattle,
which
were driven ahead of the other livestock,
and
they said, "This is David's blunder/spoil."
{Note: The Amalekites had been Arab raiders for hundreds of years and there was a huge fortune there. The only things David did not get were the 400 camels on which the survivors fled.}
{Slight
Reversionistic Revolt in David's Battalion}
21~~
And David came to the two hundred men,
who
were so exhausted
that
they {should have but} could not follow David . . .
{the 1/3 of his battalion who became stragglers and were left
behind}
whom
they had to remain behind at the brook Besor.
And
they went out to meet David,
and
to meet the people that were with him.
And
when David approached the people,
they
{the stragglers}
inquired
of them {David and the troops who fought}
regarding
his success/prosperity {shalowm}
{They asked questions like, "Did you find our women and children???
Are they safe? How about our goods? Were they recovered?}.
{Should
the Stragglers Reap What They Sowed? Or should the Entire Battalion
Reap what God Sowed? Legalism Verses Grace - Attempt to Set Aside
Grace Group of Reversionists Try to Dictate to David}
22~~Then
answered all the reversionists/'wicked men'
even
{the sons}of Belial
{Belial - means wickedness - is used for those out of fellowship
- SOB is pretty appropriate even today - technical for men in
reversionism},
from
the ones who went with David
{and
fought - not all the 400 said this, but some from the 400 did},
and
said, "Because they did not with me {each one said this},
he
{David} shall not give them
of
the plunder/spoil that we have recovered,
except
to every man his wife and his children
{fairness from a reversionistic human viewpoint},
that
they may lead them away, and depart."
{David
Contradicts them and Exerts His Authority}
23~~Then
said/interrupted David,
"You
shall not do/manufacture {'asah - out of reversionism}
so,
my brethren,
with
that which Jehovah/God has given us (!) . . .
Who
{God} has preserved us {ALL of them - all 600!},
and
given into our hand
the
raiding party that came against us."
{Success
Never Spoils a SuperGrace Believer - David Stays in God's Policy of Grace}
24~~"Therefore
who will 'hear, listen, and obey' {shama'}
you
in this {false} assertion/doctrine?
For
as his share is that goes down to the battle,
so
shall his share be who stays by the baggage/supplies.
They
shall share equally."
25~~And
it was so from that day forward {established policy},
that
he made it a statute and an 'army regulation'/ordinance
for
Israel unto this day.
{Verses
26-31: David Rewards Those Who Helped Him Flee Saul - True Friends
Grace Giving - No 'Strings' Attached!}
26-31~~And
when David came to Ziklag,
he
sent {some} of the plunder/spoil unto the elders of Judah
{these were the business leaders - RBT says David wanted to
recover the economy of the land - David gave in grace - with no
strings attached},
even
to his friends
{many
people protected and supplied David while he ran from Saul -
a list follows in verse 27 and following},
saying,
"Behold a blessing {B@rakah} for you
of
the plunder/spoil
of
the enemies of Jehovah/God: 27~~
to
them who were in Bethel,
and
to them who were in south Ramoth,
and
to them who were in Jattir
{all mountain areas - cities on sides of hills}, 28~~
And
to them who were in Aroer,
and
to them who were in Siphmoth,
and
to them who were in Eshtemoa
{desert towns scattered all over Palestine}, 29~~
And
to them who were in Rachal,
and
to them who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites
{David even picked up a wife here},
and
to them who were in the cities of the Kenites
{Kenites were Arabs who were friends of Israel}, 30~~
And
to them who were in Hormah
{farther north and dangerous place},
and
to them who were in Chorashan,
and
to them who were in Athach, 31~~
and
to them who were in Hebron;
and
to all the places where David himself
and
his men were accustomed to going {halak}.
{Note: RBT says David's Psalm 112 on SuperGrace blessings should be reviewed at this point.}
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