1 Samuel 30:17
in 1 Samuel 30And 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.
KJV
And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe poor and the feeble, the blind and the lame, are called and come because the weak and the despised in this world are often quicker to hear the voice of God, as in this world they have nothing to delight them.The Egyptian servant of the Amalekites is a good example of this. When the Amalekites were plundering and moving about, he was left behind on the road sick and fainting from hunger and thirst.
This site's exposition
David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day
on 1 Samuel 30:17-20
Only four hundred young men escape, riding off on camels. Saul had been told at 15:3 to destroy Amalek's camels with the rest, a link Clarke and Keil and Delitzsch note. David recovers everything taken, wives, sons and daughters, and the flocks become in his men's words “David’s plunder.”
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And David smote them, etc. Christ smites heretics in two ways: either by chastising them to receive the faith or by anathematizing them to endure eternal punishment. Both of these forms of smiting extend from evening to evening, because they reach from the recognition of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Twilight - The word signifies both the morning and evening twilight. But the latter seems here intended, partly because their eating, and drinking, and dancing, was more proper work for the evening, than the morning; and partly, because the evening was more convenient for David, that the fewness of his forces might not be discovered by the day-light.
Thus is the triumphing of the wicked short, and wrath comes on them, as on Belshazzar, when they are in the midst of their jollity. The spoil was recovered and brought off, and nothing was lost, but a great deal gotten.
And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
There escaped not a man of them - It is well known to every careful reader of the Bible, that the Amalekites were a proscribed people, even by God himself, and that in extirpating them it has been supposed David fulfilled the express will of God. But all this depends on whether he had an express commission to do so, received from God himself, as Saul had.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Of the next day. The Amaleikites are accustomed to being defeated on the second day [of battle], as it is stated, "tomorrow I will stand…" 3 Shemos:9. Therefore, it states, "on the(ir) next day."
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
21 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּכֵּ֥ם | vaiyakem | and he struck down them | H5221 → | 499 times |
| דָּוִ֛ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| מֵהַנֶּ֥שֶׁף | mehaneshef | from the twilight | H5399 → | |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הָעֶ֖רֶב | haerev | the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| לְמָֽחֳרָתָ֑ם | lemochoratam | of next day their | H4283 → | 32 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִמְלַ֤ט | nimlat | he escaped | H4422 → | 95 times |
| מֵהֶם֙ | mehem | of <the> them | ||
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אַרְבַּ֨ע | ʾarba' | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מֵא֧וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אִֽישׁ־ | ʾish- | man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| נַ֛עַר | naar | young man | H5288 → | 239 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָכְב֥וּ | rakhevu | they rode | H7392 → | 78 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַגְּמַלִּ֖ים | hagemalim | the camels | H1581 → | 54 times |
| וַיָּנֻֽסוּ׃ | vaiyanusu | and they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
וַיַּכֵּ֥םand he struck down them
vaiyakemH5221 →499 times
דָּוִ֛דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
מֵהַנֶּ֥שֶׁףfrom the twilight
mehaneshefH5399 →
וְעַד־and until
vead-H5704 →1261 times
הָעֶ֖רֶבthe evening
haerevH6153 →134 times
לְמָֽחֳרָתָ֑םof next day their
lemochoratamH4283 →32 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
נִמְלַ֤טhe escaped
nimlatH4422 →95 times
מֵהֶם֙of <the> them
mehem
אִ֔ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כִּי֩that
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אַרְבַּ֨עfour
ʾarba'H702 →318 times
מֵא֧וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אִֽישׁ־man
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
נַ֛עַרyoung man
naarH5288 →239 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
רָכְב֥וּthey rode
rakhevuH7392 →78 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַגְּמַלִּ֖יםthe camels
hagemalimH1581 →54 times
וַיָּנֻֽסוּ׃and they fled
vaiyanusuH5127 →159 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 11:11The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions, and during the morning watch they invaded the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them, until the hottest part of the day. And the…
it leads to
- James 2:13
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 7:16
And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each man a ram’s horn in one hand and a large jar in the other, containing a torch.
- James 2:13
Through
1 Samuel 15:3Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 20:16–18
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Numbers 24:20
Then Balaam saw Amalek and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Amalek was first among the nations, but his end is destruction.”
- Isaiah 14:21–22
Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.
- 1 Samuel 22:19
He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.
- Numbers 31:17
So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- Deuteronomy 20:16–18
Through
Psalms 18:42I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
it leads to
- Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the…
- Isaiah 10:6
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 36; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.