1 Samuel 30:2
in 1 Samuel 30They had taken captive the women and all who were there, both young and old. They had not killed anyone, but had carried them off as they went on their way.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and had taken captive the women and all that were therein, both small and great: they slew not any, but carried them off, and went their way.
KJV
And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 30
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But their apparent clemency did not arise from humane considerations. It is traceable to the ancient war usages of the East, where the men of war, on the capture of a city, were unsparingly put to death, but there were no warriors in Ziklag at the time.
This site's exposition
the Amalekites had invaded the south
on 1 Samuel 30:1-2
Ziklag burns while David and his six hundred are three days' march away, still shut out of the Philistine muster he had marched to join. The raiders take every woman and child alive and kill no one, which is calculation rather than mercy, since captives carry a price that corpses do not. Amalek strikes here as the war Saul left unfinished at chapter fifteen, when he spared the king and the best of the flocks that the ban had named for destruction.
This site's exposition
They had not killed anyone
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace the sparing to the war customs of the East. The fighting men of a captured city were put to death, and every fighting man of Ziklag was away with David. Only the women, the young and the old remained.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
And they had killed no one, etc. Heretics captivate but do not kill; who though they may rob the simplicity of faith from the less instructed, yet they cannot take away the fervor of charity, which is the life of virtues.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The cruelty of Saul's pity (as it proved) in sparing the Amalekites; if he had utterly destroyed them, as he ought to have done, these would not have been in being to do this mischief. How David was corrected for being so forward to go with the Philistines against Israel.
And had taken the women captives, that were therein,....
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁבּ֨וּ | vaiyishbu | and they had taken captive | H7617 → | 47 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנָּשִׁ֤ים | hanashim | the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּהּ֙ | bah | [were] in <the> it | ||
| מִקָּטֹ֣ן | mikaton | from small | H6996 → | 101 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and unto | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| גָּד֔וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הֵמִ֖יתוּ | hemitu | they had killed | H4191 → | 839 times |
| אִ֑ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וַיִּֽנְהֲג֔וּ | vaiyinhagu | and they had driven them away | H5090 → | 31 times |
| וַיֵּלְכ֖וּ | vaiyelekhu | and they had gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְדַרְכָּֽם׃ | ledarkam | to way their | H1870 → | 707 times |
וַיִּשְׁבּ֨וּand they had taken captive
vaiyishbuH7617 →47 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנָּשִׁ֤יםthe women
hanashimH802 →781 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּהּ֙[were] in <the> it
bah
מִקָּטֹ֣ןfrom small
mikatonH6996 →101 times
וְעַד־and unto
vead-H5704 →1261 times
גָּד֔וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הֵמִ֖יתוּthey had killed
hemituH4191 →839 times
אִ֑ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וַיִּֽנְהֲג֔וּand they had driven them away
vaiyinhaguH5090 →31 times
וַיֵּלְכ֖וּand they had gone
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
לְדַרְכָּֽם׃to way their
ledarkamH1870 →707 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
Job 38:11and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
it leads to
- Psalms 89:9
You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
- Proverbs 8:29
when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.
- Mark 4:39–41
Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
- Psalms 65:6–7
You formed the mountains by Your power, having girded Yourself with might.
- Luke 8:32–33
There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.
- Psalms 89:9
Through
1 Samuel 30:19Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 30:8
and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”
- Psalms 91:9–10
Because you have made the LORD your dwelling— my refuge, the Most High—
- 1 Samuel 30:8
Through
Psalms 76:10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
it leads to
- Romans 9:17
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
- Romans 9:17
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Bede, Commentary on Samuel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.