1 Samuel 30:24
in 1 Samuel 30Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And who will hearken unto you in this matter? for as his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the baggage: they shall share alike.
KJV
For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
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This verse in 1 Samuel 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTHOSE who associate themselves with a leader must share his fortunes. Six hundred men had left their abodes in Judea. Unable to endure the tyranny of Saul, they had linked themselves with David and made him to be a captain over them. They were, some of them, the best of men, and some of them were the worst—in this, resembling our congregations. Some of them were choice spirits whom David would have sought, but others were undesirable persons from whom he might gladly have been free.
This site's exposition
Ye shall not do so, my brethren
on 1 Samuel 30:23-25
David answers by naming the victory the LORD's rather than the four hundred's own, the same instinct that will govern his mighty men's roll call in the last chapters of the second book. His ruling, that the part of the man who tarries by the stuff equals the part of the man who goes down to the battle, echoes the division Moses set over the Midianite spoil in Numbers thirty-one and the arrangement Joshua's altar-builders claimed at Joshua twenty-two. It stands afterward as statute and ordinance for Israel, one of the few laws in Scripture credited to David by name rather than to Moses.
This site's exposition
They will share alike
John Wesley gives the reason for the rule. The men who stayed with the supplies faced danger too, stood as a reserve for the troops who went to battle, and held the post David gave them. He adds that the Romans kept the same practice, as Polybius records.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Part alike - A prudent and equitable constitution, and therefore practiced by the Romans, as Polybius and others note. The reason of it is manifest; because they were exposed to hazards, as well as their brethren: and were a reserve to whom they might retreat in case of a defeat; and they were now in actual service, and in the station in which their general had placed them.
5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the L ORD his God.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v5-6
God has been kind to us in preserving us and giving us victory, let not us be unkind to them." God's mercy to us should make us merciful to one another. It was true they tarried behind; but, [1.] It was not for want of good-will to the cause or to their brethren, but because they had not strength to keep up with them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For who will hearken unto you in fit is matter?,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
THOSE who associate themselves with a leader must share his fortunes. Six hundred men had left their abodes in Judea. Unable to endure the tyranny of Saul, they had linked themselves with David and made him to be a captain over them. They were, some of them, the best of men, and some of them were the worst—in this, resembling our congregations. Some of them were choice spirits whom David would have sought, but others were undesirable persons from whom he might gladly have been free. However, be they who they may, they must rise or fall with their leader and commander. If he had the city Ziklag given to him, they had a house and a home in it. And if Ziklag was burned with fire, their houses did not escape. When David stood amid the smoking ruins, a penniless and a wifeless man, they stood in the same condition. This rule holds good with all of us who have joined ourselves to Christ and His cause—we must be partakers with Him. I hope we are prepared to stand to this rule today. If there is ridicule and reproach for the Gospel of Christ, let us be willing to be ridiculed and reproached for His sake. Let us gladly share with Him in His humiliation and never dream of shrinking. This involves a great privilege, since they that are with Him in His humiliation shall be with Him in His Glory. If we share His rebuke in the midst of an evil generation, we shall also sit upon His Throne and share His Glory in the day of His appearing. Brothers and Sisters, I hope the most of us can say we are in for it—to sink or swim with Jesus. In life or death, where He is, there will we, His servants, be. We joyfully accept both the Cross and the Crown which go with our Lord Jesus Christ—we are eager to bear our full share of the blame, that we may partake in His joy. It frequently happens that when a great disaster occurs to a band of men, a mutiny follows.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִי֙ | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יִשְׁמַ֣ע | yishma' | will he listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| לַדָּבָ֖ר | ladavar | to the matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| כִּ֞י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְּחֵ֣לֶק׀ | kechelek | like [the] share of | H2506 → | |
| הַיֹּרֵ֣ד | haiyored | the [one who] went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| בַּמִּלְחָמָ֗ה | bamilchamah | in the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| וּֽכְחֵ֛לֶק | ukhechelek | and like [the] share of | H2506 → | |
| הַיֹּשֵׁ֥ב | haiyoshev | the [one who] remained | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | with | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַכֵּלִ֖ים | hakelim | the baggage<s> | H3627 → | 325 times |
| יַחְדָּ֥ו | yachdav | alike | H3162 → | 141 times |
| יַחֲלֹֽקוּ׃ ס | yachaloku | they will share | H2505 → |
וּמִי֙and who?
umiH4310 →423 times
יִשְׁמַ֣עwill he listen
yishma'H8085 →1159 times
לָכֶ֔םto <the> you
lakhem
לַדָּבָ֖רto the matter
ladavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
כִּ֞יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כְּחֵ֣לֶק׀like [the] share of
kechelekH2506 →
הַיֹּרֵ֣דthe [one who] went down
haiyoredH3381 →381 times
בַּמִּלְחָמָ֗הin the battle
bamilchamahH4421 →320 times
וּֽכְחֵ֛לֶקand like [the] share of
ukhechelekH2506 →
הַיֹּשֵׁ֥בthe [one who] remained
haiyoshevH3427 →1079 times
עַל־with
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַכֵּלִ֖יםthe baggage<s>
hakelimH3627 →325 times
יַחְדָּ֥וalike
yachdavH3162 →141 times
יַחֲלֹֽקוּ׃ סthey will share
yachalokuH2505 →
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
Psalms 68:12“Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
it leads to
- Joshua 10:16
Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
- Judges 5:19
Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.
- Joshua 10:16
Through
Numbers 31:27Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.
it leads to
- Joshua 22:8
saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
- Joshua 22:8
Through
Joshua 22:8saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
it leads to
- Numbers 31:27
Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.
- Proverbs 3:16
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
- Deuteronomy 8:17–18
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Deuteronomy 8:9–14
a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper.
- Numbers 31:27
Through
1 Samuel 25:13And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!” So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 23:13
Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go…
- 1 Samuel 23:13
About 1 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2208: “The Statute of David for the Sharing of the Spoil” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.