1 Samuel 30:18

30:16-20 Sinners are nearest to ruin, when they cry, Peace and safety, and put the evil day far from them. Nor does any thing give our spiritual enemies more advantage than sensuality and indulgence. Eating and drinking, and dancing, have been the soft and pleasant way in which many have gone down to the congregation of the dead. The spoil was recovered, and brought off; nothing was lost, but a great deal gained.

15 . company ] Troop , as in 1 Samuel 30:8 , and again in 1 Samuel 30:23 . It is the regular word for a band of roving plunderers. Cp. Psalm 18:29 . Is it fanciful to think that David there refers to this successful pursuit of the Amalekites? He must always have remembered it as one of the signal mercies of his life.

The Cherethites - Here used as synonymous with Philistines 1 Samuel 30:16 . In David's reign the body-guard commanded by Benaiah consisted of Cherethites and Pelethites (Philistines?) and a picked corps of six hundred men of Gath commanded by Ittai the Gittite. It would seem from this that the Cherethites and Philistines were two kindred and associated tribes, like Angles and Saxons, who took possession of the seacoast of Palestine. The Philistines, being the more powerful, gave their name to the country and the nation in general, though that of the Cherethites was not wholly extinguished. Many persons connect the name Cherethite with that of the island of Crete.

1Sa 30:16-31. And Recovers His Two Wives and All the Spoil. 16. they were spread abroad upon all the earth—Believing that David and all his men of war were far away, engaged with the Philistine expedition, they deemed themselves perfectly secure and abandoned themselves to all manner of barbaric revelry. The promise made in answer to the devout inquiries of David (1Sa 30:8) was fulfilled. The marauders were surprised and panic-stricken. A great slaughter ensued—the people as well as the booty taken from Ziklag was recovered, besides a great amount of spoil which they had collected in a wide, freebooting excursion.

David finds the Amalekites secure, feasting on the spoils they had taken; he attacks and destroys the whole host, except four hundred, who escape on camels, 1 Samuel 30:16, 1 Samuel 30:17. The Israelites recover their wives, their families, and all their goods, 1 Samuel 30:18-20. They come to the two hundred who were so faint as not to be able to pursue the enemy, with whom they divide the spoil; and this becomes a statute in Israel, 1 Samuel 30:21-25. David sends part of the spoil which he had taken to different Jewish cities, which had suffered by the incursion of the Amalekites; and where David and his men had been accustomed to resort, 1 Samuel 30:26-31.

[Bible] Then said Samuel, Why then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD hath departed from thee, and hath become thy enemy? And the LORD hath done to him, as he spoke by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: Because thou didst not obey the voice of the LORD, nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing to thee this day. Moreover, the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul fell immediately all along on the earth, and was exceedingly afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. And the woman came to Saul, and saw that he was greatly troubled, and said to him, Behold, thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have hearkened to thy words, which thou didst speak Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set a morsel of bread before thee; and eat, that thou mayest have strength, when thou goest on thy way. But he refused, and said, I will not eat. But his servants, together with the woman, compelled him; and he hearkened to their voice. So he arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. And the woman had a fat calf in the house: and she hasted and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread of it. And she brought it before Saul, and before his servants; and they ate. Then they arose and went away that night. Chapter 29 Now the Philistines collected all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rear with Achish.