Commentaria in I Regum (I Samuelis)
Chapter Thirty. Synopsis of the Chapter
The Amalecites burn Siceleg and carry off the spoils; David with his men pursues them, and as they feast he smites and despoils them; soon he divides the spoils equally between those who fought and those who had stayed with the baggage, verse 21, and sends a portion of them to other cities of Juda.
1. And when David and his men were come to Siceleg the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side of Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire. 2. And they had taken the women captive that were in it, from the least to the greatest, and had not killed any person, but had carried them away with them, and went on their way. 3. When David therefore and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, led away captive, 4. David and the people that were with him lifted up their voices and wept, till they had no more tears to shed. 5. For the two wives of David also were taken captive, Achinoam the Jezraelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel. 6. And David was greatly distressed; for the people would have stoned him, for the soul of every man was bitter for his sons and daughters; but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. 7. And he said to Abiathar the priest the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod; and Abiathar brought the ephod to David, 8. and David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue; for without doubt thou shalt overtake them, and shalt recover the prey.
9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came as far as the torrent Besor, and some being weary stayed there. 10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed, who being weary could not pass the torrent Besor. 11. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread to eat, and water to drink; 12. and a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed; for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water, three days and three nights. 13. And David said to him: Whose art thou? or whence? and whither goest thou? And he said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite; and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago. 14. For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and against Juda, and against the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire. 15. And David said to him: Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. And David swore to him.
16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread abroad upon the face of all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey and spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda. 17. And David smote them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, except four hundred young men, who had got upon camels and fled. 18. And David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 19. And there was nothing missing, from the least to the greatest, neither of sons nor of daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken, David brought back all. 20. And he took all the flocks and the herds, and drove them before him, and they said: This is David’s spoil. 21. And David came to the two hundred men who being weary had stayed behind, and could not follow David, and he had commanded them to stay at the torrent Besor; and they went out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming near to the people, saluted them peaceably.
22. Then all the wicked and unjust men that had gone with David, answered and said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any of the prey which we have recovered; but let every man be content with his wife and children, and when they have received them let them depart. 23. But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things that the Lord hath given us, and hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that were come against us into our hands, 24. neither shall any man hear you in this matter; for equal shall be the portion of him that went down to the battle, and of him that stayed at the baggage, and they shall divide alike. 25. And so it was done from that day, and thenceforward it was ordained and appointed, and became as a law in Israel unto this day. 26. And David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord. 27. To them that were in Bethel, and that in Ramoth to the south, and that in Jether, cities of Jerameel, and that in the cities of Ceni, 30. and that in Arama, and that in the lake of Asan, and that in Atach, 31. and that in Hebron, and the rest that were in those places where David himself had abode, and his men.
6. BUT DAVID STRENGTHENED HIMSELF IN THE LORD HIS GOD,—he took heart again, relying on hope and trust in God, says Vatablus: God put this strength and this hope into David’s mind, that, hoping that he would pursue and wrest from the Amalecites the booty driven off from Siceleg, he roused his own mind and his companions’ to pursue them. Where, if you translate from the Hebrew: David strengthened himself in his Lord, hoping, that is, that by God’s help he would overtake and conquer the enemies. For where human helps fail, we must flee to divine. Wisely Seneca, epistle 88: “I,” he says, “make the year fortunate and happy by good thoughts and greatness of mind; which is never greater than when it has laid aside what is another’s, and has made peace for itself by fearing nothing, has made riches for itself by desiring nothing.” And below: “Why then is the wise man great? because he has a great mind.” Lest he grow torpid? These therefore God chooses whom the world despises, because very often the very contempt recalls a man to himself; for he who left his father, and the part of the substance which he had received he spent it prodigally, after he began to hunger, coming to himself said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread!” And with many intervening: “Whom nevertheless David found, and gave him food and drink, because the Lord, strong of hand, does not despise the abject of the world, and very often turns to the grace of his love those who, unable to follow the world, as it were remain on the road, and offers them the food of his word, and sets them as guides on the way, while he makes them his preachers also; for while they implant Christ in the hearts of sinners, they as it were lead David against the enemies, and like David strike with the sword the feasting Amalecites, and by the Lord’s power overthrow all the proud who despised themselves in the world.”
7. BRING ME HITHER THE EPHOD,—In Hebrew, bring to me the Ephod, that clothed with it, as Pontiff, thou mayest consult God for me by it, whether I ought to pursue the Amalecites or not.
14. WE MADE AN INVASION ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CERETHI.— “Cerethi” was a certain region of the Philistines lying to the south, from which David gathered most valiant legions, thence called Cerethi and Phelethi, that is slayers and deliverers, which accordingly he always had with him as it were praetorian soldiers and guards of the royal body, as will appear in 2 Kings chapter 14. Whence some think that from these Cerethim sprang the Cretans, and that Crete was called their island. See what I said on Sophonias chapter 2, verse 3.
13. AND MY MASTER LEFT ME, BECAUSE I BEGAN TO BE SICK.—Tropologically, Eucherius: “What is it,” he says, “that the Egyptian Amalecite boy, wearied on the journey, sits down, but that the lover of the present world, covered with the blackness of his sin, is often left sick and despised by that same world, so that, since with it he can by no means run, but broken
16. EATING AND DRINKING.—Note David’s stratagem, by which with few men attacking unexpectedly very many feasting Amalecites, he cut them all down. In like manner Abraham with three hundred servants pursuing the four kings who had taken Lot, attacking them by night, slew them sleeping, Genesis 14:14. So Tomyris queen of the Scythians, pretending flight, having left in her camp tables sumptuously spread, overwhelmed Cyrus and the Persians as they pursued and feasted at the tables, all to a man, as Justin attests.
24. FOR EQUAL SHALL BE THE PORTION OF HIM THAT WENT DOWN TO THE BATTLE, AND OF HIM THAT STAYED AT THE BAGGAGE, AND THEY SHALL DIVIDE ALIKE,—because they cooperated equally to the victory; for if they had not guarded the baggage of those fighting, the fighters would not have conquered; but for fear of losing the baggage would have fought more timidly, and turned their backs to the enemy. Hence it is plain that the two hundred who, weary, had stayed at the torrent Besor, verse 10, also guarded the baggage of their companions going with David to battle. For if they had merely stayed weary, this reason would not have applied to them. So Abulensis, Cajetan and others. In like manner Polybius, book 10, relates that the Romans divided booty acquired in war not only among those who had been present in the battle, but also among those who had been left as camp guard, the sick, and those who attended to public services.
25. AND SO IT WAS DONE FROM THAT DAY, AND THENCEFORWARD IT WAS ORDAINED.—For “thenceforward” the Hebrew has ma‘alah, that is “upward.” Whence Vatablus renders: It was from that day and upward, and he made it a statute and custom, and explains thus: This had been observed by them from the beginning of the world to that day, and David ordained from that day that law, and the custom is observed still today in Israel. But our version, the Septuagint and the Chaldee, who interpret ma‘alah, that is “upward,” as “thenceforward,” indicate that this law began with David, not with Adam. The law of dividing equally with those who guarded the baggage.
26. HE SENT PRESENTS OF THE PREY TO THE ANCIENTS OF JUDA.—Note here David’s liberality, which God put into him that by this munificence he might bind to himself the minds of his tribesmen, so that they might soon choose him as their king. For on the same day on which David conquered the Amalecites and distributed the spoils, Saul joined battle with the Philistines, and fell in it, to whom David soon succeeded in the kingdom of Juda by God’s counsel, lest the Philistines, following up their victory, should lay waste and overthrow the whole of Judea; for God set David against them, ruling in Juda.