Bible Strands
1 Samuel 30:16
So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — An Egyptian slave who swore an oath to David leads the king down to the Amalekite camp. David encounters the raiders after they have arrived from their expedition against Philistine and Judahite territory.
The words — נְטֻשִׁים (neṭûšîm) translates literally as "spread out" or "scattered," describing the Amalekites' posture across the landscape. אֹכְלִים ('ōkḥalîm) means "eating," directly recording their immediate physical activity upon reaching the land.
The thread — The motif of enemies reveling over plunder appears in Revelation 11:10 and Judges 16:23. The geographic scope of the raid corresponds to the Negev and Calebite territory the Egyptian slave detailed in 1 Samuel 30:14.
Why it lands — The text records the enemy's unguarded consumption and celebration before describing their subsequent destruction in 1 Samuel 30:17. It requires a reader to observe how exposure of hostile complacency sets the stage for decisive judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
Cross-references
- Revelation 11:10 And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.
- Judges 16:23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
- 1 Samuel 30:14 We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- Job 20:5 the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Daniel 5:1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- Luke 12:19 Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Luke 17:27 People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.