Bible Strands
1 Samuel 30:2
They 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Amalekites, having raided the Negev and burned Ziklag, capture every person present during their retreat. The narrator records this event as the immediate backdrop for David’s discovery of the devastated city.
The words — The verb וַיִּשְׁבּוּ (wa-yish·ḇū) literally means “they took captive,” describing the forced removal of the population. The phrase מִקָּטֹן וְעַד־גָּדוֹל (mi-qāṭōn wə-ʿaḏ-gāḏōl) translates to “from small to great,” emphasizing that no age group was excluded from the taking.
The thread — The total capture contrasts with David’s earlier directive in 1 Samuel 27:11 to leave no survivors, while the complete recovery of these captives is documented in 1 Samuel 30:19. The comprehensive scope of the phrase parallels the boundary language in Job 38:11.
Why it lands — The text states that the raiders deliberately spared lives to transport captives rather than kill them. This establishes the precise scale of the loss and frames the subsequent recovery as a restoration of what was preserved, not what was destroyed.
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 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.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 27:11 David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.
- 1 Samuel 30:19 Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.
- Job 38:11 and I declared: ‘You may come this far, but no farther; here your proud waves must stop’?
- Psalms 76:10 Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Isaiah 27:8 By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.