Bible Strands
1 Samuel 30:3
When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records David and his men arriving at the city to find it destroyed by fire and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive, an event that immediately precedes the command to pursue the raiders. (1 Samuel 30:3)
The words — שְׂרוּפָ֖ה (se.ru.Fah) = [it was] burned and בָּ/אֵ֑שׁ (ba./'Esh) = with <the>/ fire.
The thread — This pattern of sudden affliction followed by deliverance or refinement runs through Psalms 34:19, Hebrews 12:6, and 1 Peter 1:6.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to confront the reality of total loss before any response, establishing lament and assessment as necessary precedents to action or reliance on God.
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
So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.
Cross-references
- Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
- 1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- Revelation 3:9 As for those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.