And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”
Parallel translations
- WEB David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s plunder.”
- KJV And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.
- NKJV Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
- NASB So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s plunder.”
- NLT He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. “This plunder belongs to David!” they said.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David also gains the Amalekites' flocks and herds as plunder. Victory brings not only recovery but added blessing.
Overview
Beyond recovering what was stolen, David's men drive off the enemy's livestock as spoil, hailed as 'David's plunder.' The added increase reflects God's generosity to his anointed beyond bare restoration. The verse sets up the question of how this plunder should be distributed among those who fought and those who stayed behind.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Sam 30:26When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”
- 2 Chr 20:25Then Jehoshaphat and his people went to carry off the plunder, and they found on the bodies an abundance of goods and valuables—more than they could carry away. They were gathering the plunder for three days because there was so much.
- Rom 8:37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
- Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Num 31:9–12The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 30:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.