1 Samuel 30:13

1Sa 30:13 And David said unto him, To whom [belongest] thou? and whence [art] thou? And he said, I [am] a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

Ver. 13. And my master left me, because three days agone.] He should the rather have looked to him, and taken order for his carriage and cure; as did the good Samaritan for a mere stranger. But this is merces mundi, the world’s wages: and Eucherius here observeth, that the world usually serveth her servants in this sort, casting them off when at worst: and then God taketh them up, those that belong to his election, and not only relieveth them, but maketh great use of them in the Christian warfare.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30:13 because I was sick: Only healthy and vigorous slaves were valuable to the Amalekites; the rest were expendable.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. My master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.] This was very inhuman: though they had booty enough, and no doubt asses sufficient to carry the invalids, yet they left this poor man to perish; and God visited it upon them, as he made this very person the means of their destruction, by the information which he was enabled to give to David and his men.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. To whom belongest thou] His appearance shewed that he was a slave.

servant] Slave: captured in some Amalekite foray.

three days agone] So that more than three days had elapsed since the sack of Ziklag, for they had gone at least one long day’s march before he was deserted. “Agone,” now usually written ago, is the past participle of an obsolete verb agon, to go away.

my master left me] “A barbarous act, to leave him there to perish, when they had camels good store, for the carriage of men as well as of their spoil (1Sa_30:17): but this inhumanity cost them dear; for by this means they lost their own lives.” Patrick.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And David said unto him, to whom belongest thou?.... To what country or people? and to whom among them?

and whence art thou? of what nation? where wast thou born? what countryman art thou? for his being called an Egyptian before seems to be by anticipation, unless it was guessed at by his habit; for until he had eaten and drank he could not speak, and so could not be known by his speech:

for he said, I am a young man of Egypt; that was the country he belonged to, and came from; he was an Egyptian by birth:

servant to an Amalekite; one of those that had invaded the country, and burnt Ziklag, as it follows:

and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick; which was very barbarous and cruel to leave him at all, when they had camels with them, Sa1 30:17; and no doubt carriages for their arms, provision, and spoil, and men; and more so to leave him without anybody with him to take care of him, and without any food, when he capable of eating any; but so it was ordered by the providence of God, that should be left to be the instrument of the just ruin of his master, and of the whole troop.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ago. His master’s inhumanity was justly punished, and God provided for the safety of his poor slave, while he sent a guide for David. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I am a young man of Egypt; God by his providence so ordering it, that he was not one of that cursed race of the Amalekites, who were to be utterly destroyed, but an Egyptian, who might be spared.

My master left me, in this place and condition; which was barbarous inhumanity; for he ought, and easily might have carried him away with the prey which they had taken. But he paid dearly for this cruelty, for this was the occasion of the ruin of him and of all their company. And God by his secret providence ordered the matter thus for that very end. So that there is no fighting against God, who can make the smallest accidents serviceable to the production of the greatest effects.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To whom belongest thou? As he was probably unarmed, and his garb that of a slave, David asks who is his owner and what his country. He learns from him besides that he was left behind three days ago because he fell sick. The word does not imply more than temporary faintness, and is that translated sorry in 1Sa_22:8. But his life was of too little value for them to mount him on a camel, or even to leave with him supplies of food, and so their inhumanity led to their destruction.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Egypt - God by his providence so ordering it, that he was not one of that cursed race of the Amalekites, who were to be utterly destroyed, but an Egyptian, who might be spared. Left me - In this place and condition: which was barbarous inhumanity: for he ought, and easily might have carried him away with the prey which they had taken. But he paid dear for this cruelty, for this was the occasion of the ruin of him and all their company. And God by his secret providence ordered the matter thus for that very end. So that there is no fighting against God, who can make the smallest accidents serviceable to the production of the greatest effects.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

When David asked him whence he had come (to whom, i.e., to what people or tribe, dost thou belong?), the young man said that he was an Egyptian, and servant of an Amalekite, and that he had been left behind by his master when he fell sick three days before ("to-day three," sc., days): he also said, "We invaded the south of the Crethites, and what belongs to Judah, and the south of Caleb, and burned Ziklag with fire." הכּרתי, identical with כּרתים (Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5), denotes those tribes of the Philistines who dwelt in the south-west of Canaan, and is used by Ezekiel and Zephaniah as synonymous with Philistim. The origin of the name is involved in obscurity, as the explanation which prevailed for a time, viz., that it was derived from Creta, is without sufficient foundation (vid., Stark, Gaza, pp. 66 and 99ff.). The Negeb "belonging to Judah" is the eastern portion of the Negeb. One part of it belonged to the family of Caleb, and was called Caleb's Negeb (vid., Sa1 25:3).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

David said to him

David questioned the Egyptian slave.

three days ago

"three days in the past"

three days

3 days (See: Numbers)

a raid

an attack on a town to take property

translationWords

David

Egypt

servant

lord

Judah

Caleb

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.