Returning Things To Their Owners

David and his men had returned to Ziklag after several days of maneuvers with the Philistine army, only to find out the city had been ransacked and all their property and families taken.  After pursuing the raiders for a distance, about a third of the people were unable to maintain the pace and were left behind to tke care of the others stuff, lightening their burdens.  After defeating the raiders, David returned with all the stolen property and the families they had rescued.  Some of David’s followers were greedy, and wanted to keep all the property for themselves, rather than returning it to those from whom it had been stolen, as we see in I Samuel 30:21-22, claiming they didn’t deserve it since they hadn’t helped recover it.    

“And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.  Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.”

David pointed out that had they not stayed to take care of the stuff, they would have been hindered from catching the raiders, and the property rightly belonged to them.  It was God who had enabled them to catch and defeat the Amalekites, and it would be wrong to take advantage of the others in such a fashion, in I Samuel 30:23-25.  “Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.  For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.  And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.”  After he became king, David made it a law that those who stayed behind to protect the hoefront should receive the same appreciation and rewards as those who went to war.   One of the reasons Ziklag had been taken was because there had been no one left behind to protect it.  The protectors at home were just as important as those who went into the battle. 

The Amalekites had raided far into Israel, stealing large numbers of livestock.  After the battle, David claimed the livestock.  When they got back to Ziklag, he divided it up and sent it to the various communities who had helped hi escape from Saul, according to I Samuel 30:26-31.  “And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.” 

At least part of the livestock had probably been stolen from them, and by returning it he could show his appreciation for their help over the years.  With no way to identify who the individual owners were, it was the most logical way of dividing the herds up.   Unlike many leaders in history, David did not look on hi victories as a way to enrich himself and his followers.