1 Samuel 30:7-10

1 Samuel 30:7-10

[7] And David  said  to Abiathar  the priest,  Ahimelech's  son,  I pray thee, bring me hither  the ephod.  And Abiathar  brought  thither the ephod  to David.  [8] And David  enquired  at the LORD,  saying,  Shall I pursue  after  this troop?  shall I overtake  them? And he answered  him, Pursue:  for thou shalt surely  them, and without fail  all. [9] So David  he and the six  hundred  men  that were with him, and came  to the brook  Besor,  where those that were left behind  stayed.  [10] But David  pursued,  he and four  hundred  men:  for two hundred  abode behind,  which were so faint  that they could not go over  the brook  Besor. 

What does 1 Samuel 30:7-10 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

David obtained an answer through the Urim and Thummim, which the high priest carried in the breast pocket of his ephod (cf. 1 Samuel 23:2; 1 Samuel 23:4; 1 Samuel 23:9). God no longer responded to Saul"s prayers ( 1 Samuel 28:15), but He did answer David"s ( 1 Samuel 30:8). David divided his troops into two groups as he had when he organized his attack against Nabal ( 1 Samuel 25:13). The many comparisons and contrasts between this chapter and chapter25 point out the differences between foolish Nabal and wise David. The Besor Brook is probably the Wadi el Arish, which flows west into the Mediterranean Sea a few miles south of Ziklag. This stream marked the southwestern border of the land that God had promised to Abraham"s descendants.