1 Samuel 30:20
New International Version
He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

Berean Standard Bible
And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

King James Bible
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

New King James Version
Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

New American Standard Bible
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.”

NASB 1995
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 spoil.”

NASB 1977
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 spoil.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And David took all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.”

Amplified Bible
So David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and [the people] drove those animals before him and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

Christian Standard Bible
He took all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder! ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He took all the sheep and cattle, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, “This is David’s plunder!”

American Standard Version
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David took all the sheep and bulls in proportion to that property and they said: “This is what David rescued!”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he took all the flocks, and the herds, and led them away before the spoils: and it was said of these spoils, These are the spoils of David.

Contemporary English Version
including their livestock. David also took the sheep and cattle that the Amalekites had with them, but he kept these separate from the others. Everyone agreed that these would be David's reward.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of David.

English Revised Version
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He took all the sheep and the cattle. His men drove the animals ahead of him and said, "This is David's loot."

Good News Translation
He also recovered all the flocks and herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of them and said, "This belongs to David!"

International Standard Version
David took all the rest of the sheep and cattle, driving them ahead of their rescued livestock. People said about all this, "This is David's spoil."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said: 'This is David's spoil.'

Literal Standard Version
and David takes the whole of the flock and of the herd [that] they have led on before these livestock, and they say, “This [is] David’s spoil.”

Majority Standard Bible
And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

New American Bible
Moreover, David took all the sheep and oxen, and as they drove these before him, they shouted, “This is David’s plunder!”

NET Bible
David took all the flocks and herds and drove them in front of the rest of the animals. People were saying, "This is David's plunder!"

New Revised Standard Version
David also captured all the flocks and herds, which were driven ahead of the other cattle; people said, “This is David’s spoil.”

New Heart English Bible
He took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, "This is David's spoil."

Webster's Bible Translation
And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

World English Bible
David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s plunder.”

Young's Literal Translation
and David taketh the whole of the flock, and of the herd, they have led on before these cattle, and they say, 'This is David's spoil.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
David Destroys the Amalekites
19Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back. 20And he recovered all the flocks and herds, which his men drove ahead of the other livestock, calling out, “This is David’s plunder!”

Cross References
1 Samuel 30:26
When 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."

1 Samuel 30:21
When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him from the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,


Treasury of Scripture

And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drove before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

This is David's spoil

1 Samuel 30:26
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;

Numbers 31:9-12
And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods…

2 Chronicles 20:25
And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

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Ahead Captured Cattle David David's Drave Driving Drove Herd Herds Livestock Plunder Sheep Spoil Whole
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Ahead Captured Cattle David David's Drave Driving Drove Herd Herds Livestock Plunder Sheep Spoil Whole
1 Samuel 30
1. The Amalekites raid Ziklag
4. David asking counsel, is encouraged by God to pursue them
11. By the means of a received Egyptian he is brought to the enemies,
18. and recovers all the spoil
22. David's law to divide the spoil equally
26. He sends presents to his friends














(20) The flocks and the herds, which they drave.--In the English translation the word "which," inserted in italics, obscures the sense; the literal reading is, "And David took all the flocks and the herds; they drove them before their cattle, and said, this is David's spoil." David took, no doubt, by popular acclamation as his share of the plunder, all the flocks and herds belonging to the Amalekites, mostly acquired, no doubt, in the late raid; these were driven in front of "those cattle" thus particularising the cattle of Ziklag belonging to David's own people. Of course, this plunder went back to the original Israelitish owners. The drovers, as they marched behind the vast herds of Amalekite cattle, sung of the prowess of their leader in words long remembered, "See all this. This is David's spoil." It was "these herds"--numerically, probably very great--that David distributed among the friendly cities of the south. (See 1Samuel 30:26; 1Samuel 30:31.) All the other plunder of the camp--arms, accoutrements, ornaments, jewels, camels' cloths, &c.--was divided, as Bishop Hervey well suggests, among the little army. David's motive in choosing the sheep and oxen (for his warriors certainly the least desirable part of the Amalekite possession) is evident from 1Samuel 30:26-31. They were the most acceptable presents he could make to his friends in Judah.

Verse 20. - This verse, which is made unintelligible in the A.V. by the insertion of the unauthorised word which, is really free from difficulty. After David, as related in vers. 18, 19, had recovered the cattle carried oft by the Amalekites, he also took all the flocks and herds belonging to them; and his own men "made these go in front of that body of cattle, and said, This is David's spoil," i.e. they presented it to him by acclamation. It was this large booty which he distributed among his friends (vers. 26-31). DAVID ENACTS A LAW FOR THE DIVISION OF THE SPOIL (vers. 21-25).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And he
דָּוִ֔ד (dā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

recovered
וַיִּקַּ֣ח (way·yiq·qaḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the flocks
הַצֹּ֖אן (haṣ·ṣōn)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6629: Small cattle, sheep and goats, flock

and herds,
וְהַבָּקָ֑ר (wə·hab·bā·qār)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1241: Beef cattle, ox, a herd

which his men drove
נָהֲג֗וּ (nā·hă·ḡū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5090: To drive forth, lead, carry away, to proceed, to sigh

ahead of
לִפְנֵי֙ (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the other livestock,
הַמִּקְנֶ֣ה (ham·miq·neh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4735: Something bought, property, livestock, acquisition

calling out,
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“This
זֶ֖ה (zeh)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

is David’s
דָּוִֽד׃ (dā·wiḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

plunder!”
שְׁלַ֥ל (šə·lal)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7998: A prey, spoil, plunder, booty


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OT History: 1 Samuel 30:20 David took all the flocks and (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 30:19
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