1 Samuel 30:23

23 But David said, "My brothers, don't do that with the things which the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed the troops that attacked us over to us.

1 Samuel 30:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 30:23

Then said David, ye shall not do so, my brethren
Though he saw through their wickedness, and disapproved of the bad sentiments they had embraced, yet he deals gently with them, calling them brethren, being of the same nation and religion, and his fellow soldiers; yet at the same time keeps up and maintains his dignity and authority as a general, and declares it should not be as they willed, and gives his reasons for it, that it was not fit they should do as they pleased:

with that which the Lord hath given us;
what they had was given them, and therefore, as they had freely received, they should freely give; and what was given them, was not given to them only, but to the whole body, by the Lord:

who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us
into our hand;
it was not by their own power and might that they got the victory over the enemy, and the spoil into their hands, but it was through the Lord only; and therefore, as they should not assume the honour of the victory to themselves, so neither should they claim the spoil as wholly belonging to them.

1 Samuel 30:23 In-Context

21 David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had stayed in the Besor Valley. They came to meet David and the people with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them.

22 Then every wicked and worthless man who had gone with David said, "Since they didn't go with us, they shouldn't be given any of the loot we recovered. Each of them should take only his wife and children and leave."

23 But David said, "My brothers, don't do that with the things which the LORD has given us. He has protected us and handed the troops that attacked us over to us.

24 Besides, who is going to pay attention to what you have to say in this matter? Certainly, the share of those who go into battle must be like the share of those who stay with the supplies. They will all share alike."

25 From that time on he made this a rule and a custom in Israel as it is to this day.