1Sa 30:27 | KD | STEP | When David returned to Ziklag, he sent portions of the booty to the elders of Judah, to his friends, with this message: “ Behold, here ye have a blessing of the booty of the enemies of Jehovah ” (which we took from the enemies of Jehovah); and this he did, according to , to all the places in which he had wandered with his men, i.e., where he had wandered about during his flight from Saul, and in which he had no doubt received assistance. Sending these gifts could not fail to make the elders of these cities well disposed towards him, and so to facilitate his recognition as king after the death of Saul, which occurred immediately afterwards. Some of these places may have been plundered by the Amalekites, since they had invaded the Negeb of Judah ( ). The cities referred to were Bethel , - not the Bethel so often mentioned, the present Beitin , in the tribe of Benjamin, but Betheul ( ) or Bethul , in the tribe of Simeon ( ), which Knobel supposes to be Elusa or el Khalasa (see at ). The reading Βαιθσούρ in the lxx is a worthless conjecture. Ramah of the south, which was allotted to the tribe of Simeon, has not yet been discovered (see at ). Jattir has been preserved in the ruins of Attir , on the southern portion of the Mountains of Judah (see at ). Aroër is still to be seen in ruins, viz., in the foundations of walls built in enormous stones in Wady Arara, where there are many cavities for holding water, about three hours E.S.E. of Bersaba, and twenty miles to the south of Hebron (vid., Rob. Pal . ii. p. 620, and v. de Velde, Mem . p. 288). Siphmoth (or Shiphmoth , according to several MSS) is altogether unknown. It may probably be referred to again in , where Zabdi is called the Shiphmite ; but it is certainly not to be identified with Sepham , on the north-east of the sea of Galilee (Num 34:10-11), as Thenius supposes. Eshtemoa has been preserved in the village of Semua , with ancient ruins, on the south-western portion of the mountains of Judah (see at ). Racal is never mentioned again, and is entirely unknown. The lxx have five different names instead of this, the last being Carmel , into which Thenius proposes to alter Racal . But this can hardly be done with propriety, as the lxx also introduced the Philistian Gath , which certainly does not belong here; whilst in they have totally different names, some of which are decidedly wrong. The cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites were situated in the Negeb of Judah ( ), but their names cannot be traced.

‏ 1 Samuel 30:27

When David returned to Ziklag, he sent portions of the booty to the elders of Judah, to his friends, with this message: “Behold, here ye have a blessing of the booty of the enemies of Jehovah” (which we took from the enemies of Jehovah); and this he did, according to 1Sa 30:31, to all the places in which he had wandered with his men, i.e., where he had wandered about during his flight from Saul, and in which he had no doubt received assistance. Sending these gifts could not fail to make the elders of these cities well disposed towards him, and so to facilitate his recognition as king after the death of Saul, which occurred immediately afterwards. Some of these places may have been plundered by the Amalekites, since they had invaded the Negeb of Judah (1Sa 30:14). The cities referred to were Bethel, - not the Bethel so often mentioned, the present Beitin, in the tribe of Benjamin, but Betheul (1Ch 4:30) or Bethul, in the tribe of Simeon (Jos 19:4), which Knobel supposes to be Elusa or el Khalasa (see at Jos 15:30). The reading Βαιθσούρ in the lxx is a worthless conjecture. Ramah of the south, which was allotted to the tribe of Simeon, has not yet been discovered (see at Jos 19:8). Jattir has been preserved in the ruins of Attir, on the southern portion of the Mountains of Judah (see at Jos 15:48). Aroër is still to be seen in ruins, viz., in the foundations of walls built in enormous stones in Wady Arara, where there are many cavities for holding water, about three hours E.S.E. of Bersaba, and twenty miles to the south of Hebron (vid., Rob. Pal. ii. p. 620, and v. de Velde, Mem. p. 288). Siphmoth (or Shiphmoth, according to several MSS) is altogether unknown. It may probably be referred to again in 1Ch 27:27, where Zabdi is called the Shiphmite; but it is certainly not to be identified with Sepham, on the north-east of the sea of Galilee (Num 34:10-11), as Thenius supposes. Eshtemoa has been preserved in the village of Semua, with ancient ruins, on the south-western portion of the mountains of Judah (see at Jos 15:50). Racal is never mentioned again, and is entirely unknown. The lxx have five different names instead of this, the last being Carmel, into which Thenius proposes to alter Racal. But this can hardly be done with propriety, as the lxx also introduced the Philistian Gath, which certainly does not belong here; whilst in 1Sa 30:30 they have totally different names, some of which are decidedly wrong. The cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites were situated in the Negeb of Judah (1Sa 27:10), but their names cannot be traced.