1 Samuel 30:28

And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(28) Aroer . . . Siphmoth and . . . Eshtemoa.—Aroer, a city, with colossal ruins of foundation walls, south of Hebron. Of Siphmoth nothing is known. Zabdi, the Shiphmite (1Chronicles 27:27), who was over King David’s cellars, clearly comes from Siphmoth. Bishop Hervey well calls attention to a remarkable proof of the grateful nature of David and his fidelity to his early friendships, “that we find among those employed by David in offices of trust in the height of his power so many inhabitants of these obscure places, where he found friends in the days of his early difficulties. Ezri, the son of Shemei the Ramathite, Zabdi the Shiphmite, and many others, were among the friends of his youth.” Eshtemoa, a priestly city, still survives, with ruins still visible, in the village of Semna.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:21-31 What God gives us, he designs we should do good with. In distributing the spoil, David was just and kind. Those are men of Belial indeed, who delight in putting hardships upon their brethren, and care not who is starved, so that they may be fed to the full. David was generous and kind to all his friends. Those who consider the Lord as the Giver of their abundance, will dispose of it with fairness and liberality.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Aroer - Not Aroer on the Arnon, but (if rightly written) some town in Judah, not elsewhere named.

Siphmoth, Rachal 1 Samuel 30:29, and Athach 1 Samuel 30:30, are unknown and not elsewhere mentioned; but Zabdi the Shiphmite 1 Chronicles 27:27, who was over David's wine-cellars, was evidently a native of the first-named place. It is a remarkable proof of the grateful nature of David, and of his fidelity to his early friendships, as well as a curious instance of undesigned coincidence, that we find among those employed by David in offices of trust in the height of his power so many inhabitants of those obscure places where he found friends in the days of his early difficulties. Ezri the son of Chelub, Shimei the Ramathite, and Zabdi the Shiphmite, as well as Ira and Gareb, and Ittai, and Hezrai, and many others, were probably among these friends of his youth.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah—This was intended as an acknowledgment to the leading men in those towns and villages of Judah which had ministered to his necessities in the course of his various wanderings. It was the dictate of an amiable and grateful heart; and the effect of this well-timed liberality was to bring a large accession of numbers to his camp (1Ch 12:22). The enumeration of these places shows what a numerous and influential party of adherents to his cause he could count within his own tribe [1Sa 30:27-31].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Aroer; not that beyond Jordan, Numbers 32:34, as many think, which was too remote from David; but another place of that name in Judah, where the rest of the places here named were; this being one of those places where David and his men were wont to haunt, as is expressed, 1 Samuel 30:31.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And to them which were in Aroer,.... Not Aroer in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan, where David is never said to be, but some city of this name in the tribe of Judah; the Greek version of Joshua 15:22, instead of Adadah, has Arouel:

and to them which were in Siphmoth; which very probably was in the tribe of Judah, though nowhere else mentioned:

and to them which were in Eshtemoa; a Levitical city given to the Levites by the children of Judah, Joshua 21:14.

Geneva Study Bible

And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

28. Aroer] Obviously not the famous city on the R. Arnon. Perhaps the name survives in the Wady Arârah, some 20 miles south of Hebron, where Robinson found evident traces of an ancient village or town (II. 199). “Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite” are mentioned in the catalogue of David’s valiant men (1 Chronicles 11:44).

Siphmoth] mentioned nowhere else, unless it was the home of Zabdi the Shiphmite, the steward of David’s wine-cellars (1 Chronicles 27:27).

Eshtemoa] A priestly city (Joshua 15:50; Joshua 21:14); now Es Semûa, nine miles S.S.W. of Hebron, “a considerable village, situated on a low hill, with broad valleys round about, fall of flocks and herds. In several places there are remains of walls built of very large stones, marking the site of an extensive ancient town.” Robinson, Bibl. Res. II. 204.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 28. - Aroer, a different place from that on the eastern side of the Jordan, mentioned in Joshua 12:2, is probably the ruin 'Ar'arah, twelve miles east of Beer-sheba. Siphmoth. Some village in the Negeb, but unknown. Eshtemoa (Joshua 15:50), the present village Semu'ah, south of Hebron. 1 Samuel 30:28

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

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 1 Samuel 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 (1 Samuel 30:14). The cities referred to were Bethel, - not the Bethel so often mentioned, the present Beitin, in the tribe of Benjamin, but Betheul (1 Chronicles 4:30) or Bethul, in the tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:4), which Knobel supposes to be Elusa or el Khalasa (see at Joshua 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 Joshua 19:8). Jattir has been preserved in the ruins of Attir, on the southern portion of the Mountains of Judah (see at Joshua 15:48). Aror 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 1 Chronicles 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 (Numbers 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 Joshua 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 1 Samuel 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 (1 Samuel 27:10), but their names cannot be traced.