Dividing the Spoils of Battle
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The battle had gone well for David and his men.
They recovered not only their own flocks and herds but also those taken by the Amalekites in other raids. The Amalekites had not harmed their captives, intending instead to sell them as slaves. Their liberation was cause for celebration.
“Upon reaching their companions who had remained behind, the more selfish and unruly of the four hundred urged that those who had had no part in the battle should not share the spoils; that it was enough for them to recover each his wife and children. But David would permit no such arrangement. ‘Ye shall not do so, my brethren,’ he said, ‘with that which the Lord hath given us. . . . As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike.’ Thus the matter was settled, and it afterward became a statute in Israel that all who were honorably connected with a military campaign should share the spoils equally with those who engaged in actual combat.” This statute did not originate with David.
“A definite system for the distribution of spoils was imposed at the time Israel first fought the Midianites. Only a portion of the encampment went forth to war, but immediately after the battle the Lord instructed Moses to divide the booty into two parts, so that the warriors and those remaining with the stuff might share equally; definite amounts were also to be set aside for the Levites and for an offering to the Lord (see Num. 31:25–54). The plan was not always adhered to, but from David’s time on it appeared to be an established ordinance.” The flocks belonging to the Amalekites were David’s share of the spoils.
“During the years of his wanderings, not only had many in Judah joined him, but many others had given him provisions. Up to the present he had been unable to repay their kindnesses. Now at the first opportunity he sent liberal portions from his abundant spoil.” Liberality is the currency of heaven.
