Ziklag as a Secretive Exclusive Group in Scripture
Ziklag was a town located in the Negeb, or southern region, of Judah, initially listed among the towns allotted to the tribe of Judah and later to Simeon [1, 3, 5]. However, it eventually came under the control of the Philistines [1, 4]. The town gained particular significance as the residence and personal property of David during his flight from King Saul [1, 3].
David requested Ziklag from Achish, the king of Gath, who granted it to him [1, 3, 9]. David resided there for a period of one year and four months [1, 3]. This arrangement was seen as a prudent move by David, as it allowed him and his followers to live somewhat independently, away from the direct influence and potential contamination of Philistine idolatry in Gath [9]. It also provided him an opportunity to conduct raids against freebooting tribes on the border of Israel and Philistia [9]. During his time in Ziklag, David made excursions against the Amalekites and other groups, destroying them but leading Achish to believe he was raiding Israelite territory [11].
While David and his army were away to join the Philistine expedition against the Israelites, Ziklag was attacked and destroyed by the Amalekites [3]. They burned the city and took its inhabitants captive, including David's two wives [3]. Upon his return, David pursued the Amalekites, utterly routing them and recovering all the captives and spoil [3].
After this event, David sent portions of the recovered spoil to the elders of Judah, particularly to those who had shown him kindness during his wanderings [6, 8]. This act was both a gesture of gratitude and a strategic move to build support within his own tribe [6, 8]. The enumeration of the places to which he sent gifts indicates the extent of his influence and the number of adherents he had within Judah [6].
Ziklag also served as a gathering point for various warriors who joined David's cause while he was in exile from Saul [7, 10]. These included Gadites described as fierce and agile, with faces like lions [7]. The town's status as David's personal property meant that it pertained to the kings of Judah from that time forward [3, 4]. The name "Ziklag" itself has been interpreted as "winding" or "measure pressed down" [1, 2].
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Ziklag — (winding), a place which possesses a special interest from its having been the residence and the private property of David. It is first mentioned in the catalogue of the towns of Judah in (Joshua 15:31) and occurs, in the same connection among the places which were allotted out of the territory of Judah to Simeon. (Joshua 19:5) We next encounter it in the possession of the Philistines (1 Samuel 27:6) when it was, at David's request, bestowed upon him by Achish king of Gath. He resided there for a year and four months. (1 Samuel 27:6,7; 30:14,26; 1 Chronicles ”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Ziklag — measure pressed down”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Ziklag — A town in the Negeb, or south country of Judah (Josh. 15:31), in the possession of the Philistines when David fled to Gath from Ziph with all his followers. Achish, the king, assigned him Ziklag as his place of residence. There he dwelt for over a year and four months. From this time it pertained to the kings of Judah (1 Sam. 27:6). During his absence with his army to join the Philistine expedition against the Israelites (29:11), it was destroyed by the Amalekites (30:1, 2), whom David, however, pursued and utterly routed, returning all the captives (1 Sam. ”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 27:6: Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day,.... A city which in the division of the land was given to the tribe of Judah, and after that to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 15:31; though it seems not to have been possessed by either of them, at least not long, but soon came into the hands of the Philistines, who kept it till this time, and now it returned to its right owners; according to Bunting (g) it was twelve miles from Gath: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day; not to the tribe of Judah, though it originally belonged to it, but to the kings o”
- Joshua (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Joshua 15:30: And Ziklag,.... Ziklag was also given to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 19:5, it was in the bands of the king of Gath, in the times of David, who gave it to him; it bordered on the Amalekites, and is placed by Jerom (c) in Daroma, on the south of the lot of Judah or Simeon. and Madmannah, according to the same writer (d), was in his time called Menois, a town near the city Gaza: and Sansannah, of which no mention is made elsewhere. (c) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. I. (d) Ibid. fol. 93. E.”
- 1 Samuel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Samuel 30:26: 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 (Ch1 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 [Sa1”
- 1 Chronicles (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Chronicles 12:8: of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David--that is, from the service of Saul and from the rest of the Gadites who remained steadfast adherents of his cause. into the hold--or fortress, that is, of Ziklag, which was in the wilderness of Judah. whose faces were like the faces of lions, &c.--A fierce, lion-like countenance (Sa2 1:23), and great agility in pursuit (Sa2 2:18), were qualities of the highest estimation in ancient warfare.”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 30:26: And when David came to Ziklag,.... Perhaps with an intention to rebuild it, and make it still the place of his residence; and it is possible there might be some houses that escaped flames, and if not, tents might be pitched until the city was rebuilt, and it appears that he continued there some time: he sent of the spoil to the elders of Judah: of that part of it which belonged to himself as a general: even to his friends; such as had been kind to him when he sojourned among them; so that this was a piece of gratitude, as well as of policy in him, to make his w”
- 1 Samuel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Samuel 27:5: DAVID BEGS ZIKLAG OF ACHISH. (Sa1 27:5-12) let them give me a place in some town in the country--It was a prudent arrangement on the part of David; for it would prevent him being an object of jealous suspicion, or of mischievous plots among the Philistines. It would place his followers more beyond the risk of contamination by the idolatries of the court and capital; and it would give him an opportunity of making reprisals on the freebooting tribes that infested the common border of Israel and the Philistines.”
- 1 Chronicles (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Chronicles 12 (introduction): THE COMPANIES THAT CAME TO DAVID AT ZIKLAG. (1Ch. 12:1-22) Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag--There are three lists given in this chapter, arranged, apparently, according to the order of time when the parties joined the standard of David. while he yet kept himself close because of Saul--that is, when the king's jealousy had driven him into exile from the court and the country. Ziklag--(See on Sa1 27:6). It was during his retirement in that Philistine town that he was joined in rapid succession by the heroes who aft”
- 1 Samuel (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Samuel 27 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO FIRST SAMUEL 27 David, fearing he should perish by the hand of Saul at one time or another, went into the land of the Philistines, which Saul hearing of, sought no more after him, Sa1 27:1; and finding favour in the eyes of the king of Gath, desired a place in his country might be given him to reside in; and accordingly Ziklag was given him, Sa1 27:5; from whence he made excursions into the land of the Amalekites, and others, and utterly destroyed them; but imposed on the king of Gath, pretending he had made his road into the southern ”