Philistines' original base The
Book of Genesis (in ) refers to
Casluhim as the origin of the
Philistines. Biblical scholars regard this as an
eponym rather than a person, and it is thought possible that the name is a corruption of
Halusah; with the identification of Ziklag as Haluza, this suggests that Ziklag was the original base from which the Philistines captured the remainder of their territory. which he conducted away from Achish's oversight. David's reports to Achish say that he had been conducting raids on
Saul's lands in southern
Judah and on the
Jerahmeelites.
Biblical scholars argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king. Since textual scholars regard the compilation of the Book of Joshua as late, probably due to the
deuteronomist, it is possible that the tribal allocations in it date from after this annexation, rather than before. In the narrative, when David's men discover that their families have been captured, they become angry with David. David seeks the face of his God to determine whether to pursue the Amalekites. The Lord answers and says to pursue them for he would recover all. Initially, 600 men go in pursuit, but a third of them are too exhausted to go further than the
HaBesor Stream. They find an abandoned and starving slave, formerly belonging to one of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag, and after giving him
fig cake,
raisin cake, and water, persuade him to lead them to the Amalekite raiders. The slave leads them to the captors' camp and finds them feasting and celebrating, due to the size of their spoil; David's forces engage in battle with them for a night and a day, and are victorious. Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the
monarchial source of the
Books of Samuel; the
rival source, known as the
republican source (named this due to its negative presentation of David, Saul, and other kings), does not at first glance appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the
republican source by the story of
Nabal, who lived in the region south of
Hebron (which includes the Negev). There are some similarities between the narratives, including David leading an army in revenge (for Nabal's unwillingness to give provisions to David), with 400 of the army going ahead and 200 staying behind, as well as David gaining
Abigail as a wife (though in the Ziklag narrative he
regains her), as well as several provisions, and a jovial feast in the enemy camp (i.e., Nabal's property). There are also several differences, such as the victory and provisions being obtained by Abigail's peaceful actions rather than a heroic victory by David, the 200 that stayed behind doing so to protect the
baggage rather than due to exhaustion, the main
secondary character being the wife of the enemy (Nabal) rather than their former slave, David's forces being joined by damsels rather than rejoining their wives, and Nabal rather than the Amalekites being the enemy. The Books of Samuel go on to mention that as a result, the people the Amalekites took were released, and the spoil that the Amalekites had taken, including livestock, and spoil from attacks elsewhere, were divided among David's men, including the third that had remained at the
Besor. This ruling, that even those left behind would get a share, is a response by David to those who believed only the two-thirds of David's men who had battled with the Amalekites should get a reward. A similar ruling is given in the
Priestly Code () and in . Scholars believe that these rulings derive from the decision in regard to the Amalekite spoil, rather than vice versa. According to the text, once back at Ziklag, David sends portions of the spoil to the various community leaders
within Judah; the text gives a list of the locations of the recipients, but they are all just within the Negev. ==See also==