And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
When the Egyptian slave led David to the Amalekite camp, they found the raiders scattered all over the area, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of all the valuable things they had stolen from both Philistine and Judean territory.
The writer is showing us that David found his enemies completely off guard, celebrating their victories instead of preparing for battle.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during David's time as a fugitive from King Saul, when he was living among the Philistines in the city of Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided and burned Ziklag, taking captive David's wives and the families of his men. David was pursuing these raiders to rescue the captives and recover what was stolen.
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