When David and his men came to the city, they found it burned down and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
Here we have, I. The descent which the Amalekites made upon Ziklag in David's absence, and the desolations they made there. They surprised the city when it was left unguarded, plundered it, burnt it, and carried all the women and children captives, Sa1 30:1, Sa1 30:2. They intended, by this to revenge the like havoc that David had lately made of them and their country, Sa1 27:8.
Commenting on 1 Samuel 30:1-6
So David and his men came to the city,.... Or however to the place where it had stood, and where it now lay in ruins: and, behold, it was burnt with fire; the whole city was laid in ashes: and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives; as it appeared afterwards; for upon their first coming they knew not but they...
David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire--The language implies that the smoke of the conflagration was still visible, and the sacking very recent.