According to Revised Standard Version the Amalekites had raided three territories: (1) the Negeb of the Cherethites, (2) [the Negeb] which belongs to Judah, and (3) the Negeb of Caleb. Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, “We had raided the Negeb of the Cherethites, and [the Negeb] of Judah, and the Negeb of Caleb.” See also New Jerusalem Bible, “We raided the Negeb of the Cherethites, and the Negeb of Judah, and the Negeb of Caleb too.” According to Good News Translation, however, only two territories are named. The following comments will indicate that Revised Standard Version should be followed here.

The Negeb of the Cherethites: regarding the Negeb see verse 1 above. The Cherethites lived in the Negeb to the south and southeast of the Philistine city of Gaza, along the southwest coast of Palestine. It is not known whether they were a subgroup of the Philistine people or whether they were a separate ethnic group. Most scholars think that the Cherethites came from the Mediterranean island of Crete. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, in fact, calls them “Cretans.” The Cherethites are often mentioned along with the “Pelethites” as a mercenary group among David’s soldiers (see 2 Sam 8.18; 15.18; 20.7, 23).

The Negeb of the Cherethites is translated “the southern area of the Kerethites” (New Century Version) and “in the south of the country of the Cherethites” (La Bible du Semeur). But the meaning is not “the southern part only of the territory where the Cherethites live.” Rather the sense is “that part of southern Judah [the Negeb] where the Cherethites live.”

And upon that which belongs to Judah: Good News Translation takes these words in apposition to the Negeb of the Cherethites. But this phrase more likely is an elliptical expression referring to “that [Negeb] which belongs to Judah.” This is a second area, in addition to the Negeb of the Cherethites, that New Jerusalem Bible calls “the Negeb of Judah.”

The Negeb of Caleb: Caleb had been one of the twelve spies whom Moses sent to spy out the land of Canaan (Num 13.6). He was later given the city of Hebron in southern Judah (Josh 14.6-15; 15.13). The Negeb of Caleb apparently refers to the region around the city of Hebron.

We burned Ziklag with fire: regarding Ziklag, see verse 1. Many versions omit the words with fire, since burning, by definition, is normally by fire.

One possible rendering of this verse is:

• We had raided the Cherethites, who live south of the Philistines, and we raided the southern part of Judah, including the territory of the clan of Caleb; and we burned down the city of Ziklag.

The words “who live south of the Philistines” seem justified in light of the words “from the land of the Philistines” in verse 16.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .