1 Samuel 30 · a question people ask
Why did David send the plunder to the elders of Judah?
The chapter says what he sent, to whom, and what he called it, and it doesn't give a reason. "When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, even to his friends" (30:26), saying, "Behold, a present for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies" (30:26) (tap present). The list runs from Bethel (30:27) to Hebron (30:31), and ends "to all the places where David himself and his men used to stay" (30:31). The Amalekites had taken plunder "out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah" (30:16); the chapter doesn't say whether what David sent came from Judah's. The next book tells what happened in Judah after Saul's death: "David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?”" (2 Samuel 2:1), he was told, "To Hebron" (2 Samuel 2:1), and "there they anointed David king over the house of Judah" (2 Samuel 2:4). Neither book links the gifts to that, and this answer doesn't either.
The verses
“When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread around over all the ground, eating, drinking, and dancing, because of all the great plunder that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.”
“After this, David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” The LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.” So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. David brought up his men who were with him, every man with his household. They lived in the cities of Hebron. The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, “The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.””