1 Samuel 30:11-12

An Egyptian, the slave, as we read in 1 Samuel 30:13 , of some Amalekite, left in the field, in the open common, to perish. He had become faint and could not travel as fast as they did, and so was left behind with no supplies of food, for he had eaten nothing for three days and three nights . The Amalekites had thus a start of at least this time, or even more, as this slave would probably have carried some food away with him from Ziklag.