John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 30:3

"And when David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captive." — 1 Samuel 30:3 (ASV)

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 were all destroyed; and which they might reasonably suppose from their former treatment of them, unless there were any left upon the spot which could inform them how things were, which does not appear, and which must make their distress the greater.