1 Chronicles — Chapter 20
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1In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it.
2Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.
3David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.
4Some time later, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, a descendant of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.
5Once again there was a battle with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
6And there was also a battle at Gath, where there was a man of great stature with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He too was descended from Rapha,
7and when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimei killed him.
8So these descendants of Rapha in Gath fell at the hands of David and his servants.
1And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.
2And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city.
3And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.
5And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.
6And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.
7But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him.
8These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
1And it came to pass, at the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out [to battle], that Joab led forth the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and overthrew it.
2And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David`s head: and he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
3And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut [them] with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines: then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.
5And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver`s beam.
6And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six [on each hand], and six [on each foot]; and he also was born unto the giant.
7And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David`s brother slew him.
8These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
1In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down.
2David took the crown from the head of their king and wore it (its weight was a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city.
3He removed the city’s residents and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
4Later there was a battle with the Philistines in Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.
5There was another battle with the Philistines in which Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom.
6In a battle in Gath there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha.
7When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8These were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed by the hand of David and his soldiers.
1At the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, Joab led out the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it.
2David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it. It was set on David’s head, and he brought very much plunder out of the city.
3He brought out the people who were in it, and had them cut with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.
5Again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
6There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was born to the giant.
7When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother killed him.
8These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
Summary
In spring, the season when kings typically went to war, Joab leads Israel's army to besiege and destroy Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, while David stays behind in Jerusalem (v. 1). David takes the enormous crown from Ammon's king, claims a large amount of plunder, and subjects the city's people to forced labor, his policy toward all the Ammonite cities (vv. 2-3). The rest of the chapter recounts three later battles with the Philistines: Sibbekai kills the giant Sippai at Gezer (v. 4), Elhanan kills Goliath's brother Lahmi (v. 5), and David's nephew Jonathan kills a taunting six-fingered, six-toed giant at Gath (vv. 6-7). All these giants descend from the Rephaim of Gath and fall by the hand of David and his men (v. 8), echoing David's own earlier triumph over Goliath.
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Largely parallels 1-2 Samuel geographically. Jerusalem (Zion/City of David) is the theological and political center.
- Key sites: Hebron (David's first capital, 7 years), the threshing floor of Ornan/Araunah (future Temple site, ch.21).
- Chapters 1-9 (genealogies) contain tribal allotments but minimal narrative geography.
Places on this map
- JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia
- HebronHebron, West BankThe highest town in the Judean hills at about 3,000 feet, 19 miles south of Jerusalem. Abraham bought a burial cave here, and David reigned from it for seven years before moving north, so it carries both the patriarchal and the royal claim to the land. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik highlights the Chronicler's deliberate omission of the Bathsheba-Uriah narrative as a key interpretive feature. He notes that this is not dishonesty but a different purpose: Chronicles presents David as the covenant king whose reign establishes the pattern for Temple worship. Guzik also observes that the giant- killing passages show David raising up a generation of warriors who could do what only he had done before.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of 1 Chronicles -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Faithful Work Continues Under Imperfect Leaders (v.1) — While David stays behind in Jerusalem, Joab leads the army and completes the siege of Rabbah regardless. Does your service to God depend on the people leading you being flawless, or can you stay faithful even when leadership disappoints?
- Recurring Giants Don't Mean You're Losing (v.4) — A second giant from the same family line shows up after the first has already fallen. When a familiar temptation or struggle resurfaces after you thought you had beaten it, does that shake your faith, or remind you God has beaten it before?
- No Giant Is Beyond God's Reach (v.6) — Even the intimidating six-fingered, six-toed giant falls to an ordinary warrior. What oversized problem in your life have you assumed is simply too big for God to handle?
- Multiplying Victory Through Others (v.8) — The chapter credits the giants' defeat to David and his servants together, not David alone. Are you investing in others so they can fight battles you will not always be there to fight for them?