1 Chronicles 20

This is the last chapter of the section of 1 Chronicles (chapters 18–20) that brings together the accounts of David's wars. The war against Ammon that began in 1 Chronicles 19 concludes in this chapter, followed by a record of battles against the Philistines.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: At the turn of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab leads the army, ravages the land of Ammon, and besieges and captures Rabbah. David remains in Jerusalem. David takes the crown of their king (weighing a talent of gold) and places it on his own head, carries off a great amount of spoil, sets the people to work with saws, harrows of iron, and axes, and then returns to Jerusalem.
• Verses 4–8: Three battles against the Philistines. At Gezer, Sibbechai kills Sippai, a son of the giant; Elhanan kills Lahmi, the brother of Goliath; and at Gath, Jonathan the son of Shimea kills a man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all.

Key Verses

• 1 Chronicles 20:1 "But David tarried at Jerusalem" — In 2 Samuel the account of Bathsheba follows at this point, but Chronicles moves directly to the capture of Rabbah.
• 1 Chronicles 20:5 "Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite" — a verse frequently discussed because of its difference from 2 Samuel 21:19.
• 1 Chronicles 20:8 "They fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants" — a summary that concludes the accounts of the Philistine giants.

People and Places

• David, Joab, Goliath
• Sibbechai: A Hushathite and one of David's mighty men, who killed Sippai.
• Elhanan: The son of Jair, who killed Lahmi.
• Jonathan: The son of Shimea, David's brother. He is not the same person as Jonathan the son of Saul.
• Ammon and its capital, Rabbah; the Philistine cities of Gezer and Gath; Jerusalem

Points to Consider

• Verses 1–3 correspond to 2 Samuel 11:1 and 2 Samuel 12:26–31, and verses 4–8 correspond to 2 Samuel 21:18–22. Chronicles omits the intervening story of Bathsheba and Uriah. A widely offered explanation is that Chronicles focuses on the Davidic dynasty and the preparations for the temple.
• Second Samuel 21:19 states that Elhanan killed Goliath, which raises questions about its relationship to the David and Goliath narrative. Proposed explanations include a discrepancy that arose in the course of scribal transmission, the view that 1 Chronicles preserves the original text, and the view that two different individuals bore the same name.
• Depending on the translation, verse 3 can be read either as describing forced labor imposed on the captives or as describing a brutal execution. The Korean Revised Version renders it in the sense of forced labor.
• Some translations and commentaries read "their king" in verse 2 as Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. In support of this reading, interpreters suggest that the crown's great weight indicates it was the crown of an idol.