War with Philistine Giants

20 (A)Then it happened [a]in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the sons of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. And (B)Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it. (C)David took the crown of [b]their king from his head, and he found it to weigh a [c]talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoils of the city, a very great amount. He brought out the people who were in it, (D)and [d]put them to work at saws, iron picks, and axes. And David did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

(E)Now it came about after this, that war [e]broke out at [f]Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite [g]killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the [h]giants, and they were subdued. And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of (F)Jair [i]killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the (G)shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, [j]killed him. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 20:1 Lit at the return of the year
  2. 1 Chronicles 20:2 Another reading is Malcam from, a variant of the Ammonite god Milcom
  3. 1 Chronicles 20:2 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
  4. 1 Chronicles 20:3 So 2 Sam 12:31; MT sawed them apart with
  5. 1 Chronicles 20:4 Lit stood up
  6. 1 Chronicles 20:4 In 2 Sam 21:18, Gob
  7. 1 Chronicles 20:4 Lit struck
  8. 1 Chronicles 20:4 Heb Raphah, and so in vv 6, 8
  9. 1 Chronicles 20:5 Lit struck
  10. 1 Chronicles 20:7 Lit struck

Defeat of the Ammonites

20 In the spring, the time when kings go to war, Joab marched out with the army, destroyed the land of the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. David stayed in Jerusalem while Joab attacked Rabbah and overthrew it. David took Milcom’s[a] crown from his head. He found that it weighed one kikkar of gold and was set with a valuable stone. It was placed on David’s head. The amount of loot David took from the city was huge. After removing the people who were in the city, David demolished the city with saws, iron picks, and axes,[b] as he did to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

War with the Philistines

Once again war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines. At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephah,[c] and the Philistines were subdued. In another war with the Philistines, Jair’s son Elhanan killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam. At another war in Gath there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in all, who was also descended from Raphah. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of David’s brother Shimea killed him. These were descended from the Raphah in Gath, and they fell by the hands of David and his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 20:2 LXX, Vulg; MT their king
  2. 1 Chronicles 20:3 Cf 2 Sam 12:31; MT saws
  3. 1 Chronicles 20:4 Or giants; also in 20:6-7