Scripture quotations on this page are from the World English Bible (public domain), shown in quotation marks; all commentary is written by Scripture Trove. Source: 1 Chronicles 20 · Commentary
20:1 "It happened, at 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 stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it."
What makes chapter 20 most striking is not the fall of Rabbah, nor the defeat of the giants, but those seven words in the first verse: "But David stayed at Jerusalem."
If you have read the book of Samuel, you know what lies hidden behind this sentence: one of the darkest periods in history. But the author of Chronicles chooses not to tell it. Not because it was unimportant, nor because it didn't happen, but because in his narrative, God's promise has a greater say than David's failure. He gave David a kind of grace: not erasing the past, but no longer letting the past define the future.
This is good news for everyone struggling with past failures. God's forgiveness does not pretend that those things didn't happen (Samuel remembers them clearly), but chooses not to let those things be the final verdict. In God's narrative, David is not "the one who committed a great sin," but "the one who received an eternal promise." Your story is the same.
Another heartwarming scene is the three battles with giants: it is no longer just David alone who kills giants, but his entire team that he has trained. When David was young, he faced Goliath alone; now his mighty men each face giants, and they win every time. The best leaders are not those who always step onto the field themselves, but those who teach those around them to step onto the field as well.
20:1 "At 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."
1 Chronicles 20:1（World English Bible）
"At the return of the year": A year had passed since the Aramean alliance was defeated in chapter 19. "At the time when kings go out to battle" is spring, the standard war season in the ancient Near East, when roads are dry and provisions are plentiful after the spring rains. Joab led the army, targeting the Ammonite capital Rabbah (the predecessor of modern Amman, Jordan). The Ammonites, having lost the support of the Aramean coalition, were now isolated and helpless.
Then comes that most significant "silence" in Chronicles: "But David stayed at Jerusalem."
In Samuel, the same phrase (2 Samuel 11:1) immediately precedes the beginning of the Bathshesheba incident: David saw a beautiful woman bathing from the rooftop of the palace, which led to the most painful moral tragedy in the Old Testament—adultery, the murder of Uriah, Nathan's rebuke, and the death of the infant. The entire two chapters (2 Samuel 11-12) of this narrative are not mentioned at all in Chronicles.
The Chronicler was not unaware of this history, and his readers had also read Samuel. By retaining the phrase "But David stayed at Jerusalem," he demonstrates a measured honesty: for uninformed readers, it is merely a neutral statement; for readers familiar with Samuel, these seven words are like a dull bell tolling, leading to a deliberately blank space of darkness.
The reason for the omission is not whitewashing, but a different narrative purpose. Samuel needs readers to see the full picture of David, including his deepest fall; Chronicles needs the post-exilic readers to see that the Davidic covenant is still valid, and God's promises are not nullified by David's failures. The two books are not contradictory but complementary: Samuel is a diagnosis, Chronicles is hope.
20:2 "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. It was set on David’s head, and he brought very much plunder out of the city."
1 Chronicles 20:2（World English Bible）
After Joab captured Rabbah, David came to the scene to handle post-war affairs. The Ammonite king's golden crown weighed a talent (about 34 kilograms) and was inlaid with precious stones. Given its weight, this was not a crown for daily wear but a ceremonial national treasure. "It was set on David’s head" symbolizes the transfer of kingship: the Ammonite kingship no longer existed; it belonged to the king of Israel.
"He brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance": Like the bronze in 18:8, these spoils eventually contributed to the material reserves for the temple's preparation. Although Chronicles does not explicitly state it here, the logic of the entire conquest unit is clear: the results of the conquest served the construction of the temple.
20:3 "He 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."
1 Chronicles 20:3（World English Bible）
The translation of this verse is controversial. The Chinese Union Version translation sounds like David executed the captives with saws, iron picks, and axes. However, the Hebrew וַיָּשֶׂם בַּמְּגֵרָה (vayasem ba-megerah) has two possible interpretations: one is "put them under saws" (execution), and the other is "assigned them to work with saws" (forced labor). Most modern translations and scholars lean towards the latter, suggesting that David conscripted the Ammonite captives into labor forces, performing heavy manual work such as sawing wood and processing iron. This was a common fate for defeated nations in the ancient Near East, more "routine" than slaughter.
Regardless of the interpretation, this is a scene that makes modern readers uncomfortable. Chronicles does not defend it or beautify it; it merely records the facts, allowing readers to understand the evolution of war ethics within God's progressive revelation.
The final scene of the conquest unit is not a large-scale war, but three "personal duels": David's mighty men each kill a Philistine giant. This passage corresponds to 2 Samuel 21:18-22 but is moved by Chronicles from the end of Samuel to here, integrating it with the conquest records.
20:4 "After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued."
1 Chronicles 20:4（World English Bible）
Gezer (גֶּזֶר, Gezer) is located at the junction of the Ephraim lowlands and the Philistine plain, a frequent site of border conflicts. Sibbecai was one of David's thirty mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:29). The Sippai he killed is called "one of the sons of the giant": the Hebrew רְפָאִים (Rephaim, Rephaim) refers to an ancient race of giants, appearing as opponents of God's people from Genesis 14:5 to here.
David's killing of Goliath was a singular feat (1 Samuel 17), but the family of giants did not become extinct. 20:4 begins to show that David's trained mighty men inherited his tradition: killing giants was no longer just David's task, but became the ability of the entire team.
20:5 "Again 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."
1 Chronicles 20:5（World English Bible）
This verse is highly significant in textual comparison. 2 Samuel 21:19 states, "Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite," which directly conflicts with David killing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Chronicles explicitly states "Lahmi the brother of Goliath": most scholars believe this is a clarification of a scribal omission of the word "brother" in the transmission of 2 Samuel 21:19.
"The staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam": This phrasing is identical to the description of Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:7. This is a family trait: Goliath's brother Lahmi, like Goliath, was a giant of immense strength and extraordinary weaponry. Elhanan's killing of Lahmi completed a further purge of Goliath's family.
20:6 "There 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."
1 Chronicles 20:6（World English Bible）
Gath was Goliath's hometown (1 Samuel 17:4) and a city David had already captured in 18:1. This twenty-four-fingered giant was a descendant of the Rephaim family. Polydactyly (six fingers/toes) is occasionally mentioned in ancient Near Eastern texts and was considered a physical characteristic of giants. The narrator specifically mentions this physical detail to reinforce the identity of "descendant of the Rephaim."
20:7 "When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother killed him."
1 Chronicles 20:7（World English Bible）
"Defied" (חָרַף, charaf): This word uses the same root as when Goliath defied Israel in the Valley of Elah (1 Samuel 17:10, 25, 26). The descendants of the Rephaim not only inherited their ancestors' physique but also their arrogance in challenging Israel. But this time, the challenge was ended by David's nephew Jonathan (son of Shimea). Shimea was David's brother (1 Chronicles 2:13), and Jonathan was a mighty man from the royal family. The ability to kill giants extended from David himself to his family members.
20:8 "These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."
1 Chronicles 20:8（World English Bible）
The concluding sentence unifies the three battles under one framework: these three giants were all from the Rephaim family in Gath, and they were all killed by "David and his servants." The narrator uses the phrase "David and his servants" to treat David and his mighty men as a single entity. Although David himself did not personally kill these three giants, their victory belonged to the team led by David.
The deeper meaning of this narrative lies in succession: David killed Goliath when he was young (1 Samuel 17), and now his mighty men kill Goliath's family. The leader's courage and faith are reproduced in the next generation of warriors. One person's bravery can win a battle, but a team's bravery can win an entire war.
This chapter is very short, yet it has an important characteristic: it corresponds to the historical position of the Bathsheba incident in Samuel, but Chronicles almost entirely omits the palace crime, retaining only the battles and the defeat of the giant's descendants. This compression is not to say that David did not sin, but to keep the narrative focus on the preparation of the Temple and the stability of the kingdom. Readers familiar with Samuel will, on the contrary, hear heavy echoes in the silence.
Therefore, this chapter must be read together with Samuel. The silence of Chronicles cannot be a tool to whitewash leaders. God's Word as a whole preserves David's sin, Nathan's rebuke, family tragedy, and the consequences after forgiveness; Chronicles, from another perspective, tells the returnees that God can still preserve the hope of the Temple after a history of failure. Only when the two are combined can there be an honest yet not despairing reading.
This chapter continues to record the defeat of the giant's descendants, showing that David's kingdom still triumphed over old fears. Goliath's shadow did not only appear in 1 Samuel 17; the giant family continued in subsequent history. God's salvation is not a one-time fireworks display, but continues to be revealed in multiple generations and multiple battlefields. Returnees facing ruins and powerful authorities also need this sustained courage.
Pastorally, this chapter reminds the church to deal with silent places. The Bible sometimes describes sin in detail, sometimes omits it; we cannot use omission to deny the truth, nor can we only stare at sin and refuse to see the subsequent grace. A mature collective memory neither conceals harm nor allows harm to have the last word.
| Theme | Content |
|---|---|
| Chronicles' "Blank Space" Narrative | 20:1 retains "David remained in Jerusalem" but omits the entire Bathsheba tragedy from 2 Samuel 11-12. This is not a denial of history, but a refocusing for the post-exilic readers: God's promises need to be emphasized more than David's failures. |
| Complementarity of the Two Books | Samuel records the full scope of David (including his fall), while Chronicles records the continuation of God's promises. Reading both together provides a complete picture: diagnosis and hope are both essential. |
| Conquest Spoils for the Temple | 20:2 The wealth of Ammon, like the bronze in 18:8, is material evidence that the conquest unit served the preparation of the Temple. |
| Legacy of Giant Slaying | David slays Goliath (1 Samuel 17) → David's mighty men slay three giants (20:4-8). A leader's faith and courage can propagate to the next generation: true success is not an individual's glory, but the legacy of a team. |
| End of the Rephaim Family | The three giants are all "sons of the giant in Gath" (20:8). From the first appearance of the Rephaim in Genesis 14:5 to the killing of their last three descendants here: the victory of God's people over the giant race was largely completed in David's era. |
| Character | Identity/Role | Role in This Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| David | King of Israel | "Remained in Jerusalem": the one intentionally left out of the Chronicles narrative; took the crown of Ammon: the conqueror; behind-the-scenes leader of the three giant battles: his trained mighty men inherited the ability to slay giants. |
| Joab | Commander of the Army | Besieged and captured Rabbah: completed the Ammonite war that began in chapter 19. |
| Sibbecai | One of the Thirty Mighty Men | Slew Sippai the giant in Gezer. |
| Elhanan | Son of Jair | Slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath: clarified the textual difficulty in 2 Samuel 21:19. |
| Jonathan | David's Nephew (Son of Shimea) | Slew the twenty-four-fingered giant: a mighty man from the royal family, extending the tradition of giant-slaying from David to his family. |
| Original | Transliteration | Chinese Union Version Translation | Usage Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| יָשַׁב yashav | ya-shav | remained | 20:1 "David remained in Jerusalem." The same word in 2 Samuel 11:1 initiated the Bathsheba narrative: Chronicles retains this verb but omits its consequences, forming the most exquisite "silent narrative." |
| עֲטָרָה atarah | a-ta-rah | crown | 20:2 The golden crown of the king of Ammon, weighing one talent (~34kg). The transfer of the crown is a material symbol of the change of kingship. |
| רְפָאִים Rephaim | re-fa-im | giant | 20:4, 6, 8 "sons of the giant." The Rephaim were an ancient race of giants in the Bible, continuing from Genesis 14:5 to here: David's era is the twilight of this race in the narrative. |
| חָרַף charaf | kha-raf | defied/taunted | 20:7 Uses the same root as Goliath's taunting in 1 Samuel 17: the descendants of the Rephaim inherited their ancestors' arrogance, and also inherited the same end. |
| מְגֵרָה megerah | me-ge-rah | saw | 20:3 "put under saws": execution or forced labor? A key word in translation disputes. |
| 1 Chronicles 20 | Corresponding 2 Samuel Passage | Key Differences |
|---|---|---|
| 20:1 "David remained in Jerusalem" | 2 Samuel 11:1 The exact same sentence | 2 Samuel then describes the Bathsheba incident (chapters 11-12), which Chronicles completely omits. |
| 20:2-3 Capture of Rabbah | 2 Samuel 12:26-31 | Largely consistent. Chronicles directly continues the war record after the Bathsheba narrative. |
| 20:4-8 Battles with Giants | 2 Samuel 21:18-22 | Chronicles moves this section from the end of 2 Samuel into the conquest unit, making the giant battles part of the conquest record. |
| : | 2 Samuel 11-12 Bathsheba/Uriah | Completely omitted |
| : | 2 Samuel 13-20 Amnon/Absalom/David's flight | Completely omitted |
Chronicles omits about 11 chapters from 2 Samuel (2 Samuel 11-20, 21:1-17). This is the largest "silent editing" in the entire book: focusing on David's image as the bearer of the covenant and the preparer of the Temple.
The narrator's choice to retain "David remained in Jerusalem" instead of directly jumping to Joab's siege is a masterful literary strategy:
| Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| For general readers | Just a neutral statement: the king sent his general to war, while he stayed behind. |
| For readers familiar with 2 Samuel | These seven words trigger the entire memory of 2 Samuel 11-12: readers fill in the blank space themselves. |
| For theological readers | Chronicles' silence is a declaration of grace: forgiven sins are no longer repeatedly exposed. |
This "blank space narrative" is known in literary theory as ellipsis or allusive narration. The narrator trusts the reader's ability to fill in the gaps, which can be more impactful than direct narration.
This is one of the most famous "difficult passages" in Old Testament textual comparison:
| 2 Samuel 21:19 | 1 Chronicles 20:5 |
|---|---|
| "Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite" | "Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite" |
If taken literally according to 2 Samuel, Elhanan, not David, killed Goliath, which directly contradicts 1 Samuel 17. Mainstream academic explanations:
1 Chronicles 20:5 here acts as a "textual clarifier," a later text helping to restore possible scribal errors in an earlier text.
The three giants in 20:4-8 are the last few members of the Rephaim family to appear:
| Passage | Rephaim-related Event | Era |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis 14:5 | Chedorlaomer defeated the Rephaim | Abrahamic era |
| Genesis 15:20 | The Rephaim listed among the inhabitants of Canaan | Original inhabitants of the Promised Land |
| Deuteronomy 2:10-11 | The Emim and Anakim counted as Rephaim | After the Exodus |
| Deuteronomy 3:11 | Og, king of Bashan: the last of the Rephaim (his iron bedstead was nine cubits long) | Conquest of Transjordan |
| Numbers 13:33 | Spies saw the Anakim: "we seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight" | Kadesh incident |
| Joshua 11:21-22 | Joshua cut off the Anakim from the hill country of Judah, only some remaining in Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod | Conquest of Canaan |
| 1 Samuel 17 | Goliath: a giant from Gath | Saul's era |
| 1 Chronicles 20:4-8 | Three giants from Gath were killed | David's era |
Joshua 11:22 states that the remnant of the Anakim remained "only in Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod": Goliath and his family were precisely these remnants. The three battles in 1 Chronicles 20:4-8 are the final completion of Joshua's unfinished task in David's era.
Minimal Narrative, Maximal Implication: 20:1 conveys the most meaning with the fewest words. The entire chapter has only 8 verses, yet it covers the conclusion of the Ammonite war and three battles against giants. The Chronicler uses extreme compression to bring the conquest unit to a clean and decisive close.
Structural Relocation: The battles against giants are found in 2 Samuel 21:18-22 (an appendix from the end of David's reign). Chronicles moves them here, making them an organic part of the conquest unit. This structural adjustment creates a progressive relationship in chapters 18-20: "all-around victory → key battles → giants' demise."
"David and His Servants" Group Perspective: The summary statement in 20:8 does not say "the mighty men" killed the giants, but "David and his servants": binding the leader and the team into one acting subject. Although David did not personally kill these three giants, their victory is attributed to David's leadership.
Narrative Bridge from Conquest to Temple: Chapter 20 concludes the conquest, and chapter 21 begins with the census of the people → the purchase of the temple site. The narrator uses the "conclusion" of chapter 20 to pave the way for the "turn" in chapter 21, shifting from the outward sword to the inward heart.
| Old Testament Passage | New Testament Citation/Echo | Related Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 20:1 Chronicles' "blank space": sins already forgiven are not recounted | Hebrews 10:17 "I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more." | God's forgiveness means no raking up old accounts: Chronicles' silence is a narrative presentation of this theological principle |
| 20:2 David takes the Ammonite king's crown | Revelation 19:12 "On his head are many crowns." | David takes a crown from one king; Christ will receive crowns from all enemies: the ultimate transfer of kingship |
| 20:4-8 David's mighty men kill giants | Ephesians 6:10-13 "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." | David's team kills the descendants of Rapha, foreshadowing the community of believers resisting spiritual "giants" in Christ: warfare is not a solitary endeavor |
| 20:8 "fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants" | Romans 16:20 "The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet." | Giants are crushed by David's team; Satan will be crushed by Christ's church: victory belongs to God and His people |
| 20:1-3 to 20:4-8 Conclusion of the conquest unit | 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God for the pulling down of strongholds." | From physical warfare (Old Testament) to spiritual warfare (New Testament): the weapons differ, but the pattern of "God grants victory" is consistent |