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.
1 Chronicles 20 Verse Notes
1 Chr 20:1
Bathsheba Story Omission
1 Chronicles 20:1 begins with 'at the turn of the year, when kings go out to battle,' and immediately jumps to David taking the crown of the Ammonite king. This abrupt transition, compared to 2 Samuel 11-12, demonstrates Chronicles' deliberate omission of the entire Bathsheba and Uriah narrative, including the death of their first child and the birth of Solomon. The Chronicler excises any negative aspects of David's life to present him as an unblemished figure.
Summarized by AI · The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel · Lecture 25: Chronicles | Seriously, Let's Read Chronicles · watch the clip
1 Chr 20:5
David's Goliath story as later glorification
The biblical text contains conflicting accounts of who killed Goliath, with one version attributing the feat to Elhanan. The later Book of Chronicles attempts to resolve this discrepancy by stating Elhanan killed Goliath's brother, indicating that the story of David killing Goliath was a later glorification of David, rather than the original account.
Summarized by AI · The Rise and Fall of Biblical Israel: The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings · Lecture 5: David | The Man Behind the Legend · watch the clip
Goliath's Slayer: David or Elhanan?
The Bible presents conflicting accounts of who killed Goliath. While 1 Samuel 17 famously attributes the feat to David, 2 Samuel 21:19 states that Elhanan killed Goliath the Gittite, whose spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, a description identical to Goliath's in the David story. This suggests the Goliath narrative was originally attributed to Elhanan and later re-attributed to David to enhance his heroic image.
Summarized by AI · The Hebrew Bible: Exploring the Literature of Ancient Israel · Lecture 13: The David Story · watch the clip
