1 Chronicles 20

1 In the spring [at the time of year when kings go out to make war], at the time [season, occasion] when kings [royal rulers, monarchs] march out to war [battle, combat], Joab [Jehovah is father, King David’s nephew] led out the army [large group of people, military force] and ravaged [wasted, destroyed] the land [territory, region] of the Ammonites [sons of Ammon, a neighboring nation]. He came to Rabbah [a great city, the capital] and besieged [confined, surrounded] it, but David [the king of Israel, a man after God’s heart] remained [stayed, dwelt] in Jerusalem [the city of peace, the capital of Israel]. And Joab [the army general] attacked [struck, smote] Rabbah and demolished [overthrew, destroyed] it. word study 2 Then David [the youngest son of Jesse, a king of Israel] took the crown from the head of their king [the ruler of the land]. It was found to weigh a talent [a unit of weight or currency] of gold [a valuable metal] and was set with precious [valuable and highly esteemed] stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount [exceeding much, very much] of plunder [spoils of war, booty] from the city [a place with a wall or a watchman]. word study 3 David brought out the people [who were in it, the inhabitants] who were there and put them to work with saws [axes, as tools for labor], iron picks, and axes. And he did the same [thus, in like manner] to all the Ammonite [sons of Ammon, descendants of Lot] cities [towns, fortified places]. Then David [the king of Israel, a leader] and all his troops [army, warriors] returned [turned back, came again] to Jerusalem [the city of peace, the capital]. word study 4 Some time later [after this, afterwards], war [battle, conflict] broke out with the Philistines [a people from Philistia] at Gezer [a city in Palestine]. At that time [then, in those days] Sibbecai [a brave warrior] the Hushathite [from the family line of Hushah] killed [slew, smote] Sippai [a descendant of giants], a descendant of the Rephaim [giants, a group of large and powerful people], and the Philistines [the enemies of Israel] were subdued [humbled, forced to submit]. word study 5 Once again [still, another time] there was a battle [war, conflict] with the Philistines [inhabitants of Philistia], and Elhanan [God has graciously given] son of Jair [forested, a leader] killed [slew, struck down] Lahmi [my bread] the brother [male sibling, close relative] of Goliath [the giant, a formidable warrior] the Gittite [from Gath, a city in Palestine], the shaft [wood, tree] of whose spear [lance, thrusting instrument] was like a weaver’s [loom, textile worker’s] beam [a heavy, sturdy rod]. word study 6 And there was still [yet again] another battle [war, conflict] at Gath [a major city of the Philistines], where there was a man [individual, person] of great [exceptional, remarkable] stature [height, size] with six [the number six] fingers [digits] on each hand and six [the number six] toes [digits] on each foot—twenty-four [a total of twenty-four] in all. He too [also, even] was descended [born, begotten] from Rapha [the Raphaite, a group of giants], word study 7 and when he [defied, reproached, or taunted] taunted Israel, Jonathan [son of Shimea, a brother of] the son of David’s brother Shimei [exposed or defamed him, and then] killed [smiting or striking] him. word study 8 So these descendants [offspring] of Rapha [the giant, Rephaim] in Gath [a major city of the Philistines, a winepress] fell [were defeated, came to their death] at the hands [by the power, under the direction] of David [a king of Judah, an ancestor of Jesus] and his servants [slaves, attendants, those who served him]. word study