1 Crónicas 20

VBL · Chapter 20/29

1En primavera, en la época del año en que los reyes salen a hacer la guerra, Joab dirigió el ejército israelita en los ataques contra el país de los amonitas, asediando también Rabá. Sin embargo, David se quedó en Jerusalén. Joab atacó Rabá y la destruyó.

2David tomó la corona de la cabeza de su ídolo Milcom. Era de oro y estaba engastado con gemas. Pesaba un talento y fue colocado sobre la cabeza de David. David también tomó una gran cantidad de botín de la ciudad.

3David hizo trabajar a la gente de allí con sierras, picos de hierro y hachas. También hizo lo mismo con todas las ciudades amonitas. Luego David y todo su ejército regresaron a Jerusalén.

4Algún tiempo después de esto estalló un conflicto con los filisteos en Gezer. Pero entonces Sibecai de Husa mató a Sipai, un descendiente de los refaítas, y los filisteos se vieron obligados a someterse.

5En otra batalla con los filisteos, Elhanán, hijo de Jair, mató a Lahmi, hermano de Goliat de Gat. El asta de su lanza era tan gruesa como una vara de tejedor.

6En otra batalla en Gat, había un hombre gigantesco, que tenía seis dedos en cada mano y seis dedos en cada pie, haciendo un total de veinticuatro. También él descendía de los gigantes.

7Pero cuando insultó a Israel, Jonatán, hijo de Simea, hermano de David, lo mató.

8Estos eran los descendientes de los gigantes en Gat, pero todos fueron muertos por David y sus hombres.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The army of Israel, led by Joab, conquers the Ammonite city of Rabbah. The chapter also briefly recounts three battles against Philistine giants descended from Rapha, including a relative of the famous Goliath.

Explanation

This chapter is notably brief compared to the parallel account in 2 Samuel 11-12, which includes the long and painful episode of David's sin with Bathsheba and the death of her husband Uriah. The chronicler, writing decades later to help rebuild national identity, chooses to focus on the aspects of David's victory and positive leadership, leaving out this moment of serious moral failure. The brief mentions of the defeated Philistine giants serve as a reminder that the threat posed by such imposing figures, like Goliath decades earlier, continued to be faced and overcome by David's generation of warriors.

Fun facts

  • The omission of the episode of David and Bathsheba in this chapter is one of the clearest examples of how the chronicler deliberately selects what to include, favoring a more edifying narrative to help rebuild the faith of the post-exile people.
  • One of the giants mentioned had 'six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot,' an unusual physical detail (polydactyly) mentioned as part of the description of the line of Rapha, associated with warriors of exceptional stature.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Crónicas 20:1Notice that the text says only that David stayed in Jerusalem while Joab went to war, without telling anything else about that period. That is because Chronicles simply skips the entire story of David with Bathsheba and Uriah, told in detail in Samuel: here the portrait of the king stays cleaner, focused on achievements, not scandals.
  2. 1 Crónicas 20:2David takes the crown of the Ammonite king, weighing a talent of gold set with precious stones, and puts it on his own head — a clear symbol of who won the war that began with a simple diplomatic insult.
  3. 1 Crónicas 20:3David imposes heavy forced labor on the conquered population of Ammon, repeating the same treatment in every Ammonite city before returning to Jerusalem with the army.
  4. 1 Crónicas 20:4After Ammon, war turns again against the Philistines at Gezer, where Sibbechai kills Sippai, one of the descendants of the giant Rapha — the first in a series of duels against giant warriors.
  5. 1 Crónicas 20:5This Goliath, brother of Lahmi and killed by Elhanan, is often compared by readers with a similar passage in Samuel, where the text seems to say that Elhanan killed the famous Goliath himself. The most widely accepted explanation is that these are different people with similar names, and Chronicles helps clarify that by adding ‘the brother of’ Goliath.
  6. 1 Crónicas 20:6Yet another clash at Gath against a huge man with twenty-four fingers and toes in all, six on each hand and each foot — also a descendant of the line of giants called Rapha.
  7. 1 Crónicas 20:7This giant openly defies Israel, but the one who kills him is Jonathan, son of Shimea, David’s own nephew — one more member of the royal family distinguishing himself in combat.
  8. 1 Crónicas 20:8A summary closes the chapter: all these giants were of the line of Rapha, in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and his soldiers — bringing the threat of the giant Philistine warriors to a final end.

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