David Captures Rabbah
April 13, 2020
Commentary
It states that all of this happened in the spring when the harvest was ended and the armies could live off the land. The kings waited until the weather was good and then their armies went off to war. However, it says that David stayed home in Jerusalem. As we learn from 2 Samuel 11:12 this was a big mistake because it was during this time of inactivity that he sinned with Bathsheba.
In 1st Chronicles, the record of Israel’s conquests begins and ends with references to wars against the Philistines. Israel had no more persistent foe than the Philistines. 2nd Samuel also recounts the series of Philistine wars but treats them with more detail. Rabbah (v. l) was the capital of the Ammorites and is the site of modern Amman in Jordan.
This chapter includes three instances that parallel 2 Samuel 18-22. The first was the battle of Gezer which took place about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. It was here that Sibbecai slew Sippai, a Philistine giant. The second was when Elhanan, son of Jair, slew Lahmi, who was Goliath’s brother. The third was when a Philistine giant met death at the hands of David’s nephew Jonathan (2 Samuel 2l:20-2l). It seems that these giants were descendants of Rapha who was the father of a race of giants known as Rephaites. These giants coexisted with the early Philistines and perhaps even intermarried with them.
Application
Look for the spring times in your life when the doors of opportunity open. At these times God wants you to respond, take the initiative and move into action according to His will. If you don’t move into action at these times, you will be prone to give in to temptation just as David did.
1 Chronicles 20:1– 8 (NET)
1 In the spring, at the time when kings normally conduct wars, Joab led the army into battle and devastated the land of the Ammonites. He went and besieged Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down. 2 David took the crown from the head of their king and wore it (its weight was a talent of gold and it was set with precious stones). He took a large amount of plunder from the city. 3 He removed the city’s residents and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
4 Later there was a battle with the Philistines in Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaim, and the Philistines were subdued.
5 There was another battle with the Philistines in which Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom.
6 In a battle in Gath there was a large man who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all! He too was a descendant of Rapha. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were the descendants of Rapha who lived in Gath; they were killed by the hand of David and his soldiers.