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20 And it came to pass, at the time of eshuvat hashanah, at the time that melachim go out to battle, Yoav led forth the chayl hatzava, and laid waste the eretz Bnei Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But Dovid tarried at Yerushalayim. And Yoav struck Rabbah, and destroyed it.

And Dovid took the ateret of their melech from off his rosh, and found it to weigh a talent of zahav, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon rosh Dovid; and he brought also exceeding much plunder out of the Ir.

And he brought out the people that were in it, and consigned them to saws, and to picks of barzel (iron), and to axes. Even so dealt Dovid with all the towns of the Bnei Ammon. And Dovid and kol HaAm returned to Yerushalayim.

And it came to pass after this, that there arose milchamah at Gezer with the Pelishtim (Philistines); at which time Sibbechai the Chushati slaughtered Sippai, that was of the yeledim of the Refa’im, and they were subdued.

And there was milchamah again with the Pelishtim (Philistines); and Elchanan ben Yair slaughtered Lachmi the brother of Golyat (Goliath) the Gitti, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.

And yet again there was milchamah at Gat, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each yad, and six on each foot and he also was of Rapha descent.

But when he defied Yisroel, Yehonatan ben Shimea achi Dovid slaughtered him.

These were from the Rapha descended in Gat; and they fell by the yad of Dovid, and by the yad of his avadim.

The Capture of Rabbah(A)

20 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah(B) and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins.(C) David took the crown from the head of their king[a]—its weight was found to be a talent[b] of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes.(D) David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

War With the Philistines(E)

In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer.(F) At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites,(G) and the Philistines were subjugated.

In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.(H)

In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 20:2 Or of Milkom, that is, Molek
  2. 1 Chronicles 20:2 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms