--- title: "1 Chronicles 20 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers" description: "Read 1 Chronicles 20 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the coun" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20" --- [ Read](/kjv/1-chronicles/20)[ Commentary](/study/1-chronicles/20)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/1-chronicles/20) Audio 1 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out *to battle*, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.* 2 And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and *there were* precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city.* 3 And he brought out the people that *were* in it, and cut *them* with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem. 4 ¶ And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, *that was* of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.**** 5 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff *was* like a weaver’s beam.* 6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of *great* stature, whose fingers and toes *were* four and twenty, six *on each hand*, and six *on each foot:* and he also was the son of the giant.** 7 But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him.** 8 These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. [1 Chronicles 19](/study/1-chronicles/19) [1 Chronicles 21](/study/1-chronicles/21) ## Commentary To verse 1 (1) **After the year was expired.**—Heb., *at the time of the return of the year: i.e.,* in spring. (See [1 Kings 20:22](/kjv/1-kings/20/22); [1 Kings 20:26](/kjv/1-kings/20/26).) **At the time that kings go** **out.**—See [1 Kings 20:16](/kjv/1-kings/20/16). Military operations were commonly suspended during winter. The Assyrian kings have chronicled their habit of making yearly expeditions of conquest and plunder. It was exceptional for the king to “remain in the country.” **Joab led forth the power of the army.**—Samuel gives details: “David sent Joab and his servants (? the contingents of tributaries, [1 Chronicles 19:19](/kjv/1-chronicles/19/19)), and all Israel” (i.e., the entire national array). **Wasted the country.**—An explanation of Samuel: “wasted the sons of Ammon.” **Rabbah,** or Rabbath Ammon, the capital. (See [2 Samuel 11:1](/kjv/2-samuel/11/1); [Amos 1:14](/kjv/amos/1/14); [Jeremiah 49:2-3](/kjv/jeremiah/49/2-3).) **But David tarried** (Heb., *was tarrying*) **at Jerusalem.**—While Joab’s campaign was in progress-In [2 Samuel 11:1](/kjv/2-samuel/11/1) this remark prepares the way for the account which there follows of David’s temptation and fall. **And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.**—A brief statement, summarizing the events related in [2 Samuel 11:27](/kjv/2-samuel/11/27). From that passage we learn that, after an assault which doubtless reduced the defenders to the last stage of weakness, Joab sent a message to David at Jerusalem to come and appropriate the honours of the capture. Our [1 Chronicles 20:2](/kjv/1-chronicles/20/2), which abruptly introduces David himself as present at Rabbah, obviously implies a knowledge of the narrative as it is told in Samuel, and would hardly be intelligible without it. Whether the chronicler here and elsewhere borrows directly from Samuel, or from another document depending ultimately on the same original as Samuel, cannot certainly be decided. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20","name":"1 Chronicles 20 - Study King James Bible with ellicotts commentary for english readers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read 1 Chronicles 20 with ellicotts commentary for english readers commentary. 1 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the coun","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers","name":"ellicotts commentary for english readers"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles","name":"1 Chronicles"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/ellicotts-commentary-for-english-readers/1-chronicles/20","name":"20"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```