Daily Bread

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) 2} 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 ³ 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)

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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)

⁶ 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. ⁷ When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

⁸ These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.