1 Chronicles 20:3

1 Chronicles 20:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. So David did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Context of 1 Chronicles 20:3

1In the spring, Joab led the Israelite army out to fight. That was the time of year when kings go out to fight battles. Joab and his army attacked the land of the Ammonites and he won against them. He put his soldiers around Rabbah city so that they could attack it. But David had stayed in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and he destroyed its buildings. 2When David came, he took the crown off the Ammonite king's head. The crown was made of gold. It weighed 34 kilograms. There was a valuable jewel fixed on it. David's men then put the crown on David's head. David also took a lot of valuable things from the city. He brought the people out from the city to do hard work for him. He made them cut wood with saws, and use iron tools and axes. He did the same thing to the people of all the other Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem. 4Some time after that, the Israelites fought a battle against the Philistines at Gezer. In that battle, Sibbecai from Hushah killed Sippai. Sippai was a descendant of Rapha. So Israel won against the Philistines. 5In another battle against the Philistines, Jair's son Elhanan killed Lahmi. Lahmi was the brother of Goliath who came from Gath. He had a spear that was very thick and heavy, like a big tree.

1 Chronicles 20:3 word by word

וְאֶת־הָעָ֨ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֜הּ הוֹצִ֗יא וַיָּ֨שַׂר בַּמְּגֵרָ֜ה וּבַחֲרִיצֵ֤י הַבַּרְזֶל֙ וּבַמְּגֵר֔וֹת וְכֵן֙ יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה דָוִ֔יד לְכֹ֖ל עָרֵ֣י בְנֵי־עַמּ֑וֹן וַיָּ֧שָׁב דָּוִ֛יד וְכָל־הָעָ֖ם יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he brought outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: sendH3318
• the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• in it, and cutשׂוּרώûr · to sawH7787
• with sawsמְגֵרָהmegêrâh · sawH4050
• and with harrowsחָרִיץchârîyts chârits · incisionH2757
• of ironבַּרְזֶלbarzel · ironH1270
• Even so dealtעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• with all the citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• of the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Ammonעַמּוֹן‛ammôn · AmmonH5983
• returnedשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• to Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389

Cross-references for 1 Chronicles 20:3

• 1 Chronicles 19:2David thought, ‘Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son Hanun.’ So David sent some of his officers to give a message to Hanun. David wanted to tell Hanun that he was sorry that his father Nahash had died. David's officers took his kind message to the land of the Ammonites.
• Psalms 21:8You will use your strong power to take hold of your enemies. You will catch everybody that hates you.
• Exodus 1:14The Israelites became very upset because of all the difficult work. They had to build houses with bricks and mortar. They also did many different kinds of work in the fields. The Egyptians made the Israelites do all this difficult work.
• Joshua 9:23Because you told lies to us, you will always have to be our servants. You will cut wood and you will fetch water to serve our God.’
• Judges 8:6The city leaders of Succoth said, ‘You have not yet caught Zebah and Zalmunna. We will not give you any food until you have done that.’
• 1 Kings 9:21The Israelites had not been able to remove all of these people, so their descendants remained in the land. So Solomon made them do hard work as his slaves. They are still slaves of the Israelites today.

Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 20:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3He brought out the people - See this transaction particularly explained in the notes on the parallel places, 2 Samuel 12:30-31; (note).Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3This war against the Ammonites happened during David's sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:2–12:25), which the Chronicler does not mention.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. cut them with saws, &c.--The Hebrew word, "cut them," is, with the difference of the final letter, the same as that rendered "put them," in the parallel passage of Samuel [2Sa 12:31]; and many consider that putting them to saws, axes, and so forth, means nothing more than that David condemned the inhabitants of Rabbah to hard and penal servitude. 1Ch 20:4-8. Three Overthrows of the Philistines and Three Giants Slain.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Chronicles 20:3

• Ammonites
• Captive
• Harrow
• Prisoners
• Rabbah

In the dictionaries

• Ammon
• David
• Jerusalem
• Ammon; Ammonites
• Ammon, Ammonite
• Captive
• Harrow
• Samuel, Books of
• Chronicles, Books of
• Genealogy

Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary