1 Chronicles 20:1-8

The Book of 1 Chronicles

God rules History

1 Chronicles

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 20

Battles against the *Philistines – 1 Chronicles 20:4-8

v4 Later there was a war against the *Philistines, at Gezer. Sibbecai, who came from the town called Hushah, killed Sippai. Sippai was a *descendant of the family of huge people. So, *Israel defeated the *Philistines.

v5 And there was another battle against the *Philistines. Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath, who was from the town called Gath. Lahmi’s *spear was as large as the beam that people use to make cloth.

v6 There was another battle at the town called Gath. There was a huge man with 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. (He had in total 24 fingers and toes.) He also was a *descendant of the family of huge people. v7 When he insulted *Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

v8 David and his men killed these *descendants of the huge people from Gath.

Verses 4-8 Here are three incidents that happened during battles with the *Philistines. The first two of these incidents were at Gezer. Gezer was a town but it may here mean that general area. The record elsewhere says that these incidents happened at Gob (2 Samuel 21:18). The third incident was in the battle at Gath. So all these incidents happened before David took the city called Gath from *Philistine control (18:1).

These huge people were called the *descendants of Rephaim. Rephaim was the *ancestor of an ancient group of people who were very tall. There were very few of them still alive at the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 2:21). Formerly, they lived in Bashan, which was on the east side of the Jordan river (Deuteronomy 3:11).

Sibbecai came from Hushah town in Judah. He was one of David’s 30 special soldiers (1 Chronicles 11:29). Later David divided his army into 12 groups. Each group was on duty for a month. Sibbecai was the leader of 8th group of soldiers (1 Chronicles 27:11).

Sippai is the first of the huge men that the passage mentions. Sibbecai, the *Israelite soldier, was very brave when he fought this man. Because the man was so huge, it was very dangerous to fight him. But Sibbecai managed to defeat the man and to kill him.

Lahmi was the brother of Goliath whom David killed (1 Samuel chapter 17). Elhanan, son of Jair, killed Lahmi.

This other huge man with extra fingers and toes was also a *descendant of Rephaim. Jonathan, a nephew of David, killed him.

All these huge men lived in the city called Gath. The passage shows that, like Goliath, these huge men were champions in the *Philistines’ army.

Philistines ~ a group of people who lived to the south-west of Judah. They were a nation that frequently fought against the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
spears ~ long sticks with sharp ends that soldiers used as weapons during battles.
weapon ~ a tool of war that soldiers use in attack or defence during a battle, for example: swords, spears and slings.
sling ~ The sling was a weapon. It was a bit of leather with two strings. The soldier would put a smooth stone in the leather bit. Then he would swing it round above his head by the strings. Finally, he would let the stone fly out of the sling.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.