much. 3And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
4And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at [1]Gezer with the Philistines: then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Sippai, of the sons of the [2]giant: and they were subdued. 5And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite,
triumphal procession of captives and spoil, such as an Assyrian relief in the British Museum represents passing before Sennacherib at the capture of Lachish.
3. and cut them with saws] Read probably (cp. 2 Sam. xii. 31, R.V. mg.) and put them with saws, i.e. put them to work with saws, etc. Cp. 2 Chr. ii. 17, 18; Josh. ix. 21—23. The implements mentioned here and in the parallel passage of 2 Sam. suggest task-work, not massacre. The Ammonites were reduced to bondage like that of Israel in Egypt. The exceptionally harsh treatment of the Ammonites was doubtless due to the exceptional insults which David's ambassadors had received from them. A very different spirit towards Ammon is shown in Deut. ii. 19.
4—8 (= 2 Sam. xxi. 18—22). Philistine champions slain.
This section is the last in which the Chronicler notices David's wars. It is taken from 2 Sam. xxi., where, however, it is preceded by an account (vv. 15—17) of David's narrow escape in an encounter with a Philistine.
Between the two sections of this chapter the Chronicler omits the account of the rebellions of Absalom and of Sheba, and the story of the Gibeonite vengeance on the house of Saul (2 Sam. xiii. i—xxi. 14).
4. at Gezer] See vi. 67, note. In 2 Sam. at Gob, but no place called Gob is known. In 2 Sam. v. 25 it is said that David smote the Philistines "from Geba until thou come to Gezer."
Sippai] In 2 Sam. "Saph."
giant] Heb. "Rapha"; the same Heb. word in the plu. "Rephaim" is translated "giants" in Deut. ii. 11, A.V. These "Rephaim" dwelt east of Jordan.
5. Elhanan . . . slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath] In 2 Sam. xxi. 19, Elhanan . . . the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath (R.V.). The difference between the two sentences in Heb. is very small, and is due, no doubt, to the Chronicler, or a copyist, who felt that he was making a certain
