1 Chronicles chapter 18

David starts wars. He becomes a nepotist.

 


 

DAVID STARTS WARS

 

David starts wars against his his neighboring nations. He plunders their possessions and executes thousands of their non-combatant civilians. He terrifies other nations into paying him vast sums of money.

 

VERSE 1. After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

David defeated the Philistines. David conquers the Philistines.

 

VERSE 2. He defeated Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

He defeated Moab. David conquers the Moabites.

2 Samuel 8:2. He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.

and brought tribute. That means David required them to pay him money so he won’t attack them again.

It is like when the Mafia requires store owners to pay them money for “protection.”

 

VERSE 3. David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, toward Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.

David conquers three Aramean cities:

 

VERSE 4. David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them enough for one hundred chariots.

 

VERSE 5. When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians.

David conquers three Aramean cities:

 

VERSE 6. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

victory to David wherever he went. This fulfills the promise given to David in the previous chapter:

1 Chronicles 17:10. I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that the LORD will build you a house.

 

VERSE 7. David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

 

VERSE 8. From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze sea, the pillars, and the vessels of bronze.

 

VERSE 9. When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,

David conquers three Aramean cities:

 

VERSE 10. he sent Hadoram his son to king David to greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him (for Hadadezer had wars with Tou); and he had with him all kinds of vessels of gold and silver and bronze.

 

VERSE 11. King David also dedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations: from Edom, from Moab, from the children of Ammon, from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

 

VERSE 12. Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah struck eighteen thousand of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

Abishai the son of Zeruiah. He is David’s nephew.

That is because Zeruiah is a half-sister of David.

struck eighteen thousand. It was Abishai who killed 18,000 Edomites.

But elsewhere, David gets credit for this massacre:

2 Samuel 8:13. David earned a reputation when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand men of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt.

 

VERSE 13. He put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

 

DAVID BECOMES A NEPOTIST

 

VERSE 14. David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and righteousness for all his people.

David reigned over all Israel. The verses that follow reveal the growing complexity of David’s bureaucracy.

 

VERSE 15. Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

 

VERSE 16. Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was scribe;

 

VERSE 17. and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief officials serving the king.

the sons of David were chief officials. David appoints his own children to official positions in his government.

This is an abuse of power. It is called Nepotism.

 


next chapter »

« previous chapter


1 CHRONICLES

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.