David’s Battles – 1 CHRONICLES CHAPTER 18
The Kingdom Becomes Larger – 1 Chronicles 18:1-13
v1 Later David attacked the Philistines. He defeated them. He took the city called Gath and the small towns round it from their control. v2 David defeated the army of Moab. The people in Moab became his servants and they paid taxes to him. v3 David fought King Hadadezer of Zobah all the way to Hamath town. Hadadezer had gone to increase his control along the Euphrates river. v4 And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 riders, and 20,000 other soldiers. He made all except 100 horses unable to pull chariots. v5 People from the country called Aram came from Damascus. They came to support King Hadadezer of Zobah. But David killed 22,000 of them. v6 Then David put army camps in Damascus. The people in Aram became David’s servants and they paid taxes to him. The LORD helped David to win battles everywhere that he went.
v7 David took the gold shields that Hadadezer’s officers carried. And he brought them to Jerusalem. v8 He also took a great quantity of bronze from Tibhath and Cun. These had been among the cities that Hadadezer ruled. Later Solomon used this bronze. With it, he made the bronze basin, the columns and tools (for the temple).
v9 King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of King Hadadezer of Zobah. v10 So, Tou sent his son Hadoram to greet King David. He praised David for the defeat of Hadadezer. There had been a war between Tou and Hadadezer. Hadoram brought to David many things of gold, silver, and bronze.
v11 King David gave these precious things to the LORD. Also, he gave to the LORD the silver and gold that he had taken from the nations. These nations were Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, and Amalek.
v12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed 18,000 soldiers from Edom in the Valley of Salt. v13 David put army camps in Edom, and all the people in Edom became David’s servants. The LORD helped David to win battles everywhere that he went.
COMMENTARY
VERSE 1
It seems that the events in chapter 18 happened before the events in chapter 17. Also, the events in chapter 19 happened before the events in chapter 18.
The Philistines had 5 main cities. These were Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Gath and Ekron. Ashdod, Ashkelon and Gaza were on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Ekron and Gath were not on the coast.
David defeated the Philistines at Gath. And he took control of the small towns in that area.
VERSE 2
Then David defeated the army of Moab. Their country was to the east of the Dead Sea.
VERSES 3-7
Hadadezer was the king of Zobah. Zobah was a country to the north and east of Damascus and south of Hamath. Hadadezer tried to extend his area of control to the east as far as the Euphrates river. But David came and defeated him.
David won all these battles because he trusted the LORD. And the LORD helped him. We do not know where the towns called Tibhath and Cun were. Solomon would later use the bronze from these towns to make important objects for the temple. See 2 Chronicles 4:2-5 and 2 Chronicles 3:15-17. There was so much bronze in these objects that people were unable to weigh them (2 Kings 25:16).
VERSES 9-11
Tou (or Toi) was the king of Hamath. His kingdom was to the north of the kingdom of Hadadezer. He chose not to fight David. David was much stronger than he was. So, he chose rather to have a peace agreement with Israel.
David gave to the LORD the wealth that he had taken from the nations.
VERSES 12-13
The Book of 2 Samuel says that David killed these 18,000 soldiers from Edom (2 Samuel 8:13). It seems that David sent Abishai against them. Abishai led the army that won the battle. The people praised David for the success because, as king, he was in command of the army. But as David trusted the LORD, so the LORD helped David in his battles. In other words, it was the LORD who brought about David’s success in all these battles.
David’s Organization – 1 Chronicles 18:14-17
v14 So, David was king over all Israel. And he did what was fair and right for all his people. v15 Joab son of Zeruiah was the chief officer over the army. Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the government records. v16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests. Shavsha was the royal secretary. v17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the people called Kerethites and Pelethites. And David’s sons were chief officials who served the king.
Verses 14-17 Jehoshaphat would have kept the royal diary. In his job, he would remind David of meetings. He probably wrote the records of those meetings.
Zadok and Ahimelech were priests. They were both chief priests. During David’s rule, there were two important places where the priests worshipped God. So one chief priest was at Gibeon where the tent of the LORD was. And the other one was in Jerusalem where the ark of God was.
Shavsha was the royal secretary. This was a top job in the government. David had an army of special soldiers. The Kerethites (or Cherethites) were a clan of the Philistines. So originally, the men in this special army came from among the Philistines. Probably, these men were with David from the start. They were loyal to David but they were not Israelites.
The Pelethites were probably among the soldiers who joined David at Ziklag. They may have taken their name from one of their leaders, Pelet (12:3). If so, then they were from the tribe of Benjamin. But perhaps, like the Kerethites, the Pelethites were Philistines who had decided to support David.
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