1 Chronicles 18 Study Notes

18:1 This chapter summarizes a number of military victories by David and the spoils that he collected. He defeated the Philistines, this time not by repelling their attack, but by taking control of one of their five principal cities and its surrounding villages.

18:2 The same thing happened with the Moabites. Conquered by David, they contributed to his growing treasury.

18:3 The Arameans were a confederation of various kingdoms east of the Jordan River, ranging all the way from Damascus to the banks of the Euphrates River. Hadadezer of Zobah ruled over one of the most easterly regions. By taking over his territory at the Euphrates and by controlling Philistine territory to the south, David fulfilled the promise God had given to Abraham—that his descendants would eventually occupy the land all the way from the Euphrates River to the Brook of Egypt (Gn 15:8).

18:4 Today’s readers may find the cutting of the tendons (hamstrung) of thousands of horses objectionable, but in David’s time this was a standard method of crippling an enemy force. Without their horses, the soldiers were rendered immobile. The alternative to hamstringing the horses would have been to kill rather than immobilize the soldiers.

18:5-8 The Arameans of Damascus attempted to come to the rescue of Hadadezer, but this move led them into subjection by David. Now the rich trade city of Damascus belonged to the king. Even though he would never build the temple, David accumulated much of the materials for the building and for the utensils during his lifetime. The bronze objects mentioned here would be put to use by Solomon later on.

18:9-10 King Tou of Hamath decided that diplomacy was a better option than warfare. Because he had been at odds with Hadadezer, he considered the enemy of his enemy to be his ally, but he still needed to pay a tribute of numerous objects of precious metal.

18:11 David did not add all of these things to his personal wealth, but he placed them into a treasury that was dedicated . . . to the Lord. Later on, much of it would go into the building of the temple.

18:12-13 Abishai was Joab’s brother and a general in his army. Abishai represented David in a campaign against the Edomites, and eighteen thousand enemy warriors were killed. Even though Abishai was the leader of the battle, David was the king, so this section reiterates David’s unbroken record of victories.

18:14 A glorious time is depicted in this short verse. David looked after his people by making sure that justice and righteousness prevailed for everyone. No greater compliment can be paid to any ruler.

18:15-16 A quick overview of the most important people surrounding David starts with Joab, still his commander in chief. Jehoshaphat, the court historian, and Shavsha, the court secretary, kept records of what happened in the palace. There were still two high priests, Zadok and Ahimelech (who replaced his father Abiathar), because there were still two main places of worship.

18:17 The Cherethites and the Pelethites, who reported to Benaiah, apparently were Philistine groups who were loyal to David and who may have been his bodyguards (see 11:24-25). Why would David have Philistines as bodyguards? You do not need bodyguards against open, obvious enemies; you need bodyguards against people who work their way into the king’s presence to carry out an assassination. Thus, bodyguards of a different ethnic origin were well-suited for this task.