Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 18:5
When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The chronicler records this battle immediately after David’s initial campaign against Hadadezer of Zobah, as neighboring Arameans mobilize to reinforce the defeated king.
The words — The Hebrew וַיַּךְ (va/yakh) translates literally as "and he struck down," denoting decisive military action against the allied forces.
The thread — This account parallels 2 Samuel 8:5, while the surrounding narrative in 1 Chronicles 18:4 and 18:6 establishes the immediate tactical context of the campaign.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of David’s sustained military success against coalition forces, establishing the historical reality of Israel’s territorial expansion under divine enablement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 8:5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.
- 1 Chronicles 19:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
- Isaiah 8:9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- 1 Samuel 14:47 After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.
- 1 Kings 11:23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 As far as Hamath, David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, who had marched out to establish his dominion along the Euphrates River.