1 Chronicles 5:22

and many others fell slain, because the battle belonged to God. And they occupied the land until the exile.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Chronicler records a past military campaign against the Hagrites, noting the Israelite victory before describing the tribe's subsequent settlement. The narrative addresses post-exilic readers by tracing their ancestral conquests and land occupation.

The words — חֲלָלִ֤ים (cha.la.Lim) translates literally to "slain [ones]," and מִלְחָמָ֑ה (mil.cha.Mah) means "battle." The text explicitly links these terms to declare the conflict originated from God.

The thread — This theme of divine warfare appears in Joshua 23:10, where God fights for Israel as promised. It recurs in 2 Chronicles 32:8 and Romans 8:31, which contrast human strength with God's active intervention for His people.

Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that military success stems from divine agency rather than human capability. It requires readers to attribute outcomes to God's sovereignty without relying on their own strength.

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

כִּֽי־ki-for חֲלָלִ֤יםcha.la.Limslain [ones]רַבִּים֙ra.Bimmany נָפָ֔לוּna.Fa.luthey fell כִּ֥יkifor מֵהָאֱלֹהִ֖יםme./ha./'E.lo.Him[was] from/ <the>/ God הַמִּלְחָמָ֑הha./mil.cha.Mahthe/ battle וַיֵּשְׁב֥וּva/i.ye.she.Vuand/ they dwelt תַחְתֵּיהֶ֖םtach.tei./Hemin place of/ them עַד־'ad-until הַגֹּלָֽה׃ פha./go.Lahthe/ exile

King James Version

For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

Cross-references

Joshua 23:10 One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.
2 Chronicles 32:8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
1 Chronicles 6:26 Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son,
1 Chronicles 4:41 These who were noted by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites in their dwellings as well as the Meunites who were there, devoting them to destruction even to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks.